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Updating a cluster nondisruptively

You can use Storage Manager to update a cluster or individual nodes in high-availability (HA) pairs without disrupting access to client data.

Before you begin

  • All of the nodes must be in HA pairs.

  • All of the nodes must be healthy.

  • You must have copied the software image from the Lenovo Data Center Support site to your local workstation, or an HTTP server or FTP server on your network, so that the nodes can access the image.

    Obtaining ONTAP software images

About this task

  • If you try to perform other tasks from Storage Manager while updating the node that hosts the cluster management LIF, an error message might be displayed.

    You must wait for the update to finish before performing any operations.

  • A rolling update is performed for clusters with fewer than eight nodes, and a batch update is performed for clusters with more than eight nodes.

    In a rolling update, the nodes in the cluster are updated one at a time. In a batch update, multiple nodes are updated in parallel.

  • Starting with Storage Manager 9.6, if the NVMe protocol is configured in Storage Manager 9.5 and you perform an upgrade from Storage Manager 9.5 to Storage Manager 9.6, you no longer have a grace period of 90 days to have the NVMe protocol available without a license. If the grace period is in effect when you upgrade from ONTAP 9.5 to 9.6, the grace period must be replaced with a valid NVMeoF license so you can continue to use the NVMe features.

    This feature is not available in MetroCluster configurations.

  • If the NVMe protocol is not configured in Storage Manager 9.5 and you perform an update from Storage Manager 9.5 to Storage Manager 9.6, then the grace period is not provided, and you must install the NVMe license to use the NVMe protocol.

    This feature is not available in MetroCluster configurations.

  • Starting with ONTAP 9.5, at least one NVMe LIF must be configured for each node in an HA pair using the NVMe protocol. You can also create a maximum of two NVMe LIFs per node. When you upgrade to ONTAP 9.5, you must ensure that a minimum of one NVMe LIF is defined for each node in an HA pair using the NVMe protocol.

  1. Click Cluster > Overview.
  2. In the Overview card, click the more icon .
  3. Select ONTAP Update.
  4. Click +Add Image.
  5. Select an image from a server or a local client.
  6. After the image is uploaded, click Update and follow the instructions on the screen.
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