HyperFlex Edge Upgrade

Overview

This section provides information related to upgrading a Cisco HyperFlex Edge system.


Important

  • For upgrading a HyperFlex Edge system, use split upgrade only. Do not use combined upgrade.

  • Automated ESXi upgrade should be performed via HX Connect or Intersight.

  • When upgrading a HyperFlex Edge system, only HyperFlex Data Platform can be upgraded from the HX Connect UI. Do not select the UCS Server firmware option. Instead, perform the firmware upgrade separately using the Host Upgrade Utility (HUU) tool or the Integrated Management Controller (IMC) Supervisor.

  • Review the Cisco HyperFlex Upgrade Guidelines in the Recommended Cisco HyperFlex HX Data Platform Software Releases - for Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series Systems.

Upgrading HyperFlex Edge Using vSphere Web Client from 2.1 or Earlier Releases

Follow these steps when upgrading from a HyperFlex Data Platform version prior to 2.5(1a):

Procedure

Step 1

Bootstrap to upgrade Cisco HX Data Platform Plug-in. See Manual Bootstrap Upgrade Process.

Important 

  • Be sure to copy the bootstrap file to the controller VM /tmp directory.

  • Ensure that you confirm the version of the plug-in in the vCenter Administration > Client Plug-Ins page.

Step 2

Disable snapshot schedule, on the bootstrapped storage controller VM. Run the command stcli snapshot-schedule --disable.

It is enough to run this script on one of the controller nodes.
Step 3

Log in to the vSphere Web Client Plug-in with administrator credentials.

Step 4

Perform a split upgrade of the HX Data Platform only.

Step 5

Confirm that upgrade is complete. See Post Upgrade Tasks for HyperFlex Edge for more details.

Step 6

On the same controller VM, to enable snapshot schedule, run the command stcli snapshot-schedule -–enable.

Upgrading HyperFlex Edge Using HX Connect from 2.5(1a) or Later Releases

When upgrading a HyperFlex Edge system not managed by Cisco Intersight or prior to a HX release 4.0(2a) use the HX Connect procedure below.


Note

HX Edge clusters deployed via Intersight do not have upgrade capability from Hyperflex Connect. The upgrade is only supported through Intersight.

For upgrading a HyperFlex Edge system managed using Cisco Intersight or for systems running HX release 4.0(2a), follow the steps listed here.

Upgrade guidelines:

  • Only Cisco HyperFlex Edge clusters that are deployed through Cisco Intersight can be upgraded.

  • Additionally, upgrade can be initiated only from the Organization to which the HyperFlex Cluster Profile belongs to. For example, if a cluster is shared between Org A and Org B and the Cluster Profile belongs to Org A, upgrade can be performed only from Org A.

  • All clusters that are selected for the upgrade must be HyperFlex Edge clusters.

  • Ensure that the cluster is at HyperFlex Data Platform version 4.0(1a) or later.

See full procedure here: Upgrading Cisco HyperFlex Edge Systems with Cisco Intersight.

Procedure

Step 1

Bootstrap to upgrade Cisco HX Data Platform Plug-in. See Manual Bootstrap Upgrade Process for more details.

Important 

Be sure to copy the bootstrap file to the controller VM /tmp directory.

Step 2

Log in to HX Connect.

Step 3

In the Navigation pane, select Upgrade.

Step 4

On the Select Upgrade Type page, select HX Data Platform only. Click Continue.

Step 5

Complete the following fields on the Enter Credentials page.

Upgrade HX Data Platform

UI Element

Essential Iformation

Drag the HX file here or click to browse

Upload the latest Cisco HyperFlex Data Platform Upgrade Bundle for upgrading existing clusters with previous release.tgz package file from Download Software - HyperFlex HX Data Platform.

Sample file name format: storfs-packages-3.5.2a-31601.tgz.

Current version

Displays the current HyperFlex Data Platform version.

Current cluster details

Lists the HyperFlex cluster details like the HyperFlex version and Cluster upgrade state.

Bundle version

Displays the HyperFlex Data Platform version of the uploaded bundle.

(Optional) Checksum field

The MD5 Checksum number is stored in a separate text file at the /tmp directory where the upgrade package was downloaded.

This is an optional step that helps you verify the integrity of the uploaded upgrade package bundle.

vCenter Credentials

UI Element

Essential Information

User Name field

Enter the vCenter <admin> username.

Admin Password field

Enter the vCenter <admin> password.

Step 6

Click Upgrade.

Step 7

The Validation Screen on the Upgrade Progress page displays the progress of the checks performed. Fix validation errors, if any. Confirm that the upgrade is complete.

Server Firmware Upgrade Using the Cisco Host Upgrade Utility Tool

The following table summarizes the server firmware upgrade workflow on Cisco HX Servers:

Step

Description

Reference

1.

Place a node in HX maintenance mode.

Note 

Upgrade one node at a time, for the cluster to stay online during upgrade.

Verify vMotion Configuration for HX Cluster

Entering Cisco HyperFlex Maintenance Mode

2.

Upgrade server firmware using the Host Upgrade Utility tool.

See Updating the Firmware on Cisco UCS C-Series Servers in the Cisco Host Upgrade Utility User Guide.

3.

Reboot the node back into ESXi. Exit HX maintenance mode.

Exiting Cisco HyperFlex Maintenance Mode

4.

Wait until the cluster becomes fully healthy.

Viewing HyperFlex Cluster Health

5.

Repeat steps 1-4 on the remaining HX nodes in a rolling fashion.

Note 

Ensure that you check the health state before entering maintenance mode on the next host in the cluster.

You can find current and previous releases of the Cisco Host Upgrade Utility User Guide at this location: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/servers-unified-computing/ucs-c-series-rack-servers/products-user-guide-list.html.

Upgrading Server Firmware on a Cisco UCS C-Series Server Using the Cisco IMC Supervisor

If you are upgrading to Cisco IMC version 2.0(x), you must change the default Cisco IMC password.


Note

Before upgrading Cisco IMC Supervisor and if a firmware profile was already set up, ensure that the Cisco.com credentials and proxy details are configured.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Systems > Firmware Management.

Step 2

On the Firmware Management page, click Firmware Upgrades.

Step 3

Click Run Upgrade. A warning message appears, advising you that running the upgrade on the selected servers will cause the host to reboot into the firmware update tool. On completion of the firmware update, the servers will reboot back to the host OS.

Step 4

Click OK to confirm.

Step 5

On the Upgrade Firmware screen, complete the following:

Field

Description

Select Profile drop-down list

Choose a profile from the drop-down list.

Platform field

Click Select and choose the servers from the list. The list displays only those servers whose platforms match the one configured in the selected profile.

Image Version field

Image Path field

Schedule later check box

Check this check box and select an existing schedule to run an upgrade. You can also click the + icon to create a new schedule.

Step 6

Click Submit.

Post Upgrade Tasks for HyperFlex Edge

After the upgrade is complete and the HyperFlex Edge cluster has been upgraded, log out and log back in to vCenter to see the upgrade changes.

Procedure

Step 1

Confirm that the HX nodes match the expected firmware version.

Check the firmware version in the IMC supervisor GUI to verify for the correct firmware version.

To view the firmware version, in the IMC Supervisor GUI, navigate to the Systems > Firmware Management tab. See Upgrading Firmware using IMC Supervisor for more details.

Step 2

Log in to any controller VM through SSH.

# ssh root@controller_vm_ip

Step 3

Confirm the HyperFlex Data Platform version.

# stcli cluster version 


Cluster version: 2.5(1c)
Node HX02 version: 2.5(1c)
Node HX01 version: 2.5(1c)
Node HX03 version: 2.5(1c)
Step 4

Verify that the HX storage cluster is online and healthy.

# stcli cluster info|grep -i health

Sample output:
healthstate : healthy
state: healthy
storage cluster is healthy
Step 5

Verify that the datastores are up and are mounted properly on the ESXi host.

From HX controller VMs run the command:

# stcli datastore list

From the ESXi host run:

# esxcfg-nas -l
Step 6

For each browser interface you use, empty the cache and reload the browser page to refresh the HX Connect content.

Replace Static Self-signed Certificate with Dynamic Self-signed Certificate

Description

When upgrading your Edge cluster to HyperFlex release 4.0(2a), the static self-signed certificates on the controller VMs are replaced with dynamically generated self-signed certificates and VC re-registration takes place during upgrade. However, if your cluster is upgraded to HX 4.0(2x) via Intersight, the static self-signed certificates do not get replaced.

Action

To manually replace the static self-signed certificates for dynamic self-signed certificates perform the following actions:

  1. SSH to the cluster management IP.

  2. Upload the contents from /etc/springpath/secure/root_file.pub which is used as the X-RootSessionID in the next step.

  3. Run the following command to generate and install dynamic certificate on all the controller VMs.

    curl -v -X PUT -H "Accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "X-RootSessionID: <Contents_from_previous step>" -H "X-LoggedInUser: admin" -H "X-Scope: READ,MODIFY" -H "X-RequestInitiator: Internal" http://localhost:8000/securityservice/v1/certificate?option=dynamic


Note

The above steps can be run in admin shell for post HX 4.5 clusters where secureshell is enabled.

Example

root@SpringpathController4AL5TXVEYU:~# curl -v -X PUT -H "Accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "X-RootSessionID: 23cb2f3a806a31f3516e47357b5c6784" -H "X-LoggedInUser: admin" -H "X-Scope: READ,MODIFY" -H "X-RequestInitiator: Internal" http://localhost:8000/securityservice/v1/certificate?option=dynamic
*   Trying 127.0.0.1...
* Connected to localhost (127.0.0.1) port 8000 (#0)
> PUT /securityservice/v1/certificate?option=dynamic HTTP/1.1
> Host: localhost:8000
> User-Agent: curl/7.47.0
> Accept: application/json
> Content-Type: application/json
> X-RootSessionID: 23cb2f3a806a31f3516e47357b5c6784
> X-LoggedInUser: admin
> X-Scope: READ,MODIFY
> X-RequestInitiator: Internal
> 
< HTTP/1.1 200
< Content-Type: application/json
< Content-Length: 56
< Date: Wed, 03 Mar 2021 07:18:57 GMT
< 
* Connection #0 to host localhost left intact
{"code":4,"type":"ok","message":"Installed certificate"}