penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 part 3 revision 0.

synopsis The following is a simple document providing visual guidance on the process required upgrade the FLARE code on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 array.

penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 - part 3 - revision 0.1

table of contents introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3 process ...................................................................................................................................... 4 part 3 - installing FLARE code ................................................................................................... 4 table of figures Figure 1 - Install Software .......................................................................................................... 4 Figure 2 - Welcome to the Install Software Wizard ................................................................... 5 Figure 3 - Custom Install ........................................................................................................... 5 Figure 4 - Pre-Staged Packages ............................................................................................... 6 Figure 5 - Server readiness for software update ....................................................................... 7 Figure 6 - Override HA status for all servers warning ............................................................... 7 Figure 7 - Override HA status for all servers ............................................................................. 8 Figure 8 - Diagnostic Information Step - Gathering information ................................................ 8 Figure 9 - Diagnostic Information Step ...................................................................................... 9 Figure 10 - Diagnostic Information Step - Use existing information ........................................ 10 Figure 11 - Rule Checks .......................................................................................................... 10 Figure 12 - Rule Checks Warnings .......................................................................................... 11 Figure 13 - Processor Utilisation Check .................................................................................. 12 Figure 14 - Acceptable Processor Utilisation .......................................................................... 12 Figure 15 - Non-Disruptive Upgrade Delay ............................................................................. 13 Figure 16 - ESRS IP Client Notification ................................................................................... 14 Figure 17 - Confirmation .......................................................................................................... 14 Figure 18 - Software Maintenance Status ............................................................................... 15 Figure 19 - Software Maintenance Status - Show Steps......................................................... 16 Figure 20 - Software Maintenance Status - Further Progress ................................................. 17 Figure 21 - Software Maintenance Status - Further Progress ................................................. 18 Figure 22 - Software Maintenance Status - Complete ............................................................ 18 Figure 23 - Post-install Tasks .................................................................................................. 19 Figure 24 - USM - Diagnostics - Diagnostics .......................................................................... 20 Figure 25 - LCC Firmware (FRUMON) Status ........................................................................ 20 Figure 26 - LCC Firmware (FRUMON) Status ........................................................................ 21 Figure 27 - Commit Packages - Confirm ................................................................................. 22 Figure 28 - Commit Packages - Progress ............................................................................... 22 Figure 29 - Commit Packages - Commit successful ............................................................... 23 Figure 30 - Finish ..................................................................................................................... 24

penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 - part 3 - revision 0.1

introduction The following is part 3 in a series of simple documents aimed at providing visual guidance on the process required upgrade the FLARE code on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 array. These documents assume that a version of FLARE 30 is already installed on the array, although the steps for FLARE 29 and below are not significantly different. These documents assume that you have access to EMCs Unisphere Service Manager (USM) on a Windows platform, and that you have downloaded copies of the FLARE code, Recovery Image and Utility Partition Image. These documents are not intended as a replacement for EMCs official procedure guides, but rather should be used in conjunction with documentation available from Powerlink (http://powerlink.emc.com). You should also refer to http://www.emc.com/cx4support for customized documentation. The normal warnings and caveats apply when upgrading firmware on an array, particularly if it has data on it that is valuable to you. Backup first, and dont come crying to me if you break something.

penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 - part 3 - revision 0.1

process There are 4 basic steps to upgrading FLARE code on a CX4 array: Installing / upgrading Unisphere Service Manager (covered in part 1); Preparing for Installation (covered in part 2) Upgrading FLARE code (covered in part 3); Upgrading the Recovery Image (covered in part 4); and Upgrading the Utility Partition (covered in part 4). part 3 - installing FLARE code So now it gets really exciting. Thats right, its time to actually load some code on the array. I know, youre trembling with anticipation. And the first time you do it, it will be pretty exciting. After a few hundred, its not quite as riveting. But I digress. Once the installation preparation process is completed (covered in part 2 of this series), youre ready to move on to the next phase by clicking on Install Software (Step 2).

Figure 1 - Install Software As youve already completed the Prepare for Installation step, you have the option to perform an Express Install.

penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 - part 3 - revision 0.1

Figure 2 - Welcome to the Install Software Wizard In this example, however, Ive selected Custom Install to demonstrate all of the steps that go into upgrading the code. Ill provide examples of an express install at a later point in this document series. Click next to proceed with the Custom Install.

Figure 3 - Custom Install

penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 - part 3 - revision 0.1

During the previous phase, the software was pre-staged for deployment. Confirm that it is the correct version and click on Next. At this point you could also choose to change the software youre installing.

Figure 4 - Pre-Staged Packages Once again, youll need to confirm the HA status of the servers attached to the array.

penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 - part 3 - revision 0.1

Figure 5 - Server readiness for software update If you know there will be availability issues with these servers, I suggest you rectify these issues first.

Figure 6 - Override HA status for all servers warning

penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 - part 3 - revision 0.1

Once youve done that, you can select to override the warning and click Next to continue with the installation.

Figure 7 - Override HA status for all servers At this point, USM checks in the repository for diagnostic information.

Figure 8 - Diagnostic Information Step - Gathering information

penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 - part 3 - revision 0.1

Assuming that it hasnt been too long between when you performed the Pre-installation and when youre upgrading the software, it should be safe to use the existing diagnostic information.

Figure 9 - Diagnostic Information Step Select Use the existing diagnostic information and click Next to continue.

penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 - part 3 - revision 0.1

Figure 10 - Diagnostic Information Step - Use existing information USM then performs a series of Rules Checks to ensure that everything is in order for the installation to proceed.

Figure 11 - Rule Checks

penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 - part 3 - revision 0.1

Note in this example that a scheduled activity will be interrupted by the NDU. While this isnt a problem for the lab Im using, you should be mindful of such interruptions in a production scenario. If youre happy with the results of the Rules Checks, and there are no Errors, you can click Next to proceed to the next step.

Figure 12 - Rule Checks Warnings USM then checks that processor utilisation on the array is acceptable. The point of this is that, for a period of time while storage processors reboot, all of the arrays workload will be hosted by one SP. If the CPU is already getting belted, it might be wise to re-schedule. This check can be overridden, but I dont recommend that you do this on production arrays.

penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 - part 3 - revision 0.1

Figure 13 - Processor Utilisation Check In this example, the lab array is doing sweet FA, so click on Next to continue.

Figure 14 - Acceptable Processor Utilisation

penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 - part 3 - revision 0.1

Set the NDU delay here. Note that by default it is set to 360 seconds, and it is strongly recommended that you dont change this setting unless you have a particularly good reason.

Figure 15 - Non-Disruptive Upgrade Delay On the next screen youll be notified that the ESRS IP Client (also known as CLARalert) will be disabled until the upgrade is complete. This is EMCs way of being nice to their triage staff by not sending false positive alerts when SPs reboot.

penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 - part 3 - revision 0.1

Figure 16 - ESRS IP Client Notification You ready to go? USM is ready to go, so click Next to go.

Figure 17 - Confirmation

penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 - part 3 - revision 0.1

And were off and running. If youre like me, you wont want to move from your desk while this is going just in case. But you should probably relax and maybe go and get a bite to eat, because it will take a while to complete.

Figure 18 - Software Maintenance Status If you click on Show Steps you can see the, er, steps that its going through.

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Figure 19 - Software Maintenance Status - Show Steps Like I said, it will take a while to complete. Although the Estimated Total Time Remaining is rarely accurate.

penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 - part 3 - revision 0.1

Figure 20 - Software Maintenance Status - Further Progress At this point its rebooting the Secondary SP (SP B). It always does it on SP B first, in case theres a problem. It seems that recovering an array is easier to do when SP A is not totally broken.

penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 - part 3 - revision 0.1

Figure 21 - Software Maintenance Status - Further Progress And its done. And all green ticks to boot. Hooray!

Figure 22 - Software Maintenance Status - Complete

penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 - part 3 - revision 0.1

At this point USM offers to commit the FLARE code on the array. While the array is running new code at this stage, if the software is not committed, it is possible to roll the software back. However, it should be noted that, while you can service I/O while FLARE is not committed, you cant do useful things like bind LUNs, RAID Groups and Storage Pools. So unless theres an obvious problem, most folk will take a punt and commit the packages. If youve got no storage configuration tasks on the horizon, leave it a day or two and make sure theres no obvious problems. Of course, if youve just upgraded to Release 30.524 so you can support 3TB drives on the array, and you have a guy ready to shunt those drives in a DAE the moment the code is committed, then you might not be able to wait that long. Before you commit the FLARE code, you should check whether the LCC firmware has been successfully upgraded. On a small array with a few DAEs, this wont take too long. On a larger array (a CX4-960 with 64 DAEs for example) this might take a little longer.

Figure 23 - Post-install Tasks In USM, go to the Diagnostics section. Under the Tools section on the right-hand side of USM, you can select the LCC and Power Supply Firmware Update Status option.

penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 - part 3 - revision 0.1

Figure 24 - USM - Diagnostics - Diagnostics This screen provides information on the status of LCC Firmware (FRUMON) updates that are kicked off by installing new versions of FLARE. Not every version of FLARE has new LCC firmware, but its always a good idea to check.

Figure 25 - LCC Firmware (FRUMON) Status

penguinpunk.net upgrading FLARE on an EMC CLARiiON CX4 - part 3 - revision 0.1

When you click on Show details youll get a screen full of LCC revisions. Depending on the number and type of DAEs, the time it takes to complete this operation will vary greatly, and can be time consuming.

Figure 26 - LCC Firmware (FRUMON) Status Once the LCC firmware is complete and youre happy that everything is working as expected, you can commit the FLARE code. To do this, click on the Run button in the Post-install Tasks screen. Youll also get a warning about write cache. But that shouldnt worry you because youre doing this during a quiet period on the array, right?

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Figure 27 - Commit Packages - Confirm This takes a little time to complete.

Figure 28 - Commit Packages - Progress

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Once its complete, therell be a nice green tick in the Details column and you can click on Next to continue.

Figure 29 - Commit Packages - Commit successful The Finish screen provides information on the completed activities and lets you know that youre finished. If youve registered your array for support with EMC or a third-party support provider, you can automatically notify them of the upgrade at this point. Of course youve probably already talked to them about the upgrade, or you dont have support, or you prefer to do it the old-fashioned way. Its your choice.

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Figure 30 - Finish