Upgrading the Solaris OS

If your system is already configured with the Logical Domain software, then the control domain has to be upgraded. The other existing domains also have to be upgraded if you want to be able to use all features of the Logical Domains 1.2 software.

Refer to Required Software and Patches in Logical Domains 1.2 Release Notes to find the Solaris 10 OS that you should use for this version of the Logical Domains software, and the required and recommended patches for the different domains. Refer to the Solaris 10 installation guide for complete instructions for upgrading the Solaris OS.

When upgrading the Solaris OS in the control domain, you need to save and restore the Logical Domains autosave configuration data and the constraints database file, as described in this section.

Saving and Restoring Autosave Configuration Directories

Whenever you upgrade the operating system on the control domain, you must save and restore the Logical Domains autosave configuration data, which is found in the /var/opt/SUNWldm/autosave-autosave-name directories.

You can use the tar or cpio command to save and restore the entire contents of the directories.

Each autosave directory includes a timestamp for the last SP configuration update for the related configuration. If you restore the autosave files, the timestamp might be out of sync. In this case, the restored autosave configurations are shown in their previous state, either [newer] or up to date.

For more information about autosave configurations, see Managing Logical Domains Configurations.

Save and Restore Autosave Directories

This procedure shows how to save and restore the autosave directories.

1. Save the autosave directories.

   # cd / # tar -cvf autosave.tar var/opt/SUNWldm/autosave-*

2. (Optional) Remove the existing autosave directories to ensure a clean restore operation.

   Sometimes an autosave directory might include extraneous files, perhaps left over from a previous configuration, that might corrupt the configuration that was downloaded to the SP. In such cases, clean the autosave directory prior to the restore operation as shown in this example:

   # cd / # rm -rf var/opt/SUNWldm/autosave-*

3. Restore the autosave directories.

   These commands restore the files and directories in the /var/opt/SUNWldm directory.

   # cd / # tar -xvf autosave.tar

Saving and Restoring the Logical Domains Constraints Database File

Whenever you upgrade the operating system on the control domain, you must save and restore the Logical Domains constraints database file that can be found in /var/opt/SUNWldm/ldom-db.xml.

Also, save and restore the /var/opt/SUNWldm/ldom-db.xml file when you perform any other operation that is destructive to the control domain's file data, such as a disk swap.

Preserving the Logical Domains Constraints Database File When Using Live Upgrade

If you are using live upgrade on the control domain, consider adding the following line to the /etc/lu/synclist file:

/var/opt/SUNWldm/ldom-db.xml     OVERWRITE

This causes the database to be copied automatically from the active boot environment to the new boot environment when switching boot environments. For more information about /etc/lu/synclist and synchronizing files between boot environments, refer to Synchronizing Files Between Boot Environments in Solaris 10 5/09 Installation Guide: Solaris Live Upgrade and Upgrade Planning.

Upgrading From Solaris 10 OS Older Than Solaris 10 5/08 OS

If the control domain is upgraded from a Solaris 10 OS version older than Solaris 10 5/08 OS (or without patch 127127-11), and if volume manager volumes were exported as virtual disks, then the virtual disk backends must be re-exported with options=slice after the Logical Domain Manager has been upgraded. See Exporting Volumes and Backward Compatibility for more information.