In this video, we'll discuss the top 10 things you need to know about upgrading Dell E MC unity software. Let's get started upgrading the unity software from the UNIS for user interface is quite easy on the settings window under software and licenses select software upgrades. The upgrade may already be downloaded and ready to apply. But before you begin, these 10 tips will ensure that you're well prepared and know what to expect during the software upgrade. Knowing these tips will help you save time and give you a smooth upgrade experience.
The number one most important thing to know before upgrading is that performing a system health check can help you identify underlying issues with the storage system which could cause the upgrade to fail. You should run multiple system health checks before the upgrade one, a couple of weeks before your upgrade and another right before upgrading to identify and resolve any underlying issues ahead of time. Number two, any previously installed hot fixes are automatically removed. Check the release notes to ensure that the issue addressed by the hot fix is included as a fixed issue in the current upgrade image.
If your issue is not listed. Install the hot fix again. After the software upgrade, number three, your configuration settings won't be affected by the upgrade. The upgrade does not disturb your existing configuration settings, which includes the IP addresses you configured for the system. So you don't need to keep a record of or save your configuration settings though. It's never a bad idea to have a data collection or configuration captures available before the upgrade. Either number four, how long the upgrade takes? The total estimated time for an upgrade to complete is around one hour and 15 minutes. This time can change based on factors that are specific to your environment such as IO activity.
Software upgrades sometimes also include system or drive firmware upgrades which may take a bit longer to complete after the main upgrade is finished. Number five, know when to schedule the upgrade. The upgrade is non disruptive but there will only be one storage processor handling. The IO performance will be reduced during the upgrade. So you should schedule the upgrade for a time where there is reduced IO activity. Number six, decide ahead of time whether you want the storage processors to reboot automatically during the upgrade. The default option during a software upgrade is to automatically reboot both storage processors one at a time as soon as the software upgrade images stage and the system is prepared for upgrade automatically rebooting the storage processors reduces the duration of the maintenance window by approximately 10 to 20% which makes it easier to plan for a time of reduced activity during the upgrade.
If you like tighter control over when the reboots happen, you can deselect this option so that the upgrade can be started and staged but neither storage processor will reboot until you're ready. Number seven, verify that the software upgrade is valid and not corrupted. Sometimes software upgrade files may get corrupted during the download. Use the sha 256 checksum to verify the software upgrade file on the support website. Each software grade file also includes a check on value whether you're on a Linux based or Windows based system.
Confirm that the checks on value on the support website and the checks on value of the software upgrade files match matching checks on values indicate that the upgrade file is intact and not corrupt. All of these tips will help you be better prepared for an upgrade. The next few tips are things you'll want to know while the upgrades in progress. Number eight, during the upgrade, you won't be able to make configuration changes to the system using unisphere or the cli number nine unisphere may be temporarily disconnected during the upgrade. Access will automatically be reestablished after failing over to the pure storage processor. And finally, number 10 don't power cycle the storage processors during the upgrade for more information and help with other aspects of your unity system. Visit the unity documentation page at dell.com/unitydocs.
