Sun Cluster Upgrade Guide for Solaris OS

ProcedureHow to Upgrade the Solaris OS and Volume Manager Software (Standard)

Perform this procedure on each node in the cluster to upgrade the Solaris OS. On the Solaris 10 OS, perform all steps from the global zone only. If the cluster already runs on a version of the Solaris OS that supports Sun Cluster 3.2 1/09 software, further upgrade of the Solaris OS is optional. If you do not intend to upgrade the Solaris OS, proceed to How to Upgrade Sun Cluster 3.2 1/09 Software (Standard).


Note –

The cluster must already run on, or be upgraded to, at least the minimum required level of the Solaris OS to support upgrade to Sun Cluster 3.2 1/09 software. See Supported Products in Sun Cluster Release Notes for more information.


Before You Begin

Ensure that all steps in How to Prepare the Cluster for Upgrade (Standard) are completed.

  1. Become superuser on the cluster node to upgrade.

    If you are performing a dual-partition upgrade, the node must be a member of the partition that is in noncluster mode.

  2. Determine whether the following Apache run-control scripts exist and are enabled or disabled:


    /etc/rc0.d/K16apache
    /etc/rc1.d/K16apache
    /etc/rc2.d/K16apache
    /etc/rc3.d/S50apache
    /etc/rcS.d/K16apache

    Some applications, such as Sun Cluster HA for Apache, require that Apache run control scripts be disabled.

    • If these scripts exist and contain an uppercase K or S in the file name, the scripts are enabled. No further action is necessary for these scripts.

    • If these scripts do not exist, in Step 7 you must ensure that any Apache run control scripts that are installed during the Solaris OS upgrade are disabled.

    • If these scripts exist but the file names contain a lowercase k or s, the scripts are disabled. In Step 7 you must ensure that any Apache run control scripts that are installed during the Solaris OS upgrade are disabled.

  3. Comment out all entries for globally mounted file systems in the node's /etc/vfstab file.

    1. For later reference, make a record of all entries that are already commented out.

    2. Temporarily comment out all entries for globally mounted file systems in the /etc/vfstab file.

      Entries for globally mounted file systems contain the global mount option. Comment out these entries to prevent the Solaris upgrade from attempting to mount the global devices.

  4. Determine which procedure to follow to upgrade the Solaris OS.

    Volume Manager 

    Procedure 

    Location of Instructions 

    Solaris Volume Manager 

    Any Solaris upgrade method except the Live Upgrade method

    Solaris installation documentation 

    Veritas Volume Manager 

    “Upgrading VxVM and Solaris” 

    Veritas Volume Manager installation documentation 


    Note –

    If your cluster has VxVM installed, you must reinstall the existing VxVM software or upgrade to the Solaris 9 or 10 version of VxVM software as part of the Solaris upgrade process.


  5. Upgrade the Solaris software, following the procedure that you selected in Step 4.


    Note –

    Do not perform the final reboot instruction in the Solaris software upgrade. Instead, do the following:

    1. Return to this procedure to perform Step 6 and Step 7.

    2. Reboot into noncluster mode in Step 8 to complete Solaris software upgrade.


    • When prompted, choose the manual reboot option.

    • When you are instructed to reboot a node during the upgrade process, always reboot into noncluster mode. For the boot and reboot commands, add the -x option to the command. The -x option ensures that the node reboots into noncluster mode. For example, either of the following two commands boot a node into single-user noncluster mode:

    • On SPARC based systems, perform either of the following commands:


      phys-schost# reboot -- -xs
      or
      ok boot -xs
      

      If the instruction says to run the init S command, use the reboot -- -xs command instead.

    • On x86 based systems, perform the following command:


      phys-schost# shutdown -g -y -i0
      Press any key to continue
      1. In the GRUB menu, use the arrow keys to select the appropriate Solaris entry and type e to edit its commands.

        The GRUB menu appears similar to the following:


        GNU GRUB version 0.95 (631K lower / 2095488K upper memory)
        +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
        | Solaris 10 /sol_10_x86                                                  |
        | Solaris failsafe                                                        |
        |                                                                         |
        +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
        Use the ^ and v keys to select which entry is highlighted.
        Press enter to boot the selected OS, 'e' to edit the
        commands before booting, or 'c' for a command-line.

        For more information about GRUB based booting, see Booting an x86 Based System by Using GRUB (Task Map) in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration.

      2. In the boot parameters screen, use the arrow keys to select the kernel entry and type e to edit the entry.

        The GRUB boot parameters screen appears similar to the following:


        GNU GRUB version 0.95 (615K lower / 2095552K upper memory)
        +----------------------------------------------------------------------+
        | root (hd0,0,a)                                                       |
        | kernel /platform/i86pc/multiboot                                     |
        | module /platform/i86pc/boot_archive                                  |
        +----------------------------------------------------------------------+
        Use the ^ and v keys to select which entry is highlighted.
        Press 'b' to boot, 'e' to edit the selected command in the
        boot sequence, 'c' for a command-line, 'o' to open a new line
        after ('O' for before) the selected line, 'd' to remove the
        selected line, or escape to go back to the main menu.
      3. Add -x to the command to specify that the system boot into noncluster mode.


        [ Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported. For the first word, TAB
        lists possible command completions. Anywhere else TAB lists the possible
        completions of a device/filename. ESC at any time exits. ]
        
        grub edit> kernel /platform/i86pc/multiboot -x
        
      4. Press Enter to accept the change and return to the boot parameters screen.

        The screen displays the edited command.


        GNU GRUB version 0.95 (615K lower / 2095552K upper memory)
        +----------------------------------------------------------------------+
        | root (hd0,0,a)                                                       |
        | kernel /platform/i86pc/multiboot -x                                  |
        | module /platform/i86pc/boot_archive                                  |
        +----------------------------------------------------------------------+
        Use the ^ and v keys to select which entry is highlighted.
        Press 'b' to boot, 'e' to edit the selected command in the
        boot sequence, 'c' for a command-line, 'o' to open a new line
        after ('O' for before) the selected line, 'd' to remove the
        selected line, or escape to go back to the main menu.-
      5. Type b to boot the node into noncluster mode.


        Note –

        This change to the kernel boot parameter command does not persist over the system boot. The next time you reboot the node, it will boot into cluster mode. To boot into noncluster mode instead, perform these steps to again to add the -x option to the kernel boot parameter command.


      If the instruction says to run the init S command, shut down the system then change the GRUB kernel boot command to /platform/i86pc/multiboot -sx instead.

  6. In the /a/etc/vfstab file, uncomment those entries for globally mounted file systems that you commented out in Step 3.

  7. If Apache run control scripts were disabled or did not exist before you upgraded the Solaris OS, ensure that any scripts that were installed during Solaris upgrade are disabled.

    To disable Apache run control scripts, use the following commands to rename the files with a lowercase k or s.


    phys-schost# mv /a/etc/rc0.d/K16apache /a/etc/rc0.d/k16apache 
    phys-schost# mv /a/etc/rc1.d/K16apache /a/etc/rc1.d/k16apache
    phys-schost# mv /a/etc/rc2.d/K16apache /a/etc/rc2.d/k16apache
    phys-schost# mv /a/etc/rc3.d/S50apache /a/etc/rc3.d/s50apache
    phys-schost# mv /a/etc/rcS.d/K16apache /a/etc/rcS.d/k16apache
    

    Alternatively, you can rename the scripts to be consistent with your normal administration practices.

  8. Reboot the node into noncluster mode.

    Include the double dashes (--) in the following command:


    phys-schost# reboot -- -x
    
  9. If your cluster runs VxVM, perform the remaining steps in the procedure “Upgrading VxVM and Solaris” to reinstall or upgrade VxVM.

    Make the following changes to the procedure:

    • After VxVM upgrade is complete but before you reboot, verify the entries in the /etc/vfstab file.

      If any of the entries that you uncommented in Step 6 were commented out, make those entries uncommented again.

    • When the VxVM procedures instruct you to perform a final reconfiguration reboot, do not use the -r option alone. Instead, reboot into noncluster mode by using the -rx options.

      • On SPARC based systems, perform the following command:


        phys-schost# reboot -- -rx
        
      • On x86 based systems, perform the shutdown and boot procedures that are described in Step 5 except add -rx to the kernel boot command instead of -sx.


    Note –

    If you see a message similar to the following, type the root password to continue upgrade processing. Do not run the fsck command nor type Ctrl-D.


    WARNING - Unable to repair the /global/.devices/node@1 filesystem. 
    Run fsck manually (fsck -F ufs /dev/vx/rdsk/rootdisk_13vol). Exit the 
    shell when done to continue the boot process.
    
    Type control-d to proceed with normal startup,
    (or give root password for system maintenance):  Type the root password
    

  10. (Optional) SPARC: Upgrade VxFS.

    Follow procedures that are provided in your VxFS documentation.

  11. Install any required Solaris software patches and hardware-related patches, and download any needed firmware that is contained in the hardware patches.


    Note –

    Do not reboot after you add patches. Wait to reboot the node until after you upgrade the Sun Cluster software.


    See Patches and Required Firmware Levels in the Sun Cluster Release Notes for the location of patches and installation instructions.

Next Steps

Upgrade to Sun Cluster 3.2 1/09 software. Go to How to Upgrade Sun Cluster 3.2 1/09 Software (Standard).


Note –

To complete the upgrade to a new marketing release of the Solaris OS, such as from Solaris 8 to Solaris 10 software, you must also upgrade the Sun Cluster software and dependency software to the version that is compatible with the new version of the Solaris OS.