7.1 Requirements and Guidelines for Upgrading Clusters

As you upgrade a cluster to the next release version for the OES software, you have a mixed-mode cluster made up of nodes running the old platform and the next SP platform. In addition to the Section 4.0, Planning for OES Cluster Services, consider the following rules and recommendations for mixed clusters during an upgrade to the next release:

  • Mixed-mode clusters should be considered a temporary configuration that exists only during an upgrade.

  • Adding a new cluster node with the old version to a mixed-mode cluster is not supported.

  • NSS pool cluster resources can fail over to any node in the mixed-mode cluster.

  • LVM volume group cluster resources can fail over to any node in the mixed-mode cluster.

  • CSM cluster resources can fail over to any node in the mixed-mode cluster.

  • No storage management functions should be executed while a cluster is in mixed-mode unless you must do so as part of the documented upgrade process. Do not attempt to create, delete, expand, or modify the properties for partitions, pools, or volumes for any shared resources in the cluster.

7.1.1 Behavior of an NSS Pool Resource with Media Version 44.03 and Above in Mixed Node Cluster

A mixed node cluster environment can contain OES 11 SP2, OES 2015, OES 2015 SP1, OES 2018, OES 2018 SP1, OES 2018 SP2 and OES 2018 SP3 nodes. The AD media upgraded NSS32 and NSS64 pools cannot be loaded in OES 11 SP2 nodes.

When a resource comes online, it tries to load on a node based on the preferred node assignment (OES 2015 or later nodes), and the older OES cluster nodes are skipped from the preferred node list. If OES 2015 or later nodes are not available in the cluster, the resources are moved to “unassigned” state.

However, if the upgraded (OES 2015 or later) node comes up or any new OES (OES 2015 or later) node is added to the cluster, the resource will automatically loads on the OES 2015 or later node.

IMPORTANT:

  • All nodes in the cluster must be patched with the latest OES patches. Otherwise, the AD media resource goes to comatose state on nodes earlier than OES 2015.

  • All nodes in the cluster must belong to OES 11 SP2 or later. If any OES node in the cluster is older than OES 11 SP2, this feature does not work.

In NSS32 and NSS64 pool type, the pool status can be determined by the media version. Table 7-1 provides information about the NSS32 and NSS64 pool type media version.

Table 7-1 NSS Pool Media Version Details

Pool Media Version

Description

44.03

  • 44: An NSS32 pool that supports AD.

  • 03: All volumes are upgraded to support hard links.

51.00

  • 51: An NSS64 pool that supports AD by default.

  • 00: All volumes are upgraded to support hard links.

45.00

  • 45: An NSS32 pool that supports Trustee Index.

  • 00: Some volumes are not upgraded to support Trustee Index.

52.00

  • 52: An NSS64 pool that supports Trustee Index.

  • 00: Some volumes are not upgraded to support Trustee Index.

45.01

  • 45: An NSS32 pool that supports Trustee Index.

  • 01: All volumes are upgraded to support Trustee Index.

52.01

  • 52: An NSS64 pool that supports Trustee Index.

  • 01: All volumes are upgraded to support Trustee Index.

Similarly, the volume status can also be determined by the media version. Table 7-2 provides information about the NSS volume media version.

Table 7-2 NSS Volume Media Version Details

Volume Media Version

Description

38.05

  • 38: An NSS volume that supports Hard Link.

  • 05: An NSS volume is upgraded to support hard links.

41.00

  • 41: An NSS volume that supports Trustee Index.

  • 00: An NSS volume is not upgraded to support Trustee Index.

41.01

  • 41: An NSS volume that supports Trustee Index.

  • 01: An NSS volume is upgraded to support Trustee Index.