Upgrading to Data ONTAP 6.5 or later

Issues you must resolve before upgrading

The following sections discuss upgrade issues that you must resolve before upgrading to the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family:

New behavior in upgraded systems

The following sections discuss new behavior in systems that have been upgraded to the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family:

Filers with CompactFlash cards that use Open Firmware must be running firmware 4.2.2 or later

For NetApp filers that have CompactFlash cards and that run Open Firmware (OFW), you must upgrade the system firmware and diagnostics files to version 4.2.2 or later before upgrading to the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family. The Data ONTAP 6.5 image will not fit on the 32 MB CompactFlash cards as they are currently formatted. If you attempt to download Data ONTAP 6.5x on your filer before installing firmware version 4.2.2, the download will stop and the filer will display a message similar to the following:

download: Failed to repartition the card.

download: The current firmware version does not support 
repartitioning of the boot device as required.

download: Please update your system firmware to 4.2.2 or later 
prior to upgrading to this OS. The System Firmware area on the NOW 
site has further information.

Considerations concerning system firmware upgrades

Review the following issues before upgrading system firmware.

If you are running Data ONTAP 6.4.1, see Important caution for filers with CompactFlash cards running Data ONTAP 6.4.1, before you upgrade your system firmware and diagnostics to version 4.2.2 or later.
If you downloaded and installed the 4.2.2 or the 4.2.3 firmware upgrade, you must run the set-defaults command from the firmware ok prompt before rebooting your filer. For more information, see the Bug ID 105365 public report (on the NOW site at the following URL:
http://now.netapp.com/NOW/cgi-bin/bol?Type=Detail&Display=105365).
If you are upgrading from 4.2.2 or 4.2.3 to 4.3 or later system firmware, you must run the set-defaults command from the firmware ok prompt before rebooting into the new firmware version.
If you are running 4.3 or later system firmware, do not run the set-defaults command.

Filers affected

The following filers must be running firmware version 4.2.2 or later before upgrading to the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family:

F825
F880
FAS940
FAS960
R100
R150

You can find filer system firmware on the NOW site at http://now.netapp.com/NOW/download/tools/serviceimage/. Follow the instructions there to download and install the latest filer system firmware.

Important caution for filers with CompactFlash cards running Data ONTAP 6.4.1

If you are running Data ONTAP 6.4.1 on a filer that has a CompactFlash card and that runs Open Firmware (OFW), you must complete an additional procedure to manually format the service partition before upgrading the firmware to version 4.2.2 or later. If you do not complete this procedure, your filer will be unable to upgrade to 4.2.2 and future firmware releases. For more information, see the BURT 98952 public report on the NOW site at the following URL:
http://now.netapp.com/NOW/cgi-bin/bol?Type=Detail&Display=98952

Filers affected

This caution applies to the following filers running Data ONTAP 6.4.1 before upgrading to the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family:

F825
F880
FAS940
FAS960
R100
R150

You can find the NetApp OFW/Diagnostics Download Instructions for CompactFlash Units and firmware/diagnostics images on the NOW site at http://now.netapp.com/NOW/download/tools/serviceimage/30800128/.

Filers with CompactFlash cards must be running the latest version of Data ONTAP 6.4.x before upgrading to Data ONTAP 6.5x

If you are running a version of Data ONTAP earlier than 6.4.2 on filers that have a CompactFlash card, you must install Data ONTAP 6.4.2 or the latest Data ONTAP 6.4.x version, before upgrading to the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family. If you attempt to download Data ONTAP 6.5x on your filer before installing the latest version of Data ONTAP 6.4.x, the download will stop and the filer will display a message similar to the following:

download: The boot image is larger than the primary boot device 
(23068672 bytes instead of 11534336).

download: Reformatting boot device.

download: Unable to reformat the boot device. download failed. 
Cannot boot off disks with latest image

Filers affected

The following filers must be running Data ONTAP 6.4.2 or later before upgrading to the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family:

F87
F825
F880
FAS940
FAS960
R100
R150

You can download the latest release of Data ONTAP 6.4.x from the Download Software page (on the NOW site at http://now.netapp.com/NOW/cgi-bin/software/). Under Data ONTAP, select your platform, then select View & Download under the latest Data ONTAP 6.4.x release and follow the instructions.

To upgrade your filer software, follow the instructions specific to your filer in Upgrading Filer Software.

Upgrade recommendation for diskette-based filers before upgrading to Data ONTAP 6.5x

If you are upgrading a diskette-based filer from a version of Data ONTAP earlier than 6.2, NetApp recommends that you upgrade to Data ONTAP 6.3.3 or the latest 6.3.x release first before upgrading to the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family.

By upgrading in two steps, you reduce the number of Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) and Write Anywhere File Layout (WAFL) changes. As a result, the upgrade from Data ONTAP 6.3.3 to 6.5 should finish sooner with less risk of problems.

Filers affected

NetApp recommends that the following filers upgrade to Data ONTAP 6.3.3 or the latest 6.3.x release before upgrading to the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family:

F85
F700 series
F810
F820
F840

You can download Data ONTAP 6.3.3 from the Download Software page (on the NOW site at http://now.netapp.com/NOW/cgi-bin/software/). Under Data ONTAP, select your platform, then select View & Download under the Data ONTAP 6.3.3 release and follow the instructions.

Upgrade recommendation for filers with FC-AL adapters

When you upgrade to the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family, Network Appliance recommends that you configure your FC-AL adapters to run in 1-Gb and 2-Gb mode by changing the jumpers on the adapter. During the mandatory firmware upgrade, Network Appliance also recommends that you upgrade system firmware to 4.2.3 or later in order to be compatible with the new 1-Gb and 2-Gb setting.

Note
Do not apply any configuration changes to FCP target-mode adapters.

FC-AL adapters configured for 1-Gb operations will continue to work in a Data ONTAP 6.5 or later environment without resetting the jumpers or upgrading firmware. However, Network Appliance recommends 1-Gb and 2-Gb mode for optimal operation of these adapters.

Complete this procedure if your FC-AL adapters have the following marketing and spare part numbers:

X2050A (SP-2050A)--Connects to storage
X2051A (SP-2051A)--Connects to a tape backup device

To reconfigure your FC-AL adapters and upgrade firmware, complete the following steps.

Step	Action
1	Upgrade the filer system firmware to 4.2.3 or later. You can find filer system firmware on the Service Image page (on the NOW site at http://now.netapp.com/NOW/download/tools/serviceimage/). Follow the instructions given there to download and install filer system firmware 4.2.3 or later. Note If you downloaded and installed the 4.2.3 firmware upgrade, or if you are upgrading from 4.2.3 to 4.3 firmware, you must run the `set-defaults` command from the firmware `ok` prompt before rebooting your filer. For more information, see the Bug ID105365 public report (on the NOW site at http://now.netapp.com/NOW/cgi-bin/bol?Type=Detail&Display=105365).
2	Upgrade Data ONTAP to 6.5 or later.
3	Remove any FC-AL adapters from your system chassis and verify that jumpers J3 and J4 are set in the 1-2 position as described in "Configuring new and existing FC-AL adapters" (on the NOW site at http://now.netapp.com/NOW/knowledge/docs/hardware/filer/adapter.pdf). Reposition the jumpers if necessary.

Step

Action

Upgrade the filer system firmware to 4.2.3 or later. You can find filer system firmware on the Service Image page (on the NOW site at http://now.netapp.com/NOW/download/tools/serviceimage/). Follow the instructions given there to download and install filer system firmware 4.2.3 or later.

Note
If you downloaded and installed the 4.2.3 firmware upgrade, or if you are upgrading from 4.2.3 to 4.3 firmware, you must run the set-defaults command from the firmware ok prompt before rebooting your filer. For more information, see the Bug ID105365 public report (on the NOW site at http://now.netapp.com/NOW/cgi-bin/bol?Type=Detail&Display=105365).

Upgrade Data ONTAP to 6.5 or later.

Remove any FC-AL adapters from your system chassis and verify that jumpers J3 and J4 are set in the 1-2 position as described in "Configuring new and existing FC-AL adapters" (on the NOW site at http://now.netapp.com/NOW/knowledge/docs/hardware/filer/adapter.pdf). Reposition the jumpers if necessary.

Filers affected

FC-AL adapters can be installed on the following filers:

R200
FAS960
FAS940
F880
F825

OSSV Agent upgrade to version 1.1

Open Systems SnapVault^TM (OSSV) Agent 1.0 is incompatible with the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family. If you are upgrading to Data ONTAP 6.5x and you are using OSSV Agent 1.0, you must upgrade OSSV Agent to version 1.1. You can find OSSV Agent 1.1 on the Download Software page on the NOW site at the following URL:

http://now.netapp.com/NOW/cgi-bin/software

NetApp recommends that you upgrade the OSSV agent on your host platform before upgrading your filer to the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family.

SecureAdmin upgrade to 3.0 required

SecureAdmin^TM 2.2.1 and earlier software is incompatible with Data ONTAP 6.4 and later. If your filer is licensed for SecureAdmin and you are upgrading to the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family, you must be running SecureAdmin 3.0 or later. If you need to upgrade SecureAdmin, you can find it on the Download Software page on the NOW site at the following URL:

http://now.netapp.com/NOW/cgi-bin/software

NetApp recommends that you upgrade SecureAdmin on your host platform before upgrading your filer to the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family.

Caution
Failure to upgrade to SecureAdmin 3.0 will cause your filer to lose its SecureAdmin capabilities.

Recommendations for all filers upgrading to Data ONTAP 6.5x

The Data ONTAP 6.5 release family provides support for larger inodes. For the smoothest conversion to larger inodes, keep the following tips in mind before upgrading to Data ONTAP 6.5x:

Upgrade during non-peak hours.
Keep filer workload moderate to enable faster upgrade.
If you are serving files with the CIFS protocol, make sure the file system is not 100% full.
Avoid performing a quota initialization prior to upgrading. If a quota initialization is begun prior to upgrading, wait for the initialization to complete.
Note
Upgrading to the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family can take significantly longer to complete than upgrades to earlier releases. Depending on your system, the 6.5 upgrade can take several hours. During the upgrade, the filer will continue to serve data.

Increased disk and CPU activity in Data ONTAP 6.5x

After upgrading to the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family, you might observe disk LEDs blinking on an apparently idle system. You might also observe some CPU activity even when there is no user workload present. This is due to a default "media scrub" background process that continuously finds and cleans media errors on the filer disks. This process is designed to work in self-throttling mode with negligible impact on filer performance.

New access rules for /etc/exports file

In the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family, access rules in the /etc/exports file have changed. Rules that previously allowed read access to all hosts have been changed to allow no access. For example, this is a rule in pre-6.5 versions of Data ONTAP:

/vol/vol1 -rw=host1:host2

The rule meant that the hosts named host1 and host2 both had read-write access to vol1, while all other hosts had read access.

In Data ONTAP 6.5x, however, the rule now means that host1 and host2 have read-write access and all other hosts have no access. In order to allow read access for all hosts in 6.5, you need to add -ro after vol1 to allow read access to all hosts:

/vol/vol1 -ro,rw=host1:host2

The first time you upgrade to Data ONTAP 6.5x, the /etc/exports file is changed automatically to be sure your rules work the same way. The rule /vol/vol1 -rw=host1:host2 is converted to the form /vol/vol1 -ro,rw=host1:host2.

When subsequent upgrades are performed, Data ONTAP assumes that the rules in the /etc/exports file have already been converted and additional conversions do not take place.

Other changes to the /etc/exports file in the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family include the following:

Line length is no longer restricted.
The -access option is no longer available.
The -access option was used to list hosts that could have any access. Instead, the -rw and -ro options are used together to enable the same privileges.
You can now list netgroups in the rw=, ro=, and root= options.
The number of entries in an access option is no longer restricted.

RAID 4 groups size limits

When you upgrade to the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family, your existing volumes will be configured with RAID 4 protection and the existing volume's raidsize option, which controls the size of new RAID groups that might be created in the volume, will be changed to the default RAID 4 group size for your model appliance.

These are the default and maximum RAID 4 group sizes for NetApp appliances:

The R100 default and limit is 8.
The R150 default and limit is 6.
The R200 default and limit is 7.
The FAS250 default is 7, and the limit is 14.
The default for other appliances is 8, and the limit is 14.

The sizes of existing volumes' RAID groups will remain the same as before the Data ONTAP 6.5x upgrade, even if the size exceeds the new limits; however, the raidsize option will change to the new, reduced limit, and any new RAID groups that are created as disks are added to the volumes will conform to the new raidsize option.

Example

An R150 running Data ONTAP 6.4 has a volume RAID group size of 8. When the appliance is upgraded to Data ONTAP 6.5x, raidsize is changed to 6, the new limit.

Upgrading oversized RAID 4 groups to RAID DP

After the upgrade to the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family, if you have volumes with RAID 4 groups whose size exceeds the new RAID 4 limit, Network Appliance strongly recommends that you upgrade to RAID DP protection for those volumes. For volumes with oversized RAID groups, Data ONTAP issues a daily message similar to the following:

Wed Oct  1 03:44:51 GMT [raid.config.rg.size.reminder:warning]: 
vol1 has a raid group larger than the limit for raid4 raidtype 
(max. raid group size: 7, limit is 6). Convert the volume to 
raid_dp.

To convert the RAID protection from RAID 4 to RAID DP, complete the following steps.

Step	Action
1	Determine the number of RAID groups and the size of their parity disks in the volume by issuing the following command. *vol status volname* -r** volname is the name of the oversized RAID 4 volume.
2	Issue the following command to make sure that a hot spare disk exists on the filer for each RAID group listed for the volume, and make sure that the hot spare disks are equal in size to the existing parity disks in those RAID groups. vol status -s If necessary, add the appropriate number of disks of the appropriate size and checksum type to the spare pool.
3	Convert the RAID protection for the volume in question with the following command: *vol options volname* raidtype raid_dp** volname is the name of the volume you want to convert. Result Data ONTAP will convert the specified volume's RAID protection from RAID 4 to RAID DP. It will add a disk from the hot spare disk pool to each existing RAID group in the volume and make that disk the additional "dparity" disk to provide double parity protection. Any subsequent RAID groups that might be created as disks are added to the specified volume will conform to the new RAID DP group size defaults and limits for the NetApp appliance in question.

Step

Action

Determine the number of RAID groups and the size of their parity disks in the volume by issuing the following command.

vol status volname -r

volname is the name of the oversized RAID 4 volume.

Issue the following command to make sure that a hot spare disk exists on the filer for each RAID group listed for the volume, and make sure that the hot spare disks are equal in size to the existing parity disks in those RAID groups.

vol status -s

If necessary, add the appropriate number of disks of the appropriate size and checksum type to the spare pool.

Convert the RAID protection for the volume in question with the following command:

vol options volname raidtype raid_dp

volname is the name of the volume you want to convert.

Result

Data ONTAP will convert the specified volume's RAID protection from RAID 4 to RAID DP. It will add a disk from the hot spare disk pool to each existing RAID group in the volume and make that disk the additional "dparity" disk to provide double parity protection. Any subsequent RAID groups that might be created as disks are added to the specified volume will conform to the new RAID DP group size defaults and limits for the NetApp appliance in question.

Default and maximum RAID DP group sizes for the Data ONTAP 6.5 release family are as follows:

The R100 default and limit is 12.
The R150 default and limit is 12.
The R200 default and limit is 14.
The default for other appliances is 16, and the limit is 28.

For more information, see the Storage Management Guide.