Chapter 1

Overview of the Upgrade Process

The upgrade process

The upgrade process requires the following main steps.

Step	Task
1	Plan your upgrade by familiarizing yourself with requirements and and issues described in Chapter 2, Before You Upgrade: What Is Required. Plan to do the following: Understand any requirements for upgrading to Data ONTAP 6.5.2 from your existing software. Note any potential changes to your system after the upgrade. If you have clustered filers, select an upgrade method. If you run SnapMirror, identify filers with destination and source volumes.
2	If necessary, perform any required preliminary upgrades before upgrading to Data ONTAP 6.5.2. Required upgrades might include the following: Performing an intermediate upgrade, as described in Resolving upgrade issues Upgrading the system firmware Upgrading disk firmware
3	Obtain the Data ONTAP system files from the NetApp® on the Web (NOW) site or the CD-ROM.
4	Install the 6.5.2 system files and download them to your filers as described in Chapter 4, Upgrading Filer Software.
5	Conclude the upgrade with any of the tasks discussed in Concluding the upgrade.

Upgrading from clients

The Data ONTAP Upgrade Utility is an alternative upgrade method. It is a Perl script that allows you to upgrade filers from UNIX or Windows clients. The script is also available in executable form for Windows clients. The utility is especially useful if you do not have Common Internet File System (CIFS) or Network File System (NFS) licensed--for example, on a filer serving only Fiber Channel Protocol (FCP)--and the conventional methods for copying system files to the filer are not available.

For more information about acquiring and using the Upgrade Utility, see the NOW site at http://now.netapp.com/NOW/download/tools/upgrade_ontap/.

Note
You must be running Java on the filer to use the Upgrade Utility.

Upgrade sources

The following are sources for upgrading firmware and system software:

The NOW site at http://now.netapp.com/
NOW login information is on the protocol license sheet sent with the filer.
The CD-ROM supplied in the media package

You can also find utilities on the NOW site that can help ensure an efficient upgrade. See the Tools & Utilities page at http://now.netapp.com/NOW/cgi-bin/toolsutils/.

Reverting to a previous release

For information about reverting to a previous Data ONTAP release, see Chapter 5, Reverting Filer Software.