PowerFlex Unable To Switch To 3_node Or 5_node Cluster After Upgrading Secondary MDMs During NDU

Summary: After following NDU flow and switching to 1_node MDM cluster, upgrading Secondary/TB MDMs and trying to put the back into the cluster, MDM throws an error.

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Symptoms

Scenario
This is most likely to happen when performing a manual NDU (not seen with automatic NDUs).

Symptoms
MDM throwing error: "MDM failed command." "The version of the MDM is too new"

 # scli --query_cluster
Cluster:
    Mode: 1_node, State: Normal, Active: 1/1, Replicas: 1/1
    Virtual IP Addresses: 10.10.11.70, 10.10.12.70
Master MDM:
    Name: MDM01, ID: 0x330b73ea070b5f00
        IP Addresses: 10.10.11.71, 10.10.12.71 Management IP Addresses: 10.10.13.71, Port: 9011, Virtual IP interfaces: em1, em2
        Status: Normal, Version: 3.5.0
Standby MDMs:
    Name: MDM02, ID: 0x2aa9e56e3b907701, Manager
        IP Addresses: 10.10.11.72, 10.10.12.72 Management IP Addresses: 10.10.13.72, Port: 9011, Virtual IP interfaces: em1, em2
    Name: TB01, ID: 0x22ae1bc42e452602, Tie Breaker
        IP Addresses: 10.10.11.73, 10.10.12.73 Port: 9011
 
# scli --switch_cluster_mode --cluster_mode 3_node --add_slave_mdm_name MDM02 --add_tb_name TB01
Error: MDM failed command.
The version of the MDM is too new
        MDM ID: 2aa9e56e3b907701
        MDM Name: MDM02
        MDM IP Addresses: []

MDM events

 327056 2020-09-23 15:25:06.658 CLI_COMMAND_FAILED                WARNING     Command SWITCH_CLUSTER_MODE was not successful. Error code: The version of the MDM is too new [21741325]

Impact
Unable to switch to regular cluster mode and continue with the NDU.

 

Cause

MDM cluster was not in the upgrade mode - "scli --start_upgrade" was not run at the beginning of the upgrade, as documentation says:

# scli --query_upgrade
Upgrade State: No Upgrade

 

Resolution

Workaround
Run the following:

scli --start_upgrade" and re-run the "scli --switch_cluster_mode

 

Affected Products

PowerFlex Software, VxFlex Product Family, VxFlex Ready Node, Ready Node Series
Article Properties
Article Number: 000203063
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 15 مايو 2026
Version:  6
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