Upgrade Dell PowerFlex to v3.6.x

Prepare for the ESXi upgrade

Perform the following steps on a single PowerFlex node to prepare it for the ESXi upgrade. After you prepare the node, you will perform the upgrade and return the node to operational state. Only after you return the node to operation will you perform this task on the next node you are upgrading.

1. Check that the system is in an optimal state.
   1. In the PowerFlex GUI left pane, click Alerts, and then in the right pane confirm that no SDS disconnect messages appear.
   2. If the node is an MDM cluster member, in the left pane select MDM > Cluster Settings, and in the right pane verify that the cluster's state is optimal.
   3. In the left pane, click Configuration > SDCs, and then in the right pane verify that the SDCs are connected.
2. For each SDC, record the SDC's IP address.
3. When upgrading the node to a later version of ESXi 6.x:
   When upgrading compute-only nodes, skip to the next step.
   1. In the left pane, click Configuration > SDSs.
   2. In the right pane, locate the node you are upgrading, and then record the SDS's IP address.
   3. In the right pane, select the check box for the relevant SDS, and then in the upper-right menu click More > Enter Maintenance Mode.
   4. In the Enter SDS <SDS name> into Maintenance Mode dialog box, select Protected .
   5. Click Enter Maintenance Mode.
   6. Wait until the SDS's state displays as Maintenance.
   7. In the pop-up dialog box, click Dismiss.
4. Log in to vCenter using the vSphere client, and perform the following actions:
   1. Correlate the SDC data IP you recorded in step 2 to the ESXi host's relevant VMkernel IP address.
   2. When upgrading a hyperconverged node, correlate the relevant SDS data IP address to the SVM on the same host.
   You will need this information later to help identify the host management's IP address.
5. Log in to vCenter using the vSphere client, and locate the relevant IP address or SVM name (which should include the host serial number).
   NOTE:Verify that the SVM IP address displayed in vCenter is the same as the SVM management IP you recorded.
6. Select the relevant SVM, and in the Basic Tasks pane click Shut down the virtual machine.
7. Log back in to the PowerFlex GUI, and in the Alerts pane verify that an alert was received that the SDS is disconnected and that, if the SVM is a cluster member, vCenter also received an alert from the MDM.
8. In vCenter, right-click the node and select List Maintenance Mode > Enter Maintenance Mode.
9. In the Confirm Maintenance Mode dialog box, clear the Move powered-off and suspended virtual machines to other hosts in the cluster check box, and then click OK.
   • If DRS and vMotion are configured, the VMs should start to migrate to other nodes.
   • If DRS is not configured, but vMotion is, migrate the VMs to other nodes manually and repeat the previous step to enter maintenance mode.
10. If a warning message appears requesting you to migrate the VMs, click OK and skip to the next step. In this case, click OK and proceed with the procedure.
11. Using SSH, connect to the ESXi node using the management IP address, and log in as root user with the relevant password.
12. Back up the SDC GUID of the node to be upgraded:
    NOTE:You can also use this procedure to upgrade from ESXi 6.x to a later ESXi 6.x version or patch, without the need to upgrade the SDC. In this case, skip the steps for the ESXi 7.x SDC.
    1. View the complete list of SDC settings for the scini driver:

       cat /etc/vmware/esx.conf |grep scini/

       Output similar to the following appears:

       /vmkernel/module/scini/options = "IoctlIniGuidStr=7ea77fc9-6125-44c1-9746-9d20053aed93 IoctlMdmIPStr=9.201.112.254,9.201.111.254"

       NOTE:The GUID is displayed in quotation marks in the command output. You will need it after SDC installation following the ESXi upgrade.
    2. Copy the entire command output and paste it to Notepad, along with the SDC IP so you can identify to which SDC the GUID belongs.

       For example:

       10.234.214.229 SDC settings:

       /vmkernel/module/scini/options = "IoctlIniGuidStr=7ea77fc9-6125-44c1-9746-9d20053aed93 IoctlMdmIPStr=9.201.112.254,9.201.111.254"

13. Remove the SDC from the ESXi 6.x node:
    NOTE:You can also use this procedure to upgrade from ESXi 6.x to a later ESXi 6.x version or patch, without the need to upgrade the SDC. In this case, skip the steps for the ESXi 7.x SDC.
    1. Using SSH, check the ESXi version installed on the host:

       esxcli system version get 

       Output similar to the following appears:

       Product: VMware ESXi
       Version: 6.5.0
       Build: Releasebuild-xxxxxxx

    2. Check the version of the SDC:

       esxcli software vib list |grep sdc

       Output similar to the following appears:

       scaleio-sdc-esx6.x             3.0-1000.180                     EMC     VMwareAccepted    2020-02-05

    3. Remove the SDC from the ESXi 6.x host using one of the following commands:

       esxcli software vib remove --vibname scaleio-sdc-esx6.x

       or

       esxcli software vib remove -n scaleio-sdc-esx6.x
       

       The output should display the results of the command. For example:

       Removal Result 
       Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective. 
       Reboot Required: true 
       VIBs Installed: 
       VIBs Removed: VMware_bootbank_scaleio-sdc-esx6.5_2.6-XXX.0 
       VIBs Skipped: