Pillar Axiom 600 Storage System
 
Pillar Axiom 500 Storage System
 

PLA-Support>Sun Systems>DISK>Axiom>SN-DK: Ax600
 

In this Document

Goal

Solution

References

Applies to:

Goal

The purpose of this document is to outline code update procedures for Axiom Systems

REFERENCE - Pillar Axiom: How to Find Pillar Axiom firmware and patches in My Oracle Support <Document 1422199.1>

Solution

 

Overview and Notes

• This procedure applies to upgrades of the Ax500 and Ax600 from Release 4 to Release 5.x.
• This upgrade procedure is intended to be performed by the Axiom storage administrator. Oracle Support Services is available upon request.
• This upgrade does not apply to the Ax300, as it is not supported in R5.x.
• Release 05.00.xx (R5.0) or higher does not support NAS.
• The Axiom must be at 04.05.00 or higher to upgrade to R5.x.
• The upgrade from R4 to R5.x is disruptive and cannot be reversed with data intact.
• The upgrade to R5.x from R4 is done with only the Ax500 or Ax600 FN .tgz hardware dependent package.
• The R5 GUI and axiomcli use TCP port 26008. Firewalls should be configured in advance of the upgrade to allow this port.
• Please read this entire procedure in advance before attempting the upgrade so you are familiar with the process and concepts. Use this procedure as a step by step guide during the upgrade.

Pre-Requisites/Planning for Upgrade

• Axiom software is available via the My Oracle Support portal.
• AxiomONE Replication for SAN is no longer supported as of R5.x. If you are using AxiomONE Replication, contact your account representative for upgrade options.
• Scripts and applications using the axiomcli or pdscli will no longer be compatible with the R5.x implementation. The pdscli is no longer available.
• The upgrade from R4 to R5.x requires a pre-upgrade system audit to ensure the system configuration can be successfully converted to the R5 format. An axiom log set with the System Configuration option is required for this audit. If this audit fails, the upgrade will not be approved without corrective action or advice from Engineering. The storage configuration [LUN storage objects] should not be changed after the audit logs are collected. If the storage configuration is changed after the audit, the audit is invalid and must be repeated.
• Open a Service Request for the upgrade. This will be used for tracking of the above mentioned audit and any other questions that arise. Your account representative may collect additional information regarding replication strategy and your environment. Please allow time for the log collection and audit when planning the upgrade.

For example:

• Ax500_FN_050001-048900.tgz to upgrade an Ax500 to 05.00.01
• Ax600_FN_050001-048900.tgz to upgrade an Ax600 to 05.00.01

Time Required for the Upgrade

• Allow at least 3 working days before the upgrade for the pre-upgrade audit and resolution of any issues discovered.
• When scheduling the maintenance upgrade, please allow additional time in the event there are issues with the upgrade and recovery is required. The upgrade typically requires less than two hours, which does not include preparing client hosts for the disruptive upgrade. Systems with very large configurations may take up to an hour longer.
• The single FN upgrade package may be downloaded and staged to the Axiom in advance. Staging the upgrade package has no effect on the Axiom.

Perform the Upgrade

• The upgrade is performed with the single FN package.
• Do not stage any 05.00.xx version on a system with a NAS Slammer. The NAS protocol is not currently supported.
• The upgrade package should be staged in advance to avoid extending the maintenance period. The client used for staging will require 2-3 Gigabytes of free space for the 1 Gb package file and the temporary file created on the client during staging.
• Set the Administrator Account Timeout to at least 90 minutes. Staging on slow or high latency network links may require a higher value.
• Stage the Ax500_FN_05NNNN-nnnnnn.tgz or Ax600_FN_05 NNNN-nnnnnn.tgz package with the GUI or CLI.
• Verify that the Staging completes successfully. Check the Event Log for the “Stage Software Update package by administrator succeeded.” event. Check the Software Modules screen and make sure the last staged package matches the R5.x version to be installed. If you are unable to stage the upgrade package, contact Oracle Technical Support for assistance.
• Make sure that all appropriate software components have selected Checkboxes and that no component is labeled as Incompatible with System. Contact the Support Center if any component is labeled as incompatible.
  NOTE: In the software modules screen, its normal to not see check box's for the Slammer PROM and Brick Firmware.  During an R4 to R5 upgrade the Slammer PROM and Brick Firmware is handled by the pilot after the pilots have been upgraded to R5.  Just make sure all available checkboxes are checked including the system restart check box.                                                                                                                    NOTE: If your Axiom does not have a particular component installed, you will not see a check box for that component. For example, if there are no FC V2 Bricks installed, the Brick FC2 Firmware component will display nothing for installed version and may not have a check box.
• If you get the following error - Software upgrade staging fails with "Body of the request is greater than the maximum size allowed"

  Use axiomcli to upload the package
  Download the axiomcli from the Axiom GUI in Support/Download Utilities/Command Line Interface
  axiomcli axiom_login -u administrator -p password hostname_or_ip
  axiomcli ec_update -add -package Ax600_FN_050xxx-yyyyyy.tgz
  
  Note: the ec_update command cannot take a filename with spaces in the file or the file path

Stop here if you will not be upgrading the Axiom at this time. The software update package has been staged successfully and is ready for installation.

Installing the Upgrade

• Set the Administrator Account Timeout to at least 90 minutes.
• Collect a System Information File and save it locally. You may be asked to send this file to the Oracle Support Center if problems occur on the upgrade. Do not clear the system logs unless you are specifically requested to do so by the Support Center.
• Verify System Health. The system and all components must be in Green and Normal status.
• Verify LUN Status. All LUNs should be “Online” with no Conservative, Degraded, or Offline status or Pinned Data. If any are in state other than “Online” do not continue the upgrade without contacting the Oracle Support Center.
• Check for Administrator Actions. If there are any Administrator Actions, contact the Support Center to make sure it is safe to proceed with the upgrade.
• Stop all Client I/O, Replication, Scripts, and Monitoring. This is a disruptive upgrade, where the system configuration is migrated from R4 to R5 format. Any I/O, creation or deletion of Clones/Snapshots, or repeated requests from monitoring applications could interfere with this upgrade.
• [Optional, Recommended] Disable Callhome. If you disable Callhome, be sure to re-enable it and perform a Test Callhome after the upgrade.
• Check for Running Tasks. The upgrade will not progress if there are any running tasks. A common cause of the upgrade not beginning, with no task displayed, is an event driven callhome in progress.
• Start the Upgrade. On the GUI Support Software Modules screen, select the Update Software action from the menu.

***IMPORTANT: Do not modify the upgrade options presented. The Axiom will select the correct components and the restart system option.
Download and install the R5 GUI Client. After your GUI session disconnects, wait a few minutes and then log into the web interface to download the Java based Axiom Storage Services Manager GUI Application.

***IMPORTANT: The R5 GUI client, the MaxRep Engine, and the R5 AxiomCLI use TCP Port 26008. This port must be open between any client used to monitor or configure the Axiom and the three Pilot IP addresses.

***NOTE: The technical documentation, AxiomCLI, SNMP MIB, VDS Provider, VSS Provider, and Statistics Tool may also be downloaded from this web interface. All of these are new versions which are required for R5. A summary of the system status, System Alerts [replacement for Administrator Actions], and recent events is available over the web interface for smart phones or similar devices. All management of the Axiom is done with the Storage Services Manager GUI client.

Log on to the Axiom. Start the GUI Client and enter the Axiom name or IP address. During the first system boot on R5, only the “administrator” and “pillar” account will be able to log in until the Axiom has booted far enough to load the System Configuration Database from the Bricks.
Check System Status. The status summary is on the main Configure -> Summary -> System screen as a text status, and on the bottom left as pictorial status. The system status is also available without a login on the web interface at http://Your_Axiom.

After the upgrade completes:

NOTE: The system event log, available on the Monitor -> Event Log screen will only display new events generated after the upgrade to R5.x. All events from R4 and below are discarded during the upgrade.

• On the Configure -> Summary -> System screen, the “Status:” value should be “Normal”. Verify that the Serial Number and the number of Slammers and Bricks are correct. If the Axiom has completed the startup process, you may want to update the new fields available on this screen.
• On the bottom left, the first icon should be a green dot. The next icon should be black. There should not be a flashing yellow triangle indicating a System Alert. If the flashing triangle is present, open each System Alert and check the details. Contact the Support Center for assistance.
• Click the left icon on the bottom of the screen to go to the Monitor -> Status Summary screen. The status of all Slammers and Bricks should be Normal. The status of the Pilot should be Normal with one CU Mode Active and one Mode Standby.
• Go to the Support -> Software Modules screen. Check the Installed Software Components. There should be only one version displayed for each software component except disk drive firmware.
• Check Data Status. Go to the Configure screen and select Storage -> SAN -> LUNs. Check the Status column to make sure all LUNs are Online.
• Re-enable Callhome. If callhome was disabled for the upgrade, re-enable and test callhome.
• Collect System Information on the Support -> Tools -> screen, right-click and select Create Log Bundle. Enter “R5 Upgrade” as the Collection Reason and leave all devices selected. If Callhome is enabled, optionally select “Automatically send log bundle to Call-Home server.”
• Bring up Application Hosts. If the Axiom is in Normal state and all data resources are online, bring up the application client hosts and resume operation.

References

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