Upgrade host requirements

About upgrade hosts

An upgrade host is a system from which you install the Data ONTAP upgrade package on your storage system. There are several types of upgrade host, which determine how you install an upgrade package:

From a Windows or UNIX client using the CIFS or NFS protocols
You copy the Data ONTAP upgrade package to a client directory that is mapped as a drive (Windows) or mounted (UNIX) from the storage system being upgraded. You then use commands on the client system to unpack the upgrade package.

Note
To use this method, the CIFS or NFS protocols must be licensed on the storage system.

The iSCSI protocol provides limited CIFS functionality. However, it is not sufficient to create shares on the storage system for the upgrade package, or to use Windows client commands to proceed with the upgrade process.
From a Windows or UNIX client using the Upgrade Utility
You use the Data ONTAP Upgrade Utility to copy the Data ONTAP upgrade package to a storage system and to unpack the upgrade package. This method can be used if you do not have CIFS or NFS licensed on your storage system; for example, if you are serving data using the FCP or iSCSI protocol.

Note
You must be running Java on the storage system to use the Upgrade Utility.
From an HTTP server
You copy the Data ONTAP upgrade package to an HTTP server, then copy it to the storage system and unpack it using commands on the storage system console. This method can be used if you do not have CIFS or NFS licensed on your storage system, if you want to distribute Data ONTAP upgrade packages to multiple storage systems using an HTTP server, or if you want to use installation scripts. For information about the console, see the System Administration Guide.

The host from which you upgrade your storage system must have access to at least one of the following:

The NOW site
A CD-ROM drive
An HTTP server containing Data ONTAP updates

For detailed instructions about preparing an upgrade host, see Installing Data ONTAP system files.

Requirements for the client

You must be able to administer the storage system from the client.

The following lists the requirements for each type of client.

UNIX client--any available version of UNIX
Windows client--any version of Windows (Windows NT must be version 3.51 or later.)

The client is usually the storage system's administration (admin) host. For information about admin hosts, see the System Administration Guide.

Requirements for the HTTP server

You must be able to serve the upgrade package from the HTTP server, and you must know the exact URL (including any necessary host and port information) to enter at the storage system console.