EMCpowerpath & EMCsymmetrix upgrades on Solaris servers.

In this post I will present EMCpowerpath & EMCsymmetrix upgrades on Solaris servers.

We will be upgrading EMCpowerpath from version 5.0 to 5.3 & EMCsymmetrix from version v6.4.x to v7.1.x.

a. EMCpowerpath upgrade                            

b. EMCsymmetrix upgrade

1.) Before proceeding with EMCpowerpath & EMCsymmetrix upgrades, always run an explorer and EMCgrub utility on the server to collect existing server outputs as this upgrade requires server reboot.

Note: a.) Some useful files which needs to be backed up before proceeding:

# cd /var/tmp/yogesh-upgrade
# /etc/powermt version > powermt_version
# /etc/powermt display dev=all > powermt_display
# echo | format > format.out
# df -k > df -k.out
# cp -p /etc/system /etc/system.date
# cp –p /kernel/drv/sd.conf sd.conf.date
# cp -p /kernel/drv/lpfc.conf lpfc.conf.date
# cp –p /kernel/drv/fp.conf /kernel/drv/fp.conf.date
# cp –p /kernel/drv/st.conf /kernel/drv/st.conf.date
# cp –p /etc/name_to_major /etc/name_to_major.date
# cp –p /kernel/drv/emcp.conf /kernel/drv/emcp.conf.date
# ls –l /devices/pseudo | grep -v root > pseudo_ownership
# pkginfo -l EMCpower > emc_version
# modinfo | grep emcp > /var/tmp/emp_modinfo
# /etc/emcpreg –list > emc_key

these outputs will be very useful when we will do HBA firmware and driver version upgrades.

b.) Take a snap shots of all the devices (/dev/dsk, /dev/rdsk & /devices/pseudo) using “ls –l” (get all information on ownership/permission for these devices)

c.) Download all the recommended EMCPowerpath packages and keep them in the server (under any directory say /var/tmp/yogesh-upgrade/software) from EMC site and untar/unzip them prior to activity.

2.) EMCpowerpath upgrade: a.) Check the current verion of EMCpower package.

yogesh-test# /root# pkginfo | grep -i emc
system EMCpower EMC PowerPath ====================> (EMCpower-path)
system EMCsymmetrix EMC Solutions Enabler ===============================> (EMCsymmetrix)
application SYMsymcli EMC SE Symmetrix Command Line Interface (SYMCLI)=======================> (EMCsymmetrix)

# pkginfo -l EMCpower —> (suppose it is showing 5.0) (I forgot to capture the package outputs)

b.) Remove the current package and install the newer version of EMCpowerpath:

# pkgrm EMCpower

# cd /var/tmp/yogesh-upgrade/software —-> (suppose current is 5.3)

# pkgadd -d . (it will ask you the install sequence, follow that and add the package).

# pkginfo -l EMCpower

PKGINST: EMCpower
NAME: EMC PowerPath
CATEGORY: system
ARCH: sparc
VERSION: 5.3_b473
BASEDIR: /opt
VENDOR: EMC Corporation
DESC: EMC Powerpath Multipathing, version 5.3_b473
PSTAMP: dev:2010-01-12T02:02:40EST
INSTDATE: Apr 03 2011 04:26
STATUS: completely installed
FILES: 318 installed pathnames
42 directories
102 executables
169337 blocks used (approx)

c.) Do a reconfig reboot to the server.

# init 0

# boot -r

3.) EMCsymmetrix upgrade: a.) Check the current verion of EMCsymmetrix package.

yogesh-test# /root# pkginfo | grep -i emc
system EMCsymmetrix EMC Solutions Enabler ===============================> (EMCsymmetrix)
application SYMsymcli EMC SE Symmetrix Command Line Interface (SYMCLI)=======================> (EMCsymmetrix)

yogesh-test# /root# pkginfo -l SYMsymcli
PKGINST: SYMsymcli
NAME: EMC SE Symmetrix Command Line Interface (SYMCLI)
CATEGORY: application
ARCH: sparc
VERSION: V6.4.2.0
BASEDIR: /opt/emc
VENDOR: EMC Corporation
DESC: Symmetrix Command Line Interface (SYMCLI)
PSTAMP: api20720070821050251
INSTDATE: Jul 02 2009 09:05
STATUS: completely installed
FILES: 92 installed pathnames
1 shared pathnames
5 directories
43 executables
105690 blocks used (approx)

yogesh-test# /root# pkginfo -l EMCsymmetrix
PKGINST: EMCsymmetrix
NAME: EMC Solutions Enabler
CATEGORY: system
ARCH: sparc
VERSION: 6.5.3-1
BASEDIR: /
VENDOR: EMC Corporation
PSTAMP: beavis951018123443
INSTDATE: Jun 22 2009 10:53
STATUS: completely installed
FILES: 3070 installed pathnames
1 shared pathnames
323 directories
1966 executables
345175 blocks used (approx)

b.) Remove the current package and install the newer version of EMCsymmetrix:

# pkgrm EMCsymmetrix
# pkgrm SYMsymcli

# cd /var/tmp/yogesh-upgrade/software —–> (for verison 7.1.0)

# pkgadd -d . (it will ask you the install sequence, follow that and add the package).

# pkginfo -l EMCsymmetrix; pkginfo -l SYMsymcli

PKGINST: EMCsymmetrix
NAME: EMCsymmetrix package
CATEGORY: system
ARCH: sparc
VERSION: 7.1.0-1
BASEDIR: /
VENDOR: EMC Corporation
PSTAMP: beavis951018123443
INSTDATE: Apr 03 2011 04:45
STATUS: completely installed
FILES: 3271 installed pathnames
13 shared pathnames
390 directories
1970 executables
9 setuid/setgid executables
317816 blocks used (approx)
PKGINST: SYMsymcli
NAME: EMC SE Symmetrix Command Line Interface (SYMCLI)
CATEGORY: application
ARCH: sparc
VERSION: V7.1.0.0
BASEDIR: /opt/emc
VENDOR: EMC Corporation
DESC: Symmetrix Command Line Interface (SYMCLI)
PSTAMP: api20720091116222928
INSTDATE: Feb 17 2010 10:01
STATUS: completely installed

c.) Again it is recommended to do a reconfig reboot.

Note – A.  This is a simple case where no srdf (mirroring at storage end) is used in the storage. In case of srdf we need to take backup of some more files because it has been observed sometimes srdf DG’s will not come up in that case those outputs are very useful. Also reconfig reboot works at that point as well.

Note – B. Check all the devices path status (/etc/powermt display dev=all)

Note – C.  Ensure that the EMC license information is correct.

I will cover the HBA Firmware, driver upgardes and VXVM upgardes in my next posts and then we will proceed with the actual Storage migration methods.:-)