Upgrade Dell PowerFlex to v3.6.x

Preparing to upgrade ESXi configurations

Steps to perform before upgrading PowerFlex on ESXi-based nodes.

1. Download the PowerFlex Gateway and PowerFlex GUI packages.
2. When upgrading a node with ESXi 6.0U2:
   1. Ensure that the following line does not appear in the etc/ssh/sshd_config file of the ESXi-based node:
      kexalgorithms diffie-hellman-group1-sha1,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha1
      If the referred line appears, delete it. The line deletion does not relate to any configuration and you do not need to restart either the ESXi node, nor the sshd service.
   2. Repeat the procedure for the rest of the nodes with ESXi 6.0U2.
3. The upgrade process requires entering the ESXi-based nodes into maintenance mode. To do so, ensure that Admission Control is not enabled on the VMware cluster:

   Client	Procedure
   vSphere Web Client	From the vSphere Web Client, log in to the vCenter. Select the cluster that contains the PowerFlex nodes. Select the Configure tab. Select Services > vSphere Availability. At the bottom of the window, expand Admission Control, and ensure that it is Disabled.
   vSphere Client	From the vSphere client, log in to the vCenter. Right-click a cluster that contains PowerFlex nodes and select Edit Settings. Click the vSphere HA menu, and ensure that Admission Control is set to Disable.

4. For data networks using IPv6, if you plan to implement a floating virtual IP address for the MDM, disable the IPv6 DAD setting on the node's relevant interfaces, using the command:

    sysctl net.ipv6.conf.<interface_name>.dad_transmits=0

5. If you intend to use the CHAP component authentication feature after the upgrade, make the necessary preparations to ensure that you upgrade all system components now. Systems containing any components running PowerFlex versions lower than v3.5 do not support CHAP authentication.
   NOTE:Upgrade to v3.5 sets the CHAP authentication feature to DISABLED, and passwords will be all-zero. To enable the feature, after the upgrade is complete on all system components, follow the post-installation procedures described in the Configure and Customize Dell PowerFlex.
6. Increase SVM system disk size of all SVMs in the system to at least 16 GB. For details, see the "Reference" section of this guide.