Choose from the following methods to upgrade your cluster to Sun Cluster 3.2 software:
Standard upgrade – In a standard upgrade, you shut down the cluster before you upgrade the cluster nodes. You return the cluster to production after all nodes are fully upgraded. Use this method if you are upgrading from a Sun Cluster 3.0 release.
Dual-partition upgrade - In a dual-partition upgrade, you divide the cluster into two groups of nodes. You bring down one group of nodes and upgrade those nodes. The other group of nodes continues to provide services. After you complete upgrade of the first group of nodes, you switch services to those upgraded nodes. You then upgrade the remaining nodes and boot them back into the rest of the cluster. The cluster outage time is limited to the amount of time needed for the cluster to switch over services to the upgraded partition.
Observe the following additional restrictions and requirements for the dual–partition upgrade method:
Sun Cluster HA for Sun Java System Application Server EE (HADB) - If you are running the Sun Cluster HA for Sun Java System Application Server EE (HADB) data service with Sun Java System Application Server EE (HADB) software as of version 4.4, you must shut down the database before you begin the dual-partition upgrade. The HADB database does not tolerate the loss of membership that would occur when a partition of nodes is shut down for upgrade. This requirement does not apply to versions before version 4.4.
Data format changes - Do not use the dual-partition upgrade method if you intend to upgrade an application that requires that you change its data format during the application upgrade. The dual-partition upgrade method is not compatible with the extended downtime that is needed to perform data transformation.
Location of application software - Applications must be installed on nonshared storage. Shared storage is not accessible to a partition that is in noncluster mode. Therefore, it is not possible to upgrade application software that is located on shared storage.
Division of storage - Each shared storage device must be connected to a node in each group.
Single-node clusters - Dual-partition upgrade is not available to upgrade a single-node cluster. Use the standard upgrade or live upgrade method instead.
Minimum Sun Cluster version - The cluster must be running a Sun Cluster 3.1 release before you begin the dual-partition upgrade.
Configuration changes - Do not make cluster configuration changes that are not documented in the upgrade procedures. Such changes might not be propagated to the final cluster configuration. Also, validation attempts of such changes would fail because not all nodes are reachable during a dual-partition upgrade.
Live upgrade - A live upgrade maintains your previous cluster configuration until you have upgraded all nodes and you commit to the upgrade. If the upgraded configuration causes a problem, you can revert to your previous cluster configuration until you can rectify the problem.
Observe the following additional restrictions and requirements for the live upgrade method:
Minimum Sun Cluster version - The cluster must be running a Sun Cluster 3.1 release before you begin the live upgrade.
Minimum version of Live Upgrade software - To use the live upgrade method, you must use the Solaris Live Upgrade packages from at least the Solaris 9 9/04 or Solaris 10 release. This requirement applies to clusters running on all Solaris OS versions, including Solaris 8 software. The live upgrade procedures provide instructions for upgrading these packages.
Dual-partition upgrade - The live upgrade method cannot be used in conjunction with a dual-partition upgrade.
Non-global zones - The live upgrade method does not support the upgrade of clusters that have non-global zones configured on any of the cluster nodes. Instead, use the standard upgrade or dual-partition upgrade method.
Disk space - To use the live upgrade method, you must have enough spare disk space available to make a copy of each node's boot environment. You reclaim this disk space after the upgrade is complete and you have verified and committed the upgrade. For information about space requirements for an inactive boot environment, refer to Solaris Live Upgrade Disk Space Requirements in Solaris 9 9/04 Installation Guide or Allocating Disk and Swap Space in Solaris 10 Installation Guide: Solaris Live Upgrade and Upgrade Planning.
For overview information about planning your Sun Cluster 3.2 configuration, see Chapter 1, Planning the Sun Cluster Configuration.