Upgrade Dell PowerFlex to v3.6.x

Upgrades of SDCs or LIA LDAP configuration in large scale systems

The PowerFlex Gateway has an upgrade limit of 512 SDCs per non-disruptive upgrade. The same limit applies when configuring LIA LDAP in large scale systems. For these scenarios, follow the recommendations provided in the "Reference" section of this guide.

Multiple SDSs on the same server

The installation of multiple SDS instances on the same server is no longer supported. To guarantee a better customer experience and improved stability, PowerFlex currently only supports a single SDS per server.

As previous releases of PowerFlex supported the installation of multiple SDS instances per server (up to four), existing servers using the multiple-SDS feature should be reconfigured in order to be eligible for an upgrade. Please consult with your Dell Professional Services contact to assist with this configuration change, before you upgrade your system.

NVDIMM capacity requirements for future upgrades

Increased NVDIMM capacity per SDS is mandatory in PowerFlex version 3.5 or higher that contain Fine Granularity Storage Pools. If your system has insufficient NVDIMM capacity for PowerFlex v3.5 or higher, you will not be able to upgrade your system, and a warning alert will be generated.

An upgrade readiness tool is provided with this release of PowerFlex to help you check your system. Instructions for doing so are described in the "Post-Upgrade" section of this guide, and in the Configure and Customize Dell PowerFlex. If the tool recommends more NVDIMM capacity, contact your account manager for assistance before you upgrade your system.

NVDIMM 4k alignment

On nodes configured with NVDIMMs, ndctl and daxio packages must installed before performing the upgrade:

• ndctl package—for example: ndctl-64.1-2.el7.x86_64.rpm
• daxio package—for example: daxio-1.5.1-2.1.el7.x86_64.rpm

Replication feature

Upgrades of systems where replication is used using the PowerFlex Installer are supported, but manual upgrades of replicated systems are not allowed. Contact your account manager for assistance before you manually upgrade your system.

Simultaneous NDU of source and destination sites is not allowed. Each PowerFlex system should be upgraded separately at different times.

Upgrade to new major ESXi version

Upgrade of the ESXi operating system from version 6.7 to 7.0 where PowerFlex version 3.5 or higher is deployed requires SDC removal and re-installation. For more information, see the Reference section of this guide.