Single bundle upgrade

Last published : Sep 03, 2026
Note: The NetScaler Console service connect is enabled by default, after you install or upgrade the NetScaler SDX appliance to release 13.1. For more details, see Data governance and NetScaler Console service connect.
The single bundle upgrade combines all the components except the NetScaler VPX instance image in a single image file. This file is called the single bundle image (SBI).
Note:
Lights Out Management (LOM) firmware is added to the SBI, and Citrix® customers don't have to upgrade the LOM separately. Updating the LOM might add up to 30 minutes to the upgrade process. For more information about LOM, see Lights out management port of the NetScaler SDX appliance.
For SDX 9100 and 16000 platforms, after upgrading to an SBI that contains newer LOM firmware, you must manually trigger the LOM update.
Using this image, you can upgrade all the components in a single step, eliminating the chances of incompatibility between various components. A single bundle upgrade also ensures that your appliance is always running a version that Citrix® has tested and supports. Because all the SDX components are combined in a single file, the SDX image file is larger than the Management Service image file.
The file name of the image is of the format build-sdx-13.1-<build_number>.tgz. After the Management Service is upgraded to SDX 13.1 the new GUI does not display the options to upload the Citrix Hypervisor image file, supplemental packs, or hotfixes. The options are missing because SDX 13.1 does not support upgrading individual components.
Related information

Points to note

  • The single bundle upgrade is a multi-step process that might take up to 90 mins.
  • First, the Management Service is upgraded to the newer, provided version. During the upgrade, connectivity to the Management Service might be lost. Reconnect to the Management Service to monitor the status of the upgrade.
  • Next, the new Management Service upgrades the Citrix Hypervisor and completes the remainder of the appliance upgrade. Management Service from release 11.0 and later can perform the full Citrix Hypervisor upgrade.
  • Do not restart the appliance during the Citrix Hypervisor™ upgrade.
  • Citrix recommends that you use a Citrix Hypervisor serial console (or LOM console) to monitor the Citrix Hypervisor upgrade.

Upgrade the entire appliance to 13.1

Note: The upgrade process reboots the entire SDX appliance, including all VPX instances, multiple times. Before performing this procedure, if the VPX instances are in an HA setup, fail over all primary HA nodes to the secondary node. If you do not have an HA deployment, plan for the downtime accordingly.
To upgrade the appliance:
  1. Upload the single bundle image file, navigate to Configuration> Management Service > Software Images, and then click Upload.
  2. Navigate to Configuration > System > System Administration.
  3. In the System Administration group, click Upgrade Appliance. The upgrade process takes a few minutes.
Before the upgrade, the Management Service displays the following information:
  • Single bundle image file name.
  • The current version of SDX running on your appliance.
  • The selected version to which the appliance is to be upgraded.
  • Approximate time to upgrade the appliance.
  • Miscellaneous information.
Before clicking Upgrade Appliance, make sure that you have reviewed all the information displayed on the screen. You cannot abort the upgrade process once it starts.

Supported upgrade paths

Factory image Upgrade to 12.1 Upgrade to 13.1 Upgrade to 14.1
10.5 (EoL) Not supported; Replace FRU boot drive with newer image Not supported; Replace FRU boot drive with newer image Not supported; Replace FRU boot drive with newer image
11.0 (EoL) Not supported; Replace FRU boot drive with newer image Not supported; Replace FRU boot drive with newer image Not supported; Replace FRU boot drive with newer image
11.1 (EoL) Supported (to 12.1-56.x and later) Supported only through version 12.1 Supported only through version 13.1
12.1 Not recommended Supported Supported only through version 13.1
13.0 (EoL) Not supported; avoid upgrading from 13.0 Not supported; avoid upgrading from 13.0 Not supported; avoid upgrading from 13.0
13.1 N/A Supported Supported
14.1 N/A N/A Supported

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