Overview of Upgrading a Sun Cluster Configuration

This section provides the following guidelines to upgrade a Sun Cluster configuration:

• Upgrade Requirements and Restrictions

• Choosing a Sun Cluster Upgrade Method

Upgrade Requirements and Restrictions

Observe the following requirements and restrictions when you upgrade to Sun Cluster 3.1 4/04 software:

• The cluster must run on or be upgraded to at least Solaris 8 2/02 software, including the most current required patches.

• The cluster hardware must be a supported configuration for Sun Cluster 3.1 4/04 software. Contact your Sun representative for information about current supported Sun Cluster configurations.

• You must upgrade all software to a version that is supported by Sun Cluster 3.1 4/04 software. For example, if a data service is supported on Sun Cluster 3.0 software but is not supported on Sun Cluster 3.1 4/04 software, you must upgrade that data service to the version of that data service that is supported on Sun Cluster 3.1 4/04 software. If the related application of that data service is not supported on Sun Cluster 3.1 4/04 software, you must also upgrade that application to a supported release.

• The scinstall upgrade utility only upgrades those data services that are provided with Sun Cluster 3.1 4/04 software. You must manually upgrade any custom or third-party data services.

• For upgrade from a Sun Cluster 3.0 release, have available the test IP addresses to use with your public-network adapters when NAFO groups are converted to Internet Protocol (IP) Network Multipathing groups. The scinstall upgrade utility prompts you for a test IP address for each public-network adapter in the cluster. A test IP address must be on the same subnet as the primary IP address for the adapter.

  See the IP Network Multipathing Administration Guide (Solaris 8) or System Administration Guide: IP Services (Solaris 9) for information about test IP addresses for IP Network Multipathing groups.

• Sun Cluster 3.1 4/04 software supports only nonrolling upgrade from Solaris 8 software to Solaris 9 software.

• Sun Cluster 3.1 4/04 software supports direct upgrade only from Sun Cluster 3.x software.

• Sun Cluster 3.1 4/04 software does not support any downgrade of Sun Cluster software.

• Sun Cluster 3.1 4/04 software does not support upgrade between architectures.

• Sun Cluster 3.1 4/04 software does not support the Live Upgrade method to upgrade Solaris software in a Sun Cluster configuration.

Choosing a Sun Cluster Upgrade Method

Choose one of the following methods to upgrade your cluster to Sun Cluster 3.1 4/04 software:

• Nonrolling upgrade – In a nonrolling upgrade, you shut down the cluster before you upgrade the cluster nodes. You return the cluster to production after all nodes are fully upgraded. You must use the nonrolling-upgrade method if one or more of the following conditions apply:

  • You are upgrading from Sun Cluster 3.0 software.

  • You are upgrading from Solaris 8 software to Solaris 9 software.

  • Any software products that you are upgrading, such as applications or databases, require that the same version of the software is running on all cluster nodes at the same time.

  • You are also upgrading VxVM.

• Rolling upgrade – In a rolling upgrade, you upgrade one node of the cluster at a time. The cluster remains in production with services running on the other nodes. You can use the rolling-upgrade method only if all of the following conditions apply:

  • You are upgrading from Sun Cluster 3.1 software.

  • You are upgrading Solaris software only to a Solaris Update release, if at all.

  • For any applications or databases you must upgrade, the current version of the software can coexist in a running cluster with the upgrade version of that software.

If your cluster configuration meets the requirements to perform a rolling upgrade, you can still choose to perform a nonrolling upgrade instead.

For overview information about planning your Sun Cluster 3.1 4/04 configuration, see Chapter 1, Planning the Sun Cluster Configuration.