Articles in this section

Upgrading to VAST Cluster 3.4

Sara Levy
  • Updated
Follow

Plan the Upgrade

Note these points before upgrading.

Upgrade Paths

Upgrading to VAST Cluster 3.4.x is supported from VAST Cluster 3.2.x .

If the cluster is running an earlier release, upgrade to VAST Cluster 3.2.x before following the instructions on this page to upgrade to VAST Cluster 3.4.x.

Impact and Scheduling

By default, all upgrades are non disruptive (NDU). This is done by performing a rolling restart of Dnodes and CNodes. On small clusters, this is done one node at a time. On larger clusters, up to 10% of CNodes will be upgraded concurrently, while DNodes will continue to be done one at a time.

There is an alternative option to perform a 'cold' upgrade, however this is not recommended as it will cause disruption to data services.

The duration of the main upgrade process depends on the cluster's workload and size. Expect a cluster upgrade to take at least one hour for the smallest size cluster (1 DBox and 1CBox) and proportionally longer for larger clusters.

We recommend not to run any other carrier replacements, server expansions or other such field operations in parallel to the upgrade.

During NDU, clients can continue to write data to the cluster. However, the following operations are blocked:

  • Creating, modifying and deleting VIP Pools

  • Uploading a support bundle

  • Setting a password

  • Enabling or disabling a CNode or DNode

  • Creating or modifying a view policy

  • Enabling or disabling an SSD or NVRAM

  • Creating a user.

There are a few post upgrade tasks that continue for a while after the NDU is complete. During that post upgrade phase, the following activities are blocked:

  • Another upgrade (which could be a software upgrade or an NVRAM upgrade)

  • Certain VMS operations the modify metadata, such as setting quotas.

Check VAST OS Versions

Upgrade of VAST OS on the CNodes and DNodes is an optional part of the upgrade procedure. Please confirm with VAST support before enabling this feature.

VAST Cluster 3.4.x minimally requires VAST OS 10.0.28 on all CNodes and DNodes in the cluster.

To check CNode and DNode OS versions from the VAST Web UI:

  1. In the VAST Web UI, from the left navigation menu, select Infrastructure and then CNodes or DNodes.

  2. For each CNode, find the OS listed in the OS column.

To check CNode and DNode OS versions from the VAST CLI:

  1. From the VAST CLI, run cnode list or dnode list.

  2. For each CNode or DNode listed, find the OS listed in the OS-Version column of the command output.

Obtain a Target Release Package Download Link

Obtain a link for downloading the target release package. Links may be available in the version release notes. Otherwise, please request a link from VAST Data Support.

The package file contains all component images.

Upgrade via VAST Web UI or VAST CLI

Upgrading from 3.2.x to 3.4.x Using the VAST Web UI

  1. Download the release package file to your local machine.

  2. Connect to the VAST Web UI.

  3. From the left navigation menu, select Infrastructure and then Clusters.

  4. Select the Actions button for the cluster (Actions_Button.png) and then select Upgrade.

    The Upgrade Cluster dialog appears.

    UpgradeClusterDialog3-2-1_1.png

  5. Click Upload a file and browse to the package file that you downloaded.

  6. Enable options only from the following, as needed:

    • Cold. Deactivates the cluster during upgrade. When not selected, cluster operation continues without disruption. You cannot select this option if you are selecting the OS option.)

      Caution

      This option will cause downtime and is not recommended without explicit guidance from VAST Data Support.

      Note

      Cold upgrade is not supported if VAST OS is upgraded (see OS.)

    • Force. Forces upgrade regardless of version or upgrade state. Use this option if you need to upgrade to the same version as already installed or if a previous upgrade failed without the upgrade state clearing.

      Caution

      Select this option only if directed explicitly by VAST Data Support.

    • OS. Upgrades the OS on the CNodes and DNodes. Be sure to check this if you need to upgrade VAST OS on the CNodes and DNodes.

    Warning

    Do not select BMC or NVRAM! Upgrade of BMC firmware and NVRAM firmware from 3.2.x to 3.4.x are not supported!

    Note

    Do not select SSD since SSD upgrade cannot be run together with the core platform upgrade. It can be run as a separate task afterwards. Some performance impact is expected when upgrading SSDs on QLC DBoxes.

  7. Click Upgrade and then click Yes to confirm.

    The release package is now uploaded to the cluster and following upload, the upgrade begins. The Activities icon indicates the upload progress at the top of the page. When the upload is complete, the upgrade begins.

    You can monitor progress on the Activities page.

Upgrading from 3.2.x to 3.4.x Using the VAST CLI

  1. Connect to the Management CNode using the local IP (not the VMS VIP).

  2. Download the package file to the Management CNode, placing it under /vast/bundles. For example:

    wget link -O /vast/bundles/filename

    (where link refers to the full download link, and filename refers to the name of the release package file.)

    Note

    It is important that the file is specifically copied to /vast/bundles and not to any other location.

  3. Run the following command to start VAST CLI:

    vcli -u <username> -p <password>

  4. From the VAST CLI run the cluster upgrade command.

    For example, if CNode OS upgrade is not needed:

    cluster upgrade --build-package /vast/bundles/release-<release number>-<pipeline number>.vast.tar.gz

    Alternatively, with CNode OS upgrade:

    cluster upgrade --build-package /vast/bundles/release-<release number>-<pipeline number>.vast.tar.gz --os-upgrade

  5. Wait patiently for upgrade to complete.

    Initially, the build file is extracted and imported, which takes some time. Once that stage is complete, the upgrade begins and the progress is displayed in the CLI.

Related articles

Comments

0 comments

Article is closed for comments.