Software Upgrade Test Utility

The utility can be used to check for known issues which may cause problems during a SAN Volume Controller, Storwize V7000, IBM Flex System V7000, Storwize 3500 and Storwize 3700 upgrade.

The utility can be run as many times as necessary on the same system to perform a readiness check in preparation for a software upgrade. We strongly recommend running this utility for a final time immediately prior to applying the upgrade, making sure that there have not been any new releases of the utility since it was previously downloaded.

The installation and usage of this utility is non-disruptive and does not require any nodes to be restarted, so there is no interruption to host I/O. The utility will only be installed on the current configuration node.

When preparing for a software upgrade, system administrators should also to review the Flash Alerts relating to the SAN Volume Controller, Storwize V7000, IBM Flex System V7000, Storwize 3500 and Storwize 3700 software version they are intending to install.

Please go to IBM Fix Central Download pages to download your product's Software Upgrade Test Utility

To use the upgrade test utility, follow these steps:


Download the latest version of the upgrade test utility using the download link at the bottom of the page.


When upgrading from SVC V6.1.0.0 or later or any Storwize V7000, IBM Flex System V7000, Storwize 3500 and Storwize 3700 release:

1. Go to the Configuration>Advanced panel in the GUI
2. Select Upgrade Software
3. Press the Launch Upgrade Wizard button
4. When prompted, upload the upgrade test utility package to the system and click Next
5. When prompted, enter the software version you intend to upgrade to and click Next. This field will be automatically populated with the latest available software version if it is available
6. The following page will contain the results of the upgrade test. Review the output from the upgrade test utility to see if any actions are required before starting the upgrade
7. If you wish to continue with the software upgrade at this time, click Next to proceed with the upgrade process. Otherwise click Cancel to exit the upgrade wizard

When running upgrade test utility v7.5 or later on Storwize V7000 v6.1 or v6.2

The upgrade test utility v7.5 and later needs to collect enclosure dumps from all control enclosures. This process takes around 2.5 minutes, and will cause the GUI in releases 6.1 and 6.2 to time out with the following screen.



Use the following procedure if you see the error screen above:

1. Make sure you are using v7.9 or later of the upgrade test utility
2. Wait approximately 5 minutes for the enclosure dumps to complete
3. Press close on the error screen shown above
4. Press the next button again on the Upgrade Package screen to run the tool against the enclosure dumps which were created the first time the tool was run.
5. If the error persists then contact IBM support for guidance about running the tool using the command line interface.

When checking drive firmware levels only

1. The utility package can be installed using the standard SVC Console (GUI) or command-line (CLI) software upgrade procedures that are used to install any new software onto the cluster.
   
   Notes:
   • An example CLI command to install the package, once uploaded to the cluster, is
     svcservicetask applysoftware -file IBM2145_INSTALL_upgradetest_X.X
     
     
   • If using the CLI to install the package, the return code for the applysoftware command will always be 1, whether the installation has succeeded or failed. The message which is returned when the command completes will report the installation result.
   
   
2. Run the upgrade test utility by logging onto the SVC command line interface and running: 'svcupgradetest -f ',
   
   
3. Review the output to check whether any drives are not at the latest level.
   
   
4. If you wish to view the complete list of dives that are not at the latest level, run the command: 'svcupgradetest -f -d'.

When upgrading from SVC releases prior to V6.1.0.0:

1. The utility package can be installed using the standard SVC Console (GUI) or command-line (CLI) software upgrade procedures that are used to install any new software onto the cluster.
   
   Notes:
   • An example CLI command to install the package, once uploaded to the cluster, is
     svcservicetask applysoftware -file IBM2145_INSTALL_upgradetest_X.X
     
     
   • If using the CLI to install the package, the return code for the applysoftware command will always be 1, whether the installation has succeeded or failed. The message which is returned when the command completes will report the installation result.
   
   
2. Run the upgrade test utility by logging onto the SVC command line interface and running: 'svcupgradetest -v <V.R.M.F>', where V.R.M.F is the version number of the new software being installed.
   
   For example, if planning to upgrade to SVC 5.1.0.10, the command would be 'svcupgradetest -v 5.1.0.10'
   
   
3. Review the output to check whether there have been any problems found by the utility. The output from the command will either state that there have been no problems found, or will direct you to details about any known issues which have been discovered on the cluster.