Upgrade Dell PowerFlex to v3.6.x

Upgrading PowerFlex—Linux-based nodes

Use the PowerFlex Installer to upgrade PowerFlex components to the latest version, on Linux-based nodes.

1. Upgrade the Linux-based PowerFlex Gateway:

   rpm -U EMC-ScaleIO-gateway-3.6-X.<build>.x86_64.rpm 

   The following variables can be added to the command, if required:

   • SIO_GW_KEYTOOL=<keytool_path> allows override of the location for the Java keytool utility. For example: SIO_GW_KEYTOOL=/usr/java/jre1.8.0_XX/bin/
   • SIO_JAVA=<Java version> specifies a different Java version

   Example:

   rpm -U /tmp/EMC-ScaleIO-gateway-3.6-X.<build>.x86_64.rpm

   A success message is displayed, and the PowerFlex Installer has been updated to the new version. Log in to the updated PowerFlex Installer will be required.
2. When upgrading Citrix Hypervisor (XenServer)-based nodes, perform the following to upgrade the LIA manually. For other Linux flavors, skip to the next step.
   1. Upgrade (or install) LIA on one of the nodes in the system:

      rpm -U EMC-ScaleIO-lia-3.6-X.<build>.xsX.X.X.x86_64.rpm --nosignature 

   2. Repeat for every server in the system.
      After all LIAs are installed/upgraded, continue to the next step.
3. Log in to the PowerFlex Installer (https://<INSTALLER_IP_ADDRESS>).
4. Click Packages.

   The Manage Installation Packages window appears.

   NOTE:When you use this PowerFlex Installer to install packages for Windows and Linux, you can upload all the files at once.
5. Browse to where the PowerFlex packages are located for the operating system of the nodes that you are deploying.
6. Upload the installation packages from the current and the target versions—select all the relevant files for the operating systems you want to deploy on, then click Open.
   File formats can be RPM, TAR, or MSI. Minimally, you must select these packages:
   1. MDM
   2. SDS
   3. SDC
   4. LIA

      Packages from the current version: lia, mdm, sdc, sds, xcache (optional), sdr (optional), VMware VVol (VASA provider; optional). For example:

      • EMC-ScaleIO-lia-3.0.x-XXX.<build>.<flavor>.x86_64.rpm
      • EMC-ScaleIO-mdm-3.0.x-XXX.<build>.<flavor>.x86_64.rpm

      Packages from the latest target version: lia, mdm, sdc, sds, xcache (optional), sdr (optional), VMware VVol (VASA provider; optional). For example:

      • EMC-ScaleIO-lia-3.6-X.<build><flavor>.x86_64.rpm
      • EMC-ScaleIO-mdm-3.6-X.<build>.<flavor>.x86_64.rpm
      The Browse button changes its appearance to reflect the selected files.
7. Click Upload.

   The uploaded installation packages (RHEL, in this example) are listed in the file table.

8. Upgrade the PowerFlex components:
   1. From the PowerFlex Installer, click the Maintain tab.
   2. From the Maintenance operation screen, perform the following:
      1. Type the primary MDM's credentials.
      2. Type the LIA password (upgrades from versions prior to v3.0 only allow native authentication for LIA).
      3. Click Retrieve system topology. A success message is displayed.
      4. Click Upgrade.

         The Device Media Type for PowerFlex system window is displayed.

   3. Select the device media type (mandatory) and external acceleration type (optional) for each Storage Pool in the system, and then click Proceed.
      For external acceleration, options include:

      • none—No devices are accelerated by a non-PowerFlex read or write cache
      • read—All devices are accelerated by a non-PowerFlex read cache
      • write—All devices are accelerated by a non-PowerFlex write cache
      • read_and_write—All devices are accelerated by both non-PowerFlex read and write cache

      This input is required in order to prevent the generation of false alerts for media type mismatches. For example, if an HDD device is added which the SDS perceives as being too fast to fit the HDD criteria, alerts might be generated. External acceleration/caching is explained in the Getting to Know Dell PowerFlex Guide.

   4. Set upgrade options:
      • To prevent upgrade of SDCs, select Do not upgrade any SDCs. You might want to use this option if the SDCs are running critical applications that are currently in use. You can upgrade the SDCs later.
      • To continue an upgrade that was interrupted on a different gateway, select Allow upgrade even when already in Upgrade state.

        Use this option when you started an upgrade using a different gateway, but that gateway failed or is offline now.

      • Set performance profiles.

        High performance profiles are mandatory when using Fine Granularity Storage Pools. For other configurations, they are optional. You can modify these profiles later.

      • Perform automatic restart of Windows-based servers (required for Windows-based nodes on which SDCs are deployed).
      • To upgrade SDSs in the same Fault Set together, select Allow parallel SDS upgrades.

        Parallel upgrade of SDSs in the same Fault Set saves time; the upgrade will be performed faster.

   5. Confirm the upgrade operation by typing the MDM admin password, and click Upgrade.
      NOTE:If a certificate notice is displayed, review and approve it.
   6. Click the Monitor tab, and approve each step of the upgrade process.
   7. When the upgrade is complete, click Mark operation completed.