Plan a fix pack installation
Installing a fix pack is a multistage process. An important first step is to plan the timeline for the entire fix pack installation process. Planning the timeline causes you to schedule sufficient time to complete all of the installation steps and prepares you for the core warehouse outage.
- The work time, the processing time, and the elapsed time for each stage
- The time that you require to resolve issues that can delay the completion of the overall process
- The duration of the outage for the core warehouse
- Preparation
- Installation
- Verification
Build a plan for the preparation phase
Planning and scheduling your preparation tasks along your fix pack installation timeline help to ensure that you have time to address issues that might arise. No outage is required for the core warehouse during your preparation for the fix pack installation.
The following list summarizes the preparation activities that you must include in your planning of the fix pack installation timeline. Start the following tasks at least two weeks before your scheduled fix pack installation.
- Checking system prerequisites
Plan time for checking that your system meets the prerequisite conditions before you attempt to install a fix pack. An important prerequisite condition is to back up your database.
- Downloading the fix pack
- Plan for the time that is required to download the fix pack from the PureSystems® Center onto either the management host of the IBM® PureData® System for Operational Analytics itself, or onto another system that has Internet access. If you download the fix pack onto another system, you must transfer a copy of the file to the management host.
Build a plan for the installation phase
In planning the installation part of the fix pack installation timeline during which the software and firmware is updated, you must consider the outage of services on the management host and the standby management host during the management stage, and the core warehouse outage during the apply stage.
The following list summarizes the installation activities that you must include in the fix pack installation timeline:
- Running the preview stage
- Allow time to run the preview stage to assess the readiness of your system for a fix pack installation and to address any issues that might arise. When you run the preview stage, the firmware and software versions in the system are checked to make sure that they can be updated to the version in the fix pack. In addition, this stage checks your system for any conditions that might cause the fix pack installation to fail. For example, the stage verifies that you have sufficient disk space for the updates. If you encounter any issues during the preview stage, you must resolve the issues and then resume the preview stage. You must successfully complete the preview stage before you can continue with the installation process.
- Running the management stage
- Allow time to update the firmware and software on the management host and the standby management host. In addition, plan for the outage of services on the management hosts, which include the system console, the warehouse tools, and the database performance monitor. The core warehouse continues normal operations during this stage.
- Running the prepare stage
- Allow time to use the system console to install nondisruptive firmware and software updates on all the core warehouse hosts. Nondisruptive updates do not require an outage of the core warehouse during this stage. In this stage, you complete additional nondisruptive system procedures. However, plan to minimize active workloads and user activity in the core warehouse during this stage.
- Running the apply stage
- Plan for the core warehouse outage during the installation of disruptive firmware and software updates on the core warehouse hosts. The core warehouse is unavailable until the apply stage is complete.
- Running the commit stage
- Allow time to commit the fix pack updates on the system. During this stage, there is no outage of the system, and the core warehouse continues normal operations.
Build a plan for the verification phase
In the verification phase, no core warehouse outage is required.
The following points summarize the verification activities that you can include in your planning of the fix pack installation timeline:
- Verifying your system updates
- Allocate a reasonable amount of time in your fix pack installation timeline to verify that the system is running properly with the new firmware and software levels.
- Plan to verify that your updated test system is running your mission-critical applications correctly before you install the fix pack on your production system.