Example: Upgrading operating system

In a high-availability environments, you must perform specific actions prior to performing operating system upgrades.

The following examples can help you determine what you need to do to perform an upgrade in your cluster environment. Before performing the upgrade or any actions you should first determine the current cluster version for your cluster.
Notes:
  1. 7.1 represents the current release of the operating system.
  2. 7.2 represents the new release of the operating system.
  3. V6R1 represents the prior release of the operating system.
Example 1: The node to be upgraded is at IBM® i 7.1. All other nodes in the cluster are at IBM i 7.1 or higher. The current cluster version is 7.
Action:
  1. Upgrade node to IBM i 7.2.
  2. Start the upgraded node.
Example 2: The node to be upgraded is at IBM i 7.1. All other nodes in the cluster are at IBM i 7.1 or higher. The current cluster version is 6.
Action:
  1. Upgrade the node to IBM i 7.2.
  2. Start the upgraded node.
Example 3: The node to be upgraded is IBM i V5R4. All other nodes in the cluster are at IBM i V5R4 or higher. The current cluster version is 5.
Action:
  1. Upgrade the node to IBM i 7.1.
  2. Start the upgraded node.
Example 4: The node to be upgraded is at IBM i V6R1. All other nodes in the cluster are at IBM i V5R4 or higher. The current cluster version is 5.
Actions:
  1. Upgrade all nodes to V6R1.
  2. Start all of the upgraded nodes.
  3. Change the cluster version to 6.
  4. Upgrade the node to 7.2.
  5. Start the upgraded node.
Example 5: The node to be upgraded is at IBM i V5R4 or lower. All other nodes in the cluster are at IBM i V5R4 or lower. The current cluster version is less than or equal to 5.
Actions:
  1. Upgrade all nodes to V6R1.
  2. Start all of the upgraded nodes.
  3. Change the cluster version to 6.
  4. Upgrade the node to 7.2.
  5. Start the upgraded node.

The following table provides actions you need to take when performing an upgrade in a cluster environment.

Table 1. Upgrading nodes to IBM i 7.2
Current® release of node you are upgrading Current cluster version Actions
V7R1 6 or 7
  1. Upgrade the node to IBM i 7.2.
  2. Start the upgraded node.
V6R1 5 or 6
  1. Upgrade the node to IBM i 7.2.
  2. Start the upgraded node.
V5R4 or lower less than or equal to 5
  1. Upgrade all nodes to V6R1.
  2. Start all of the upgraded node.
  3. Change the cluster version to 6.
  4. Upgrade the node to IBM i 7.2.
  5. Start the upgraded node.