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I am upgrading Powerpath on HP-UX and Sun Solaris. What are EMC's best practices for upgrading Powerpath in regards to other components and software on the server? Does EMC recommend upgrading Solutions Enabler, Naviagent, HBA Drivers, HBA Microcode, Symm Drivers, HBAnywhere, and the ECC Agent? I would like to make sure that all the components related to Powerpath are upgraded at the same time. Is there anything else that is recommended with the Powerpath upgrade? Please let me know.
Thanks,
Cara
Thanks,
Cara
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Posted February 28th, 2008 06:00
I would agree with Stefano regarding inter-dependencies (or lack of) when it comes to upgrades of EMC products.
Specifically with PowerPath upgrades, I would consider upgrading your HBA drivers and firmware at the same time, but more importantly is to ensure that your HBA is configured correctly for failover and performance, always follow the EMC-recommended values for any HBA configuration parameters (important on Solaris regarding /etc/system and lpfc.conf/qlaxxx.conf file) If some of these parameters are not setup correctly, then when it comes to a path-fail situation, PowerPath may not protect you.
Just to add - all of the HBa parameter values are listed in the EMC-driver manuals available from QLogic and Emulex websites.1340
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Posted February 28th, 2008 09:00
Well it looks as if everyone agrees to that. Any other comments?1340
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Posted February 28th, 2008 10:00
Conor's suggestion to upgrade both PowerPath and HBA driver/firmware have a lot of good reasons ..
1) both are host based.. both require a reboot .. so you have to schedule a downtime. Since you have to ask for the downtime, it's better to update as many things as is possible .. So you upgrade PP, driver and firmware ..
2) upgrading PP but not the driver itself may leave some known problems that are already solved in newer driver/firmware .. and also you can think about the opposite example .. So it's better to update both at the same time.
And always remember that not following EMC directions while configuring sd.conf / qla2xxx.conf / lpfc.conf may give pain while troubleshooting issues. Always follow EMC directions when configuring driver parameters. Or at least have a valid RPQ handy1339
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Posted March 3rd, 2008 12:00
do you know what the commands are to find the current versions of all of these components on solaris and hp-ux?1339
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Posted March 3rd, 2008 18:00
HP-UX commands
root [/root] fcmsutil /dev/td2
Vendor ID is = 0x00103c
Device ID is = 0x001029
XL2 Chip Revision No is = 2.3
PCI Sub-system Vendor ID is = 0x00103c
PCI Sub-system ID is = 0x00128c
Topology = PTTOPT_FABRIC
Link Speed = 1Gb
Local N_Port_id is = 0x651c13
N_Port Node World Wide Name = 0x50060b0000242b01
N_Port Port World Wide Name = 0x50060b0000242b00
Driver state = ONLINE
Hardware Path is = 1/0/8/0/0
Number of Assisted IOs = -1988399230
Number of Active Login Sessions = 11
Dino Present on Card = NO
Maximum Frame Size = 2048
Driver Version = @(#) libtd.a HP Fibre Channel Tachyon TL/TS/XL2 Driver B.11.11.12 PATCH_11.11 (PHSS_31326) /ux/kern/kisu/TL/src/common/wsio/td_glue.c: Sep 5 2005, 10:14:40
see that Driver B.11.11.12
#fcmsutil /dev/td2 vpd
V I T A L P R O D U C T D A T A
--------- ------------- -------
Product Discription :'A6795A 2Gbps/1Gbps Fibre Channel 4X PCI HBA'
Part number :'A6795-62001'
Engineering Date Code :'B-4322'
Part Serial number :'A56A00129510'
Misc. Information :'PW=15W'
Mfd. Date :'A-4346'
Check Sum : 0x56
EFI version : '001.10'
Asset Tag :'NA'1339
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Posted March 3rd, 2008 22:00
PowerPath (both O/S)
powermt check_registration <-- displays you license, take note before upgrade
powermt version <-- displays current PP version
HBA driver & firmware versions on Solaris are displayed at boot time in the /var/adm/messages file.
Use fscmsutil as above on HP-UX to display information regarding HBA's...1339
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Posted March 1st, 2010 09:00
Good Day to all,
We are also upgrading the powerpath version 5.0 to 5.3 on solaris os version 10 (I386)
Will any body please help me out to find answers to these questions???
1) Do we need to uninstall 5.0 prior to installing PP v 5.3 or is it a straight forward upgrade????
2) Do we need to take any backup of old configuration, before unistalling the old PP version 5.0????
3) Also confirm if we need to take the backup of the pp license from the old version before uninstalling ???
4) Do we need a reboot after uninstalling the old PP version 5.0. If required what kind of reboot do we need (Reconfigure reboot or anything else)??
5) Do we need a reboot after installing the new PP version 5.3. If required what kind of reboot do we need (Reconfigure reboot or anything else)??
How do we confirm all the paths are fine after the installation.??
Also please provide us the path to download the latest PP 5.3.
Thanks and regards
VSK
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Posted March 1st, 2010 12:00
Hi. The PowerPath 5.3 Installation and Administration Guide covers the upgrade scenarios. In general, you should be able to upgrade without removing the older version and without a reboot. However, there are some caveats. So, please refer to the document.
http://powerlink.emc.com/km/live1/en_US/Offering_Technical/Technical_Documentation/300-010-334.pdf
Hope this helps.
-Brion
Message was edited by: The Benevolent Moderator; stripped the powerlink authentication string off the end of the hyperlink
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Posted March 1st, 2010 12:00
Thank you Brion,your doc is helpfull
-Sai
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Posted February 28th, 2008 06:00
Enabler, Naviagent, HBA Drivers, HBA Microcode, Symm
Drivers, HBAnywhere, and the ECC Agent?
Usually all those things have little if no relation in between ..
ECC Agents (Symmetrix agent and SDM agent) are bound somehow to Solution Enabler so usually upgrading ECC agents forces you to upgrade Solution Enabler. On the other hand S.E. is bound to the code running in the storage (DMX/Symm). Usually an upgrade on the storage forces you to upgrade Solution Enabler (just to be able to use some brand new features). Since usually our product are backward compatible, older agents work well with recent Solution Enabler versions. Since Naviagent is something like Solution Enabler, I think you can apply almost this same rules.
HBA drivers and firmware needs to be always at the latest level, regardless of all the other variables.
In case you ask, switch firmware follows almost the same last rule
And what about PowerPath ?? You need to upgrade powerpath usually to support newer storages or to fix problems .. That's it
PowerPath is a very specific and special piece of software targetting a special and specific need. Almost every other product you mentioned will simply use powerpath if present but will never "depend" on it.
My 2 poor cents .. But I'd like to hear someone else on this topic