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Upgrade Dell PowerFlex to v3.6.x

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Automated and manual upgrade of software components

You can upgrade PowerFlex software components with automated tools, in a non-disruptive manner, or manually upgrade components.

Instead of upgrading manually, Dell recommends that upgrades be performed using the PowerFlex Installer or the vSphere PowerFlex plug-in. The PowerFlex Installer resides on the PowerFlex Gateway.

NOTE:When performing a manual upgrade (as opposed to using the PowerFlex Installer), it is crucial to follow all the described upgrade procedures step by step. Failure to do so might result in data loss and system instability.
Before upgrading the system, check that the following issues are addressed:
  • Ensure that all servers meet the system requirements for the new version, as described in the Getting to Know Dell PowerFlex Guide. For ESXi-based systems, SVM memory requirements must also be taken into account.
  • Ensure that sufficient spare capacity is available to support the upgrade. The spare capacity will be necessary while nodes are temporarily offline and being upgraded. For more information, see the Getting to Know Dell PowerFlex Guide.
  • Ensure that there are no failed disks (failed capacity).
  • Verify that the cluster is not in Degraded state.
  • Ensure that all data NICS are connected.
  • If distributed vSwitches are used, ensure that there are enough ports in each of the distributed vSwitches used for PowerFlex (Host, SVM and new SVM). The number of ports needed is equal to three times the number of nodes in the system.

Dell recommends that upgrades be performed using the PowerFlex Installer (which or the vSphere PowerFlex plug-in.

When using the PowerFlex Installer to upgrade, you can configure the following settings as part of the upgrade process:

  • Set high-performance profile—if the existing system components used the compact profile (default in versions earlier than v3.0) you can choose to set the high-performance profile for MDM, SDS, or SDC components. Before upgrading multiple SDS nodes and changing their performance profile to high-performance, ensure that there is adequate available RAM on each node. If there is not enough RAM, you can change the performance profile after upgrading, one node at a time.
    When upgrading a system, the previous performance profiles are retained, and are not changed to the new default setting (high-performance). They only override the existing configuration when you select the option to set the performance profile during upgrade.
    NOTE:If you select to apply the profile again, the profile settings will be applied and will override existing settings. If no profile is selected, existing settings will be retained.
  • Restart Windows-based servers—enable the automatic restart of Windows servers on which SDC is being installed. This option should not be used if there are components of another PowerFlex cluster on the same server.
  • Enable parallel SDS upgrades—enable the upgrading of all SDS nodes in an entire Fault Set at the same time
  • Do not upgrade any SDCs (ESXi nodes will not be upgraded, in any case. SDCs on ESXi are upgraded using the PowerFlex plug-in or manually.)
  • Resume an upgrade that was interrupted when using PowerFlex Installer on a different PowerFlex Gateway (allow upgrade even when already in Upgrade state)
After upgrading the system, you can configure the following settings:
  • Install RFcache
  • Extend the MDM cluster from 3-node to 5-node mode
  • Add virtual IP addresses

These options, and others, are described in the Configure and Customize Dell PowerFlex.

The upgrade procedure for your environment is determined by your current configuration. Proceed to the section that matches your configuration:

Table 1. Automated upgrades
Configuration See...
Physical Linux—The base system resides solely on bare metal Linux-based servers. "Automated upgrade of Linux-based nodes"
ESXi—The base system resides solely on bare metal ESXi-based servers. "Automated upgrade of ESXi-based nodes"
Two-layer (ESX and Linux)—The MDM and SDS reside on bare metal Linux-based servers, and the SDCs reside on ESXi-based servers. "Automated upgrade of nodes in a two-layer configuration"
Two-layer (Windows and Linux)—The MDM and SDS reside on bare metal Linux-based servers, and the SDCs reside on Windows-based servers "Automated upgrade of nodes in a two-layer configuration"
Table 2. Manual upgrades
Configuration See...
Physical Linux—The base system resides solely on bare metal Linux-based servers. Manual upgrade of Linux-based nodes
ESXi and two-layer (ESX and Linux, Windows and Linux) Contact Customer Support

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