You can, but I wouldn't normally go for the latest and greatest. nw19.6.1 is marked as target code by Dell. Is always good practice to first test on a test environment first (even if it is just a vm on your own test lab). This will by no means be able to test all things, just a simple functionality test, nothing more. This as many an issue in the past was only encountered under high load, so wouldn't even have occurred unless you'd stress the NW server enough...
Always keep a close eye on new KB articles and DSA's and DTA's and so on, as there have been recent issues in case you are using NW NVE appliance instead of an install on windows or linux.
NVE: Upgrading NetWorker Virtual Appliance directly to some 19.6.x and 19.7.x versions fails at the reboot step(step 16)
Summary: When upgrading NVE directly to certain affected versions the upgrade stalls on step 16 as theoperating system is not able to boot due to a minor SUSE kernel version issue.
"So far, the following upgrade paths are affected, but there may be more not yet identified. 19.3.0.x to 19.6.0.0 19.3.0.x to 19.6.0.3 19.3.0.x to 19.6.1.0 19.3.0.x to 19.6.1.2 19.3.0.5 to 19.7.0.0 19.6.0.0 to 19.6.1.2
The current resolution is to avoid a direct upgrade to the affected versions and instead upgrade to one of the following unaffected versions.
Versions unaffected, which allow for successful NVE upgrade: 19.5.0.5 19.6.1.3 19.7.0.1"
So nw19.6.1.3 is proposed, however that isn't even released yet... so nw19.5 might be a safer bet, at least for NW NVE.
The 2nd KB article states:
"Resolution
A fix for this issue is in 19.7 and is also in 19.6.1.3; it is okay to upgrade to 19.7 from 19.3 directly. If upgrading to any 19.6 version before 19.6.1.3, it is suggested to use an intermediary version within either 19.4 or 19.5 before going to 19.6."
In my opinion those kind of statements from a supplier stating "it is okay to upgrade" is taken way too lightly by them as many an issue of the latest and greatest versions has shown in the past and also recently. However the advise to first upgrade to intermediate versions, seems sound device, based on our own experiences where we went from nw19.3 to nw19.5 on regular NW deployments (so not NW NVE). YMMV however...
barry_beckers
393 Posts
0
September 8th, 2022 01:00
You can, but I wouldn't normally go for the latest and greatest. nw19.6.1 is marked as target code by Dell. Is always good practice to first test on a test environment first (even if it is just a vm on your own test lab). This will by no means be able to test all things, just a simple functionality test, nothing more. This as many an issue in the past was only encountered under high load, so wouldn't even have occurred unless you'd stress the NW server enough...
Always keep a close eye on new KB articles and DSA's and DTA's and so on, as there have been recent issues in case you are using NW NVE appliance instead of an install on windows or linux.
https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/article/lkbprint?ArticleNumber=000202822&AccessLevel=30&Lang=en
also https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000202679?lang=en seems to be related to the same issue.
NVE: Upgrading NetWorker Virtual Appliance directly to some 19.6.x and 19.7.x versions fails at the reboot step(step 16)
Summary:
When upgrading NVE directly to certain affected versions the upgrade stalls on step 16 as theoperating system is not able to boot due to a minor SUSE kernel version issue.
"So far, the following upgrade paths are affected, but there may be more not yet identified.
19.3.0.x to 19.6.0.0
19.3.0.x to 19.6.0.3
19.3.0.x to 19.6.1.0
19.3.0.x to 19.6.1.2
19.3.0.5 to 19.7.0.0
19.6.0.0 to 19.6.1.2
The current resolution is to avoid a direct upgrade to the affected versions and instead upgrade to one of the following unaffected versions.
Versions unaffected, which allow for successful NVE upgrade:
19.5.0.5
19.6.1.3
19.7.0.1"
So nw19.6.1.3 is proposed, however that isn't even released yet... so nw19.5 might be a safer bet, at least for NW NVE.
The 2nd KB article states:
"Resolution
In my opinion those kind of statements from a supplier stating "it is okay to upgrade" is taken way too lightly by them as many an issue of the latest and greatest versions has shown in the past and also recently. However the advise to first upgrade to intermediate versions, seems sound device, based on our own experiences where we went from nw19.3 to nw19.5 on regular NW deployments (so not NW NVE). YMMV however...