Dell PowerFlex 4.5.x Administration Guide

Viewing a compliance report

PowerFlex Manager enables you to view a compliance report and perform firmware and software updates as needed. You can update software and firmware components for a new resource group that PowerFlex Manager deploys or an existing resource group that was not originally deployed by PowerFlex Manager.

1. On the menu bar, click Lifecycle > Resource Groups.
2. Select a resource group to view the compliance report.
3. In the right pane, click View Details.
   The Resource Group Details page is displayed.
4. On the Resource Group Details page, click View Compliance Report.
   The Node Compliance Report page is displayed.

   You can also view the compliance status on this page.

   When you view a compliance report, PowerFlex Manager checks to see whether there are any vCLS VMs on local storage. If it finds any, it displays a banner at the top of the report and gives you the opportunity to migrate the VMs to shared storage.

5. Click Change to modify the target compliance version.
   1. Select the Preferred Compliance File.
   2. Review the Compatibility setting. If it shows Recommended or Supported, you can proceed with the change. If it shows Not Allowed, PowerFlex Manager blocks the change. Review the alert for details about recommended or supported paths.
   3. If the change is either recommended or supported, type CHANGE COMPLIANCE FILE if you are ready to proceed.
   4. Click Save.
6. Click Firmware Components to view the firmware components.
7. Click Software Components to view the software components.

   For compute-only and storage-only resource groups, PowerFlex Manager lists the software components that are available for update under the Components drop-down list. For hyperconverged resource groups, PowerFlex Manager displays the following subcategories of software components that are available for update:

   • Node Software lists the ESXi drivers that are installed if you choose to update.
   • SVM Software lists the embedded operating system packages that are installed if you choose to update.
   • MVM Software lists the embedded operating system packages that are installed if you choose to update.
8. Select one or more noncompliant nodes, and click Update Resources.

   The PowerFlex gateway must first be compliant before you update the PowerFlex components for a node. If a node is already compliant, it is disabled and cannot be selected.

   If you are planning to perform an upgrade on all the nodes in a PowerFlex rack or PowerFlex appliance, click the box in the upper left corner of the Firmware Components tab to select all the nodes in the resource group.

9. Specify when to apply the resource updates and click Apply:
   • To perform a non-disruptive update right away, choose Allow PowerFlex Manager to perform firmware and software updates now.

     Specify the type of update you want to perform by selecting one of the following options:

     • Instant Maintenance Mode enables you to perform updates quickly. PowerFlex Manager does not migrate the data.
     • Protected Maintenance Mode enables you to perform updates that require longer than 30 minutes in a safe and protected manner. When you use protected maintenance mode, PowerFlex makes a temporary copy of the data so that the cluster is fully protected from data loss. Protected maintenance mode applies only to hyperconverged and storage-only resource groups.

     For a non-disruptive update, PowerFlex Manager performs updates for PowerFlex nodes within a single resource group in a serialized workflow. The workflow updates one node at a time.

   • To perform a non-disruptive update later, choose Schedule firmware and software updates.

     Specify the type of update you want to perform by selecting one of the following options:

     • Instant Maintenance Mode enables you to perform updates quickly. PowerFlex Manager does not migrate the data.
     • Protected Maintenance Mode enables you to perform updates that require longer than 30 minutes in a safe and protected manner. When you use protected maintenance mode, PowerFlex makes a temporary copy of the data so that the cluster is fully protected from data loss. Protected maintenance mode applies only to hyperconverged and storage-only resource groups.
   • To perform a disruptive update right away for a full PowerFlex rack or PowerFlex appliance upgrade, choose Allow PowerFlex Manager to perform disruptive updates now.

     PowerFlex Manager does not support disruptive updates for the PowerFlex management platform (PFMP).

     The full system upgrade process is faster. This process should take a matter of hours. However, the nodes and all of the data are unavailable while the upgrade is in process.

     If you are certain that you want to proceed, type REBOOT ALL NODES AT ONCE.

     For a full system upgrade, PowerFlex Manager ensures that the PowerFlex gateway is used only by this resource group, and checks to see whether any other VMs are running in the cluster. PowerFlex Manager stops the process if these conditions are not met.

10. If you encounter any errors while performing firmware or software updates, you can view the PowerFlex Manager logs for the resource group. On the Resource Group Details page, click Generate Troubleshooting Bundle.

    This action creates a compressed file that contains:

    • PowerFlex Manager application logs
    • SupportAssist logs
    • PowerFlex gateway logs
    • iDRAC life-cycle logs
    • Dell PowerSwitch switch logs
    • Cisco Nexus switch logs
    • VMware ESXi logs
    • CloudLink Center logs

    The logs are for the current resource group only.

    Alternatively, you can access the logs from a VMware console, or by using SSH to log in to PowerFlex Manager.