POWERSCALE

UPGRADES-SSP

PARTICIPANT GUIDE

PARTICIPANT GUIDE
 PowerScale Upgrades-SSP

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Table of Contents

PowerScale Upgrades 5

Upgrade Planning 6

Upgrade Planning 7
Upgrade Plan 7
Upgrade Version 9
Upgrade Types 10
Patches and Firmware 11
Automatic Replacement Recognition (ARR) 14

Upgrade the Cluster 16

Upgrade the Cluster 17

Pre-Upgrade Tools 17
Pre-Upgrade Tasks 17
Performing OneFS Parallel Upgrade 18
Upgrade Pause and Resume 19
Post-Upgrade Tasks 19
Updating Firmware 20

Course Assessment (scored) 21

Assessment Introduction 22

Assessment Questions 23
Question 23
Question 23
Question 23
Question 24
Question 24

Course Completion 26

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 PowerScale Upgrades

PowerScale Upgrades

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Upgrade Planning

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 Upgrade Planning

Upgrade Planning

Upgrade Plan

1: Engineers and administrators must plan for the upgrade. The first
phase is to determine the who, what, where, when, and how the upgrade
proceeds. Key actions:

1. Determine the type of upgrade and verify the upgrade path.

2. Check supportability and compatibility.
3. Assess upgrade impact.
4. Schedule the upgrade.

2: Pre-upgrade tasks are all about ensuring the cluster is in a state to

where the upgrade runs smoothly. Key actions:

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 Upgrade Planning

1. Collect cluster information and verify cluster configuration.

2. Resolve events and errors.
3. Download the OneFS installation file.
4. Run the upgrade compatibility check utility, the On-Cluster Analysis
tool, and a HealthCheck.
5. Backup the data.
6. Update node firmware and drive support packages.

3: Perform the upgrade process. This phase runs, monitors, and verifies
the upgrade. Key actions:

1. Perform the upgrade.

2. Commit the upgrade.
3. Verify the upgrade.

4: Post-upgrade tasks are the actions engineers and administrators

should take to ensure the cluster returns to a production-ready state. Key
actions:

1. Allow upgrade jobs to run and verify status.

2. Reestablish user privileges and restore client connections and
workflows.

The OneFS upgrade process consists of downloading the OneFS

installation image, starting the upgrade, and verifying that the upgrade is
complete.

Before performing an upgrade, an upgrade plan must be in place. The

plan helps estimate the upgrade time and outlines individual
responsibilities. Formulate a plan by analyzing how the upgrade affects
users and workflow and the impact of the new OneFS version. A plan
should consider the risks and how to mitigate issues.

To successfully plan and perform an upgrade, follow the four phases in

the Upgrade Planning and Process Guide.

Click or select each phase for a summary of each upgrade phase.

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 Upgrade Planning

Deep Dive: For more information, you can view the

PowerScale OneFS Upgrade Planning and Process Guide.

Upgrade Version

OneFS versions are categorized by the significance of the changes in the

release. A change to the first and second code identifies the release of the
major upgrades.

Engineers and administrators should know what functionality is added or

fixed in the target OneFS version.

Release notes1 are an essential tool to identify benefits from the features
and functionality of a new OneFS version. If there is no benefit to
upgrading, then consider if the disruption to production is warranted.

Also, review the PowerScale Supportability and Compatibility Guide to

verify the new, target OneFS version supports the cluster and node
hardware, software, and features.

Major Upgrades Minor Upgrades

1 The release notes help you determine if the upgrade has an impact and
if so, provide a solution if needed. The contents of the release notes are
similar across releases. They provide release and upgrade information,
new features, modifications and enhancements, resolved issues, known
issues and installation instructions.

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 Upgrade Planning

First two decimal Example: 8.2.2.0 Last two digits Example: 9.2.0.0
places change - 9.0.0.0 Major change - 9.2.1.0
change showing Maintenance
substantial move release - new
forward in features,
product functions, and
Example: 9.5.0.0 fixes between
- 9.7.0.0 Major major releases
change in Example: 9.4.1.0
functionality in - 9.4.1.1 Code
same family and patches, minor
theme functionality
enhancements

Deep Dive: See the Release Notes and the PowerScale

Supportability and Compatibility Guide for a specific
release by using the PowerScale OneFS Info Hub.

Upgrade Types

OneFS supports three types of upgrades:

• Parallel installs the new operating system on a subset of nodes.

• Rolling is a per-node operation.
• Simultaneous is faster than other upgrade types.

The engineer must consider the type of upgrade to perform and the
workflow disruption that an upgrade can cause. Engineers and
administrators can upgrade OneFS to version 9.7.0 from 9.0.0 - 9.5.0
using a parallel, rolling, or the simultaneous method.

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 Upgrade Planning

To see the Upgrade Types Job Aid click the Menu button

and go to the Resources tab. The job aid covers

expectations for node and client disruptions for each type of upgrade.

Tip: Parallel upgrades are recommended. A parallel

upgrade requires a smaller maintenance window than rolling
upgrade and does not require the interruption of service like
simultaneous upgrades.

Tip: There is no upgrade available to or from OneFS

version 9.6.0. OneFS 9.6.0 has two added features targeted
for APEX File Storage for AWS. See the Getting Started
Guide for APEX File Storage for AWS on the PowerScale
Info Hub OneFS 9.6 page for more information.

Deep Dive: Go to OneFS Upgrades Info Hub for more

information about the PowerScale OneFS upgrade process.

Patches and Firmware

A standard part of each node installation or change activity is to bring the

node up to a minimum level. If necessary, apply OneFS patches to
address issues, including updating node, drive, or other component
firmware to the latest version.

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 Upgrade Planning

Administrators can perform and verify some upgrades using the WebUI.

Patches

The isi upgrade patches command syntax.

A patch is a software update that addresses known issues before those

updates are incorporated into a maintenance release (MR)2.

There are two types of patches, standard patch3 and rollup patch4.

2 To emphasize the importance, we can use the example of an

environment running many NFSv2 clients. Without reviewing the release
notes stating NFSv2 was no longer supported in OneFS 7.2, after
upgrading to the new version, many NFSv2 clients would no longer
function. You must immediately determine and implement a resolution to
get those clients up and running again. The information in the release
notes helps you prepare for this change in advance.
3 A standard patch addresses one or more known issues for a major,

minor, or MR release of OneFS. Some patches contain minor

enhancements or additional logging functionality that can help Dell
Technologies Technical Support troubleshoot issues with the cluster.

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 Upgrade Planning

Firmware

The isi devices drive firmware command to view and update firmware.

Firmware is the code that makes the node hardware components5 work.

Engineers and administrators should update the firmware across the

cluster to ensure standardization of all node components. All the
components running the same firmware version eliminates potential
incompatibility issues and simplifies support.

Firmware updates6 should be performed as part of a regular cluster

maintenance process.

4 Rollup patches address multiple issues that are related to one

component of OneFS functionality, such as SMB. It might also contain
fixes from previous, standard patches that addressed issues that are
related to that component.
5 Included are components such as the drives, the motherboard bios, the

disk controller, the InfiniBand adapter, and the network adapters. The
firmware is stored on and runs inside the individual hardware components.
6 Firmware updates are recommended as part of the process for new

cluster installations. The commands and processes that are used to

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Automatic Replacement Recognition (ARR)

The graphic shows the WebUI Cluster management, Automatic Replacement

Recognition page.

With ARR enabled, replacing drives requires no actions. OneFS

automatically formats the drive, adds it to the cluster, and updates the
drive firmware.

The new drive firmware matches the current drive support package of the
cluster. The drive firmware is not updated for the entire cluster, only for the
new drive.

perform firmware updates are different from the commands and processes
that are used for upgrades. When upgrading firmware, each node is
updated individually and is automatically restarted if needed when the
update is complete. Node firmware updates require a reboot, but drive
firmware packages do not require a reboot.

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 Upgrade Planning

Typically, ARR is always enabled. In some environments such as testing

and development, there may be a use case to disable.

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Upgrade the Cluster

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 Upgrade the Cluster

Upgrade the Cluster

Pre-Upgrade Tools

Administrators must ensure that the cluster is in a state that enables a

smooth upgrade. Recommended tools are the Isilon On-Cluster Analysis
Tool (IOCA), OneFS CLI, and the WebUI Health Check framework. Use
the recommended tools in conjunction with the Upgrade Planning and
Process Guide.

• IOCA: The tool analyzes the health of a running cluster. When meeting
potential issues, the tool output includes a KB article reference. IOCA
is an internally facing tool, some of the articles it presents are not
externally accessible.
− Instructions and a tutorial video are available from KB 000021811.
• OneFS CLI: The isi upgrade cluster assess command runs
an upgrade check without starting an upgrade.
• OneFS WebUI: The Cluster management > HealthCheck page
enables administrators to view evaluation details, run checks, and
schedule checks.

Deep Dive: See the Non-Disruptive Upgrade Best Practices

white paper from the Management and Migration documents
page for more information about upgrades, troubleshooting,
and technical support.

Pre-Upgrade Tasks

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 Upgrade the Cluster

Pre-upgrade tasks include checking the health of the hardware

components on the cluster, ensuring that storage space requirements are
met, and addressing cluster events and errors.

Use the OneFS CLI simulator to run pre-upgrade commands.

The web version of this content contains an interactive activity.

Tip: Use these copy and paste shortcuts if needed:

isi status > /ifs/data/isi_status_output
isi_for_array -s 'isi devices drive list |
egrep -v "HEALTHY|L3|JOURNAL"'
isi_for_array -s 'gmirror status'
isi_for_array -s 'ps -auwwwx | grep opensm'
| grep master
isi event groups list --sort=severity
isi upgrade cluster assess
ifs/data/PScluster.tar

Performing OneFS Parallel Upgrade

A parallel upgrade restarts a subset of nodes in an undetermined order.

During a parallel upgrade, client connections to the restarting subset of
nodes are disconnected, but other subsets of nodes remain available for
client connection.

Use the OneFS CLI simulator to perform an upgrade.

The web version of this content contains an interactive activity.

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 Upgrade the Cluster

Upgrade Pause and Resume

The isi upgrade command using the pause option.

Engineers and administrators can use the pause and resume functions
during the upgrade process. Use pause and resume to resolve blocking
issues.

A typical use for the upgrade pause and resume is planning around
maintenance windows. For example, pause the upgrade at the end of the
maintenance window and then resume at the next window.

The commands are isi upgrade pause and isi upgrade resume.

Important: Pausing is not immediate. Upgrade is in a

pausing state until the current upgrading node completes.
Other nodes do not upgrade until the upgrade is resumed.
Pausing state can be viewed with isi upgrade view, or
isi_upgrade_status, or viewing the pause file data.

Post-Upgrade Tasks

After an upgrade, you should perform restoration and change

management tasks to ensure that your cluster performs and behaves as
expected. It is recommended that you build time into your upgrade plan to
reestablish custom settings and privileges, and re-enable connections and
features. You should also make time to modify settings for new and
changed features.

The web version of this content contains an interactive activity.

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 Upgrade the Cluster

Updating Firmware

Deep Dive: See the Firmware - PowerScale Info Hub for

more information on drive firmware or Node firmware.

Engineers and administrators can update the drive firmware to the latest
revision. OneFS updates the drives sequentially. Updating the drive
firmware of a single drive takes approximately 90 seconds, depending on
the drive model.

Use the OneFS CLI simulator to upgrade the drive firmware.

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Course Assessment (scored)

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 Assessment Questions

Assessment Introduction

The assessment is set up as follows:

• The assessment contains 5 questions.
• Answer a question by clicking Submit and then clicking Next.
• The passing score is 80%.
• At the end of the assessment, a scorecard is displayed that shows
your score and a message that is based on your score. If you want to
improve your score, you must be on this page to click the Retake
button.

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 Assessment Questions

Assessment Questions

Question

1. You are assisting an administrator with a plan to upgrade their

PowerScale cluster. What is a key activity in each phase of the plan?
Pre- Post
Planning Upgrade
upgrade upgrade
Assess the impact that the
upgrade will have on the nodes
☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
and the clients

Backup the data

☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

Commit the upgrade

☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

Monitor jobs to ensure they

complete ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

Question

2. The organization hosting a home directory workflow are interested in

the updated functionality in OneFS 9.7. Their existing cluster runs
OneFS 9.3. The organization wants to ensure that the upgrade does
not disrupt any client activity or cause any downtime. What type of
upgrade should the administrator schedule?
a. Rolling
b. Parallel
c. Simultaneous
d. Offline

Question

3. The organization uses the cluster in a test/dev environment. The

administrator wants to upgrade to OneFS 9.7 to take advantage of the

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 Assessment Questions

improvements to restriper jobs. Their existing cluster runs OneFS 9.3.

They have a short maintenance window and request that the upgrade
complete as quickly as possible. What type of upgrade should the
administrator schedule?
a. Rolling
b. Parallel
c. Simultaneous
d. Offline

Question

4. The cluster hosts SMB shares. While planning the upgrade, the
administrator has two conditions. First, nodes can only be offline
during their maintenance window. Second, the upgrade must cause
the least amount of client disruption even during the maintenance
window. After an analysis, you determine that a rolling upgrade cannot
be accomplished in their maintenance window. What is a solution that
meets the administrator's requirement?
a. Pause the upgrade before the maintenance window ends and
resume at the next maintenance window.
b. Run a parallel upgrade instead of a rolling upgrade so that node
pairs are unaffected.
c. Run a simultaneous upgrade instead of a rolling upgrade to incur
minimal downtime.
d. Halt the upgrade before the maintenance window ends and restart
at the next maintenance window.

Question

5. The organization is planning to replace existing drives across several

nodes with higher capacity drives. From an administration perspective,
what must be a consideration to ensure the cluster functions as
expected after the replacement?
a. Update the firmware of all drives to standardize version and
compatibility.
b. Apply a standard patch to the new drives added to each node.

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 Assessment Questions

c. SmartFail the nodes with new drives and run FlexProtect after
adding them back.
c. Perform a parallel upgrade to the cluster to standardize the
OneFS version.

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 Course Completion

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