docs: upgrade NGF from 1.6.x to 2.0.x

Author: salonichf5

content/ngf/installation/installing-ngf/upgrading-ngf.md

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+---
+title: Upgrade NGINX Gateway Fabric to version 2.0.0
+weight: 400
+toc: true
+type: how-to
+product: NGF
+docs: DOCS-0000
+---
+
+This guide provides step-by-step instructions for upgrading NGINX Gateway Fabric from version 1.6.x to 2.0.x, highlighting key architectural changes, expected downtime, and important considerations for custom resource definitions.
+
+---
+
+### Upgrade from v1.6.x to v2.0.x
+
+To upgrade NGINX Gateway Fabric from version 1.6.2 to the latest version 2.0.0, you must uninstall the existing CRDs and perform a fresh installation with the new CRDs. This upgrade involves uninstalling the existing NGINX Gateway Fabric deployment making it a breaking change and will lead to application downtime during the process.
+
+{{<note>}} You do not need to uninstall the Gateway API CRDs during the upgrade. These standard Kubernetes resources are compatible with the new NGINX Gateway Fabric version. {{</note>}}
+
+#### Uninstalling previous NGINX Gateway Fabric v1.6.x
+
+To remove the previous version 1.6.x of NGINX Gateway Fabric, follow these steps:
+
+1. Run the following command to uninstall NGINX Gateway Fabric from the `nginx-gateway` namespace:
+
+```shell
+helm uninstall ngf -n nginx-gateway 
+```
+
+2. To remove the CRDs associated with NGINX Gateway Fabric version 1.6.x, run the following command:
+
+```shell
+kubectl delete -k "github.com/nginxinc/nginx-gateway-fabric/config/crd?ref=<ngf-version-1.6.x>"
+```
+
+#### Install using Helm
+
+Follow these steps to install NGINX Gateway Fabric v2.0.0 using helm:
+
+1. First, apply the new CRDs with the following command:
+
+```shell
+kubectl apply -k "github.com/nginxinc/nginx-gateway-fabric/config/crd?ref=<ngf-version-2.0.x>"
+```
+
+2. Next, to install the latest stable release of NGINX Gateway Fabric in the `nginx-gateway` namespace, run the following command:
+
+```shell
+helm install ngf oci://ghcr.io/nginx/charts/nginx-gateway-fabric --create-namespace -n nginx-gateway
+```
+
+For additional customization options during the helm installation process, take a look at [Installation with Helm](../../installation/installing-ngf/helm.md).
+
+#### Install using Manifests
+
+Follow these steps to install NGINX Gateway Fabric v2.0.0 using manifests:
+
+1.  First, apply the new CRDs with the following command:
+
+```shell
+kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nginx/nginx-gateway-fabric/v{{< version-ngf-2.0.x >}}/deploy/crds.yaml
+```
+
+2. Next, to install the latest stable release of NGINX Gateway Fabric in the `nginx-gateway` namespace, run the following command:
+
+```shell
+kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nginx/nginx-gateway-fabric/v{{< version-ngf >}}/deploy/default/deploy.yaml
+```
+
+For additional customization options during the installation process using manifests, take a look at [Installation with Manifests](../../installation/installing-ngf/manifests.md)
+
+---
+
+### Architecture changes
+
+With this release, NGINX Gateway Fabric adopts a new architecture that separates the control plane and data plane into independent deployments. This separation improves scalability, security, and operational clarity.
+
+The control plane is a Kubernetes controller built with `controller-runtime`. It watches Gateway API and Kubernetes resources (e.g., Services, Endpoints, Secrets) and dynamically provisions NGINX data plane deployments for each Gateway.
+
+NGINX configurations are generated by the control plane and securely delivered to the data planes via gRPC, using the NGINX Agent. TLS is enabled by default, with optional integration with `cert-manager`.
+
+Each data plane pod runs NGINX alongside the Agent, which applies config updates and handles reloads without shared volumes or signals. This design ensures dynamic, per-Gateway traffic management and operational isolation.
+
+New fields have been added to the `NginxProxy` resource to configure infrastructure-related settings for data plane deployments. You can modify the `NginxProxy` resource at either the Gateway or GatewayClass level. These new fields provide the flexibility to customize deployment and service configurations.
+
+For detailed instructions on how to modify these settings, refer to the [Configure infrastructure-related settings](../../how-to/data-plane-configuration.md#configure-infrastructure-related-settings) guide.
+
+---
+
+### Key links for the version 2.0.0 update
+
+- To read more on [modifying data plane configuration](../../how-to/data-plane-configuration.md)
+- To read more on [modifying control plane configuration](../../how-to/control-plane-configuration.md)
+- To adding secure [authentication to control plane and data planes](./control-plane-certs.md)
+- For detailed information on [architecture changes](../../overview//gateway-architecture.md)
+- For detailed [API reference](../../reference/api.md)