Veritas NetBackup™ Appliance Upgrade Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): Appliances (3.0)
Platform: NetBackup Appliance OS

Pre-upgrade tasks for appliance upgrades

To prepare for an upgrade to version 3.1.2, the following tasks must be performed on each appliance that you plan to upgrade:

Stop all backup jobs and run a software self-test

The preflight check verifies whether there are any active jobs. To help ensure a successful upgrade, perform the following:

Note:

For appliances (nodes) in a high availability (HA) setup, perform a switchover before you stop the jobs and run the software self-test. See Perform a switchover for appliances in an HA setup.

  • Log on to the NetBackup Administration Console as the administrator.

  • Before master server upgrades, pause all jobs and any SLPs (Storage Lifecycle Policies).

  • Before media server upgrades, stop all jobs that are currently running and suspend the jobs that may start during the upgrade. You must prevent jobs from attempting to start on the media server during an upgrade.

  • After all jobs have been stopped or suspended and all SLPs have been paused, run the following command from the NetBackup Appliance Shell Menu for a validation test:

    Support > Test Software

    The software self-test result must show Pass.

    Note:

    This command performs a backup and a restore test to the /tmpdirectory. If the /tmp directory for the appliance you are upgrading is on the NetBackup exclude list, you must remove it from that list before you run the self-test command. Otherwise, the self-test fails.

Perform a switchover for appliances in an HA setup

Appliances (nodes) in an HA setup are updated one at a time. Both nodes must use the same appliance software version. Once you have upgraded one node, you must upgrade the other node immediately.

Either node can be upgraded first. However, upgrades cannot be performed on the node where MSDP services and jobs are in progress. Before you begin an upgrade on the node that is running MSDP, you must first perform a switchover to transfer the MSDP workload to the partner node. Use the following command to perform a switchover:

Main_Menu > Manage > HighAvailability > Switchover > hostname

Where hostname is the physical host name or IP address of the partner node.

When the upgrade on this node has completed, perform another switchover to transfer the MSDP workload from the partner node to the upgraded node. Immediately upgrade the partner node.

Delete previously downloaded release updates, client packages, and client add-ons

To make sure that there is enough space for the installation of the new version, all previously downloaded release updates, client packages, and client add-ons must be removed from the appliance before the upgrade.

If you do not delete the previously downloaded packages and the /inst directory on the appliance does not contain enough space, the preflight check notifies you of the problem and prevents the upgrade. Even if enough space exists to allow the upgrade to start, the upgrade may fail if the old client add-ons are not removed.

Note:

As a best practice, always remove downloaded packages after all appliances and clients have been upgraded.

For downloaded packages on high availability (HA) nodes, you must remove the packages from both nodes.

The following table describes the package removal methods for appliances that never had version 2.6.0.1 installed.

Note:

If the appliance that you want to upgrade has ever had appliance version 2.6.0.1 installed, a different method is required for the client package removal. For details, refer to the information that appears below the table.

Table: Methods for deleting previously downloaded release updates, client packages, and client add-ons (for appliances that never had version 2.6.0.1 installed)

NetBackup Appliance Web Console

NetBackup Appliance Shell Menu

  • On the appliance to be upgraded, select Manage > Software Updates.

  • In the Downloaded Software Updates table, click the radio button to the left of a release update, client package, or client add-on in the list, then click Delete.

  • On the appliance to be upgraded, check for all downloaded release updates and client packages by entering the following command: Manage > Software > List Downloaded.

  • To remove each downloaded release update and client package, enter the following command: Manage > Software > Delete update_name. Where update_name is the release update or the client package file name.

  • To see a list of all downloaded client add-ons, enter the following command: Manage > Software > List AddOns.

  • To remove each downloaded client add-on, enter the following command: Manage > Software > Rollback eeb_name. Where eeb_name is the client add-on file name.

    Note:

    You must include the .rpm extension when you enter the client add-on file name.

  • For appliances that once used version 2.6.0.1

    If the appliance that you want to upgrade has ever had appliance version 2.6.0.1 installed, the client packages for that version remain on the appliance even if it has been upgraded to a later version. If the appliance was purchased with version 2.6.0.1 or if you ever upgraded to version 2.6.0.1, you must perform the following tasks to delete the 2.6.0.1 client packages. The only exception is if the appliance was re-imaged to a version different than 2.6.0.1.

    To delete version 2.6.0.1 client packages from an appliance:

    • Open a web browser or an SSH session to the Veritas appliance software update release page.

    • Download and install any later version of the client packages onto the appliance.

    • Delete the newly installed client packages from the NetBackup Appliance Shell Menu. This action also deletes the 2.6.0.1 client packages.

      Note:

      The client packages cannot be deleted from the NetBackup Appliance Web Console.

Obtain necessary third-party plug-ins

Since all NetBackup appliances with version 2.6.1.2 and earlier use SLES version third-party plug-ins, upgrades to version 2.7.1 and later require that these plug-ins be replaced with the appropriate RHEL versions. If the preflight upgrade script identifies any required RHEL third-party plug-ins that are not found, the upgrade is not allowed to proceed.

Note:

The preflight upgrade script only identifies those plug-ins that are required for the upgrade. When version 2.7.1 was released, some third-party vendors had not yet completed development of their RHEL equivalent plug-ins. Make sure to check those vendor websites periodically for any additional plug-ins that you may need.

To install RHEL plug-ins, do the following:

Update firewall rules for new Veritas servers

Due to the company separation of Veritas from Symantec, some important server changes occurred that affect NetBackup appliance environments. These changes affect SORT, the NetBackup Product Improvement Program, appliance registration, and AutoSupport. Depending on your firewall settings and your proxy settings, you may need to make updates to maintain existing functionality. For specific information on these changes, refer to the following Tech Alert on the Veritas Support website:

https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.INFO2803

Update disk drive firmware

The preflight check alerts you if it detects a disk drive firmware version that is earlier than 0006. If an earlier disk drive firmware version is detected, the preflight check blocks the upgrade. You must update the disk drive firmware to version 0006 or later before you can upgrade the appliance. This update addresses important disk drive performance issues.

The preflight check alerts you if it detects an older disk drive firmware version that can prevent the upgrade.

Caution:

The preflight check for version 3.1.2 upgrades provides the wrong disk drive firmware version of 0006. This version allows the upgrade to proceed, however the upgrade is likely to fail. Before you can upgrade to appliance release 3.1.2, you must first make sure that the disk drive firmware version on the appliance is A006.

For complete details about updating the disk drive firmware, refer to following article:

https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.100033458.html