Thanks to
olle_at_cb.uu.se
csanchez_at_cirp.es J. Carlos Sanchez Rivas
Knut.Hellebo_at_nho.hydro.com Knut Hellebx
weyel_at_bme.unc.edu Don Weyel
twinders_at_spc.cc.tx.us Tim Winders
rrens_at_hcia.com Richard Renshaw
for their reactions, tips, and sharing their experience.
My original question:
> We have to upgrade an Alphaserver 1000 4/266 from DU 3.2A to 4.0B soon.
> System disk is a raid1 set on an swxcr.
> We intend to
> - Use firmware CD 3.9 to upgrade firmware
> - Upgrade from 3.2a to 3.2c to 4.0 to 4.0b
> - install c++ shared libraries
>
> I would like to know
> - how much time will it all take? Does 6 hours sound likely?
> - do I need to enlarge the root partition (currently 150000 blocks
> i.e. 75 MB)?
> - do I need to do anything about the swxcr controller (firmware,
> upgrade swxcr software or whatever)?
>
> TIA, Alex Kok (Alex.Kok_at_nlzcl1.decnet.philips.nl)
Time estimates ranged from 4 to 10 hours. I forgot to mention that my estimate
was excluding full backups (which take approx. 1 hour extra).
75MB seemed small (several said too small) esp. if layered products are
installed there (we haven't). Note that the Digital books say "at least 44MB
but 64 is better". We considered enlarging the root partition (AdvFS) from 75
MB to 128 MB but rejected this to save time. This was a calculated risk based
on the Digital estimates (in the installation guides). We did prepare a list of
subsets that we might delete in case of space problems on /. We encountered no
problems. The root partition went from 68% full to 84% full as displayed by df.
Got one suggestion to install 4.0B instead of upgrade. We did upgrades because
we did not want to risk losing any customized files.
Check the archives for SWXCR software in relation to 4.0x (useful that).
The upgrade was painless and took about the time we estimated (approx. 6
hours).
Rest of the results below.
Regards, Alex Kok (Alex.Kok_at_nlzcl1.decnet.philips.nl)
====
Results upgrade 3.2a - 4.0b
===========================
Changes indicated with -->.
Times between brackets indicate time estimates made before the upgrade. Times
mentioned indicate clock time during the upgrade.
Hardware / firmware:
physical memory = 704.00 megabytes.
AlphaServer 1000 4/266
Firmware revision: 3.0 --> 4.8
PALcode: OSF version 1.35 --> 1.45
CDrom is a quad-speed RRD45, / and /usr are on a raid-1 set (mirrored)
consisting of two RZ28s.
Software:
$ setld -i | grep -v ^OSF
Subset Status Description
CXXSHRDA305 installed DEC C++ shared libraries
SWXCR121 installed StorageWorks SWXCR Utility for Digital UNIX V1.2.1
SWXCRMGR111 StorageWorks RAID Array 200 Management Utility V1.1.1
-->
Subset Status Description
------ ------ -----------
CXLLIBA410 installed DEC C++ Class Archive Libraries
CXLSHRDA410 installed DEC C++ Class Shared Libraries
CXXSHRDA305 DEC C++ shared libraries
SWXCR121 StorageWorks SWXCR Utility for Digital UNIX V1.2.1
SWXCR122 installed StorageWorks SWXCR Utility for Digital UNIX V1.2.2
SWXCRMGR111 installed StorageWorks RAID Array 200 Management Utility V1.1.1
OS upgrade path:
----------------
Path to 4.0b is listed in 4.0b installation guide, p. 2-3 stating:
3.2a -> 3.2c -> 4.0 -> 4.0b (using installupdate throughout).
Steps
-----
Order so, that first steps do not need to be backed out in case upgrade fails.
11:15 - 11:50:
- make full backups using vdump (/ and /usr first, fastest if you must restore)
12:25 - 12:30:
- Save existing crontab entries for root (crontab -l > file). Disable crontab
entries for root (crontab -e).
12:30 - 12:34:
- install swxcr software (5 min)
Remove old version: setld -d SWXCR121
insert "RAID Array 200 Software V2.3 for Digital Unix" floppy in drive
mount -r /dev/fd0c /floppy
setld -l /floppy
12:35 - 12:50
- upgrade firmware and reboot to check (10 min)
shut down system
ensure boot_file, auto_action, and boot_osflags is ok.
note bootdef_dev
boot from firmware CD 3.9 (get device name from >>> show device)
follow instructions (firmware update procedures p2-2 and 2-4)
ensure bus_probe_algorithm environment variable is set to "new"
>>> show bus_probe_algorithm
If set to "old", set to new:
>>> set bus_probe_algorithm new
>>> init
reboot
12:54 - 14:10
- upgrade to 3.2c and reboot to check (60-90 min)
shutdown and boot single user (>>> boot -fl s)
mount disks (/sbin/bcheckrc)
insert 3.2D cd (marked "including 3.2C")
/sbin/installupdate /dev/rz4c
answer questions, read output.
After upgrade finishes, check device unit names (2-26)
Use update admin utility (/usr/sbin/updadmin) to save and remove
.preMRG .preUPD and obsolete files
14:17 - 16:00
- upgrade to 4.0 and reboot to check (90-150 min)
check if 24004 blocks on / 200000 on /usr
shutdown and boot single user (>>> boot -fl s)
/sbin/bcheckrc
Insert 4.0 CD in drive
/sbin/installupdate /dev/rz4c
answer questions, read output
use updadmin as above.
16:05 - 18:00
- upgrade to 4.0b and reboot to check (90-150 min)
check if 6.5 mb on / and 12 mb on /usr
shutdown and boot single user (>>> boot -fl s)
/sbin/bcheckrc
insert 4.0B cd in drive
/sbin/installupdate /dev/rz4c
answer questions, read output
check device unit names (2-32, see below)
use updadmin as above.
run catman -w (optional, can be done later, can take long)
18:05 - 18:10
- install cxx shared libraries (5 min)
Use 4.0b associated products CD vol 1
mount -o ro /dev/rz4c /cdrom
setld -i /cdrom/ALPHA/DEC_C++_RTL
The upgrade procedure required us to remove the existing product
called CXXSHRDA305. Deleting this (setld -d CXXSHRDA305) warned about
the swxcr software depending on it. We ignored this because we were
installing the new version of that software (it does not correctly
recognize this new version).
- reenable root crontab entries (5 min)
- check and set date if necessary.
Remarks:
--------
The various installation guides mention:
3.2C: put configuration file changes back in (p. 2-27)
4.0: put configuration file changes back in (p. 2-29)
4.0B: put configuration file changes back in (p. 2-31)
This turned out not to be necessary as everything in the old configuration file
was also present in the new one.
Device specials of the two tape units turned out to have been swapped during
the upgrade. This was corrected using this script:
#!/bin/ksh
set -x
cd /dev
file /dev/*rmt*
mv rmt0a rmt2a
mv rmt0m rmt2m
mv rmt0h rmt2h
mv rmt0l rmt2l
mv nrmt0a nrmt2a
mv nrmt0m nrmt2m
mv nrmt0h nrmt2h
mv nrmt0l nrmt2l
mv rmt1a rmt0a
mv rmt1h rmt0h
mv rmt1l rmt0l
mv rmt1m rmt0m
mv nrmt1a nrmt0a
mv nrmt1h nrmt0h
mv nrmt1l nrmt0l
mv nrmt1m nrmt0m
mv rmt2a rmt1a
mv rmt2h rmt1h
mv rmt2l rmt1l
mv rmt2m rmt1m
mv nrmt2a nrmt1a
mv nrmt2h nrmt1h
mv nrmt2l nrmt1l
mv nrmt2m nrmt1m
file /dev/*rmt*
exit
Received on Mon Jun 02 1997 - 15:09:19 NZST