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    Upgrade or Downgrade Considerations in Prisma SD-WAN ION Release 6.8
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    5. Upgrade or Downgrade Considerations in Prisma SD-WAN ION Release 6.8
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    Prisma SD-WAN

    Upgrade or Downgrade Considerations in Prisma SD-WAN ION Release 6.8

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    Upgrade or Downgrade Considerations in Prisma SD-WAN ION Release 6.8

    Learn about the device upgrade and downgrade considerations for Prisma SD-WAN Release 6.8.
    The following section details the upgrade path to Prisma SD-WAN release 6.8.x. Review the upgrade and downgrade considerations before upgrading to this release. The table describes the ION element software release naming convention for release 6.8.x.
    ION ELEMENT SOFTWARE (SW) RELEASE NAMING CONVENTION
    1st Digit - Primary Release2nd Digit - Release Number3rd Digit - Main Release Number4th Digit - SW Build Number
    681b1
    Upgrade Or Downgrade Path
    Use the following paths to upgrade to release 6.8.x, and use the path in reverse to rollback to the version you started from:
    • 5.6.x -> 6.1.x -> 6.3.x -> 6.5.x -> 6.8.x
    • 6.0.x -> 6.1.x -> 6.3.x -> 6.5.x -> 6.8.x
    • 6.2.x -> 6.3.x -> 6.5.x -> 6.8.x
    • 6.2.x -> 6.4.x -> 6.5.x -> 6.8.x
    • 6.3.x -> 6.5.x -> 6.8.x
    • 6.4.x -> 6.5.x -> 6.8.x
    • 6.5.x -> 6.8.x
    See the upgrade and downgrade considerations in Prisma SD-WAN Release 6.8.

    Upgrade or Downgrade Considerations in Prisma SD-WAN ION Device Release 6.8.1

    The following table lists the new features that have upgrade or downgrade impact. Make sure you understand all upgrade/downgrade considerations before you upgrade to or downgrade from Prisma SD-WAN release 6.8.1.
    FeatureUpgrade ConsiderationsDowngrade Considerations
    Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC)
    None
    If you have configured Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) features including Post-Quantum Pre-shared Keys (PPK) or ML-KEM algorithms for IPsec profiles on ION devices running software version 6.8.1, ensure that you remove or disable these configurations before downgrading the device to earlier versions that do not support PQC.
    Branch Gateway Overlay Prefix Filters
    None
    If you have configured overlay prefix filters for Branch Gateway connections on ION devices running software version 6.8.1, ensure that you remove these configurations before downgrading the device to earlier versions that do not support Branch Gateway overlay prefix filters.

    Upgrade Advisory

    The following ION platforms (ION 1000, ION 2000, and ION 1200) if consistently use greater than 80% of memory, are at risk of experiencing unexpected reboots after an upgrade. The risk increases when upgrading from 5.x to 6.x due to the overall software architecture difference between the release series. Before performing any upgrades, Palo Alto Networks recommends that you assess available system memory on the target devices. For guidance on memory management best practices, see here.

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