Setup Guide

ManualsBrandsDell ManualsCompellent (SCPowerStore 9000T

Rev. A03

January 2021

Dell EMC PowerStore Software Upgrade Guide

This document describes how to upgrade the software on your PowerStore cluster.

Topics:

• Upgrading PowerStore T model clusters

• Upgrading PowerStore X model appliances

• Additional Resources

Performing a software upgrade on a PowerStore cluster does not stop I/O. The nondisruptive upgrade process uses redundant

paths, ensuring that no more than one node is taken offline at any given time. Either node in your appliance can satisfy I/O

requirements. However, you cannot perform configuration and management operations on the PowerStore system while the

upgrade is in progress.

Similarly, during a PowerStore OS upgrade, the I/O and availability of the vVol-based VMs served from the PowerStore

cluster is not impacted. However, management operations on vVol-based VMs served from the PowerStore cluster cannot be

performed when the PowerStore VASA provider temporarily goes offline during the upgrade. Management operations such as

creating VMs, rebooting VMs, migrating VMs to other ESXi hosts, and taking VM snapshots cannot be performed while the

VASA provider is offline.

When the PowerStore OS upgrade is complete, wait five to ten minutes for the status of the PowerStore VASA Provider

to change to Online on the vCenter Server before creating storage containers or performing management operations on

vVol-based VMs.

NOTE:

Within this document, PowerStore software is the software upgrade package for a PowerStore system and

PowerStore OS is the operating system that runs on the nodes of a PowerStore appliance.

Upgrading PowerStore T model clusters

For the latest features and improvements, upgrade the PowerStore T model software on the PowerStore T model cluster to the

latest available version.

Perform the following steps to upgrade a PowerStore T model cluster:

1. Download the latest PowerStore T model software upgrade package from the Dell Digital Locker as described in the

Installation and Upgrade Considerations section of the PowerStore Release Notes.

2. Review the upgrade considerations in Upgrade readiness for PowerStore T model clusters on page 1.

3. Complete the steps in Upgrade the PowerStore T model software on page 2. The PowerStore T model software upgrade

takes approximately one hour to complete.

NOTE:

If the PowerStore T model software upgrade process fails, check for and resolve all critical alerts on the PowerStore

system and retry the upgrade.

Upgrade readiness for PowerStore T model clusters

Before upgrading, review the following considerations:

● Download the latest version of the PowerStore Release Notes to determine which software upgrade packages are required

to perform the PowerStore upgrade.

● You can upload up to ten upgrade packages on your PowerStore cluster at one time. However, after an upgrade starts, it

must be successfully completed across all appliances in the cluster before another upgrade can be performed.

● As a part of the upgrade process, the node that displays PowerStore Manager fails over to the peer node. During the

failover, you are disconnected from PowerStore Manager. You can log back in to PowerStore Manager after the failover

process is complete. For PowerStore clusters with two appliances, PowerStore Manager disconnects again when the second

Summary of content (8 pages)

PAGE 1
Rev. A03 January 2021 Dell EMC PowerStore Software Upgrade Guide This document describes how to upgrade the software on your PowerStore cluster. Topics: • • • Upgrading PowerStore T model clusters Upgrading PowerStore X model appliances Additional Resources Performing a software upgrade on a PowerStore cluster does not stop I/O. The nondisruptive upgrade process uses redundant paths, ensuring that no more than one node is taken offline at any given time.
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appliance performs its failover process. This second disconnect during failover does not occur for PowerStore clusters of three or more appliances. NOTE: On a PowerStore T model cluster with NAS services enabled, if changes are made to the CHAP settings, such as enabling or disabling CHAP, changing mutual CHAP to single CHAP, or changing single CHAP to mutual CHAP, you must: ● Reboot the cluster nodes one at a time as soon as possible after changing the CHAP settings.
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CAUTION: The internal nodes of a PowerStore X model appliance can only use ESXi updates that are qualified by Dell EMC and available for download from the Dell Digital Locker. Do not use ESXi updates that are obtained from VMware or any other source. Perform the PowerStore X model software upgrade by completing the following steps: 1.
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● Migrate the user VMs to other available hosts. ● Shut down the user VMs. NOTE: Any VMs that are migrated as a part of the upgrade process are not automatically migrated back to their original location after the upgrade is complete. Minimizing ESXi host failover occurrences When ESXi host updates are available for a PowerStore X model appliance, each ESXi host in the appliance must be placed into maintenance mode during the update process.
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Upgrade the PowerStore X model firmware Use PowerStore Manager to upgrade node firmware on a PowerStore X model appliance. Prerequisites If the PowerStore Release Notes do not indicate that node firmware upgrades are available or required, go to Update the PowerStore internal ESXi hosts on page 5. If the PowerStore Release Notes indicate that node firmware upgrades are available or required, perform the following prerequisite steps: Steps 1. Open PowerStore Manager. 2.
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NOTE: Before placing the ESXi host on one node of the appliance into maintenance mode, ensure that system resources are available on the other ESXI host to run the migrated user VMs. If the CPU and memory utilization on each ESXi host is greater than 75%, power off some user VMs or migrate them to another ESXi host using vMotion before placing ESXi host into maintenance mode. 8. Place the ESXi host on the peer node of the appliance into maintenance mode.
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b. In the vSphere Web Client, reboot the ESXi host for the peer node. For instructions, see the PowerStore Power Down and Reboot Procedures Guide. c. If the ESXi host on the peer node does not automatically exit maintenance mode after rebooting, manually exit maintenance mode on the peer node. d. Repeat the previous steps for the ESXi host on the primary node. 2. Open PowerStore Manager. 3. Select the Settings icon, and then select Upgrades in the Cluster section. 4.
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Notes, cautions, and warnings NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your product. CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem. WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death. © 2020 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Dell, EMC, and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries.