Upgrading watsonx Assistant from Version 5.2 to Version 5.4

Information you need to complete this task

Review the following information before you upgrade watsonx Assistant:

Version requirements

All the components that are associated with an instance of IBM Software Hub must be installed at the same release. For example, if the IBM Software Hub control plane is at Version 5.4.0, you must upgrade watsonx Assistant to Version 5.4.0.

Environment variables

The commands in this task use environment variables so that you can run the commands exactly as written.

• If you don't have the script that defines the environment variables, see Setting up installation environment variables.
• To use the environment variables from the script, you must source the environment variables before you run the commands in this task. For example, run:

  source ./cpd_vars.sh

Common core services

watsonx Assistant requires the IBM Software Hub common core services.

If the common core services are not at the correct version in the operands project for the instance, the common core services are automatically upgraded when you upgrade watsonx Assistant. The common core services upgrade increases the amount of time the upgrade takes to complete.

Before you begin

This task assumes that the following prerequisites are met:

System requirements

This task assumes that the cluster meets the minimum requirements for watsonx Assistant.

Where to find more information
If this task is not complete, see System requirements.

In addition, if you plan to use features that require GPU, ensure that you have the appropriate type and number of GPU for watsonx Assistant.

Where to find more information
If this task is not complete, see GPU requirements.

Workstation

This task assumes that the workstation from which you will run the upgrade is set up as a client workstation and has the following command-line interfaces:

• IBM Software Hub CLI: cpd-cli
• OpenShift® CLI: oc
• Helm CLI: helm

Where to find more information
If this task is not complete, see Updating client workstations.

Control plane

This task assumes that the IBM Software Hub control plane is upgraded.

Where to find more information
If this task is not complete, see Upgrading an instance of IBM Software Hub.

Private container registry

If your environment uses a private container registry (for example, your cluster is air-gapped), this task assumes that the following tasks are complete:

1. The watsonx Assistant software images are mirrored to the private container registry.

   Where to find more information
   If this task is not complete, see Mirroring images to a private container registry.

2. The cpd-cli is configured to pull the olm-utils-v4 image from the private container registry.

   Where to find more information
   If this task is not complete, see Pulling the olm-utils-v4 image from the private container registry.

GPU operators

If you plan to use features that require GPUs, this task assumes that the operators required to use GPUs are installed.

Where to find more information
If this task is not complete, see Installing operators for services that require GPUs.

Red Hat® OpenShift AI

If you plan to use features that require Red Hat OpenShift AI, this task assumes that Red Hat OpenShift AI is installed.

Where to find more information
If this task is not complete, see Installing Red Hat OpenShift AI.

Multicloud Object Gateway

This task assumes that Multicloud Object Gateway is upgraded, if needed.

Where to find more information
If this task is not complete, see Upgrading Multicloud Object Gateway.

Red Hat OpenShift Serverless Knative Eventing

This task assumes that the following tasks are complete:

1. Red Hat OpenShift Serverless Knative Eventing is upgraded

   Where to find more information
   If this task is not complete, see Installing Red Hat OpenShift Serverless Knative Eventing.

2. The IBM Events Operator for the instance is upgraded.

   Where to find more information
   If this task is not complete, see Upgrading the IBM Events Operator.

Cluster-scoped resources

This task assumes that the cluster-scoped resources, such as custom resource definitions, cluster roles, and cluster role bindings, were updated.

Where to find more information
If this task is not complete, see Updating the cluster-scoped resources for the platform and services.

Image pull secrets

This task assumes that the secrets that contain the image pull credentials for the instance exist.

Where to find more information
If this task is not complete, see Creating image pull secrets for an instance of IBM Software Hub.

Procedure

Complete the following tasks to upgrade watsonx Assistant:

1. Back up your data.

   For more information, see Backing up your data in IBM Software Hub in the watsonx Assistant product documentation.

2. Backing up and retaining temporary patches
3. Specifying additional installation options
4. Upgrading the service
5. Validating the upgrade
6. Upgrading existing service instances
7. What to do next

Backing up and retaining temporary patches

To back up and label the patches that need to be retained, follow these steps:

1. Run the following command to list all temporary patches for your instances. Save the list to the file patches_list.txt.

   oc get temporarypatch -n ${PROJECT_CPD_INST_OPERANDS}   >patches_list.txt
   

2. Save the YAML file for your existing temporary patches by running the following command:

   oc get temporarypatch -o yaml > old_patch_backups.yaml
   

3. Get the list of the temporary patches from your deployment to determine which patches you want to preserve.

   oc get temporarypatch -n ${PROJECT_CPD_INST_OPERANDS}
   

4. Apply or remove the "type": "critical-configuration" label as appropriate:
   • For all patches that you want to retain, use the following command:

     oc label temporarypatch <patch_name> type=critical-configuration
     

     For example:

     oc label temporarypatch wa-store-assistant-limits type=critical-configuration

   • For the patches that you want to remove, use the following command:

     oc label temporarypatch <patch_name> type-
     

     For example:

     oc label temporarypatch wa-store-assistant-limits type-
     

5. Run the following commands to verify that the temporary patches you want to preserve have the label type=critical-configuration:

   oc get temporarypatch -n ${PROJECT_CPD_INST_OPERANDS} -l type=critical-configuration

   oc get temporarypatch -n ${PROJECT_CPD_INST_OPERANDS} --show-labels

Migrating guidance for models

To know about the supported and deprecated models in Version 5.4.x, see Supported foundation models for GPU features.

Specifying installation options

When you upgrade watsonx Assistant, specify the following option in the install-options.yml file in the work directory.

---
# ............................................................................
# watsonx Assistant parameters
# ............................................................................
non_olm:
  watsonAssistant:
    size: Production
    bigpv: false
    analytics: true
    watsonxAiType: embedded
    ootbModels: 
      - gpt-oss-120b

Upgrading the service

To upgrade watsonx Assistant:

1. Log the cpd-cli in to the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform cluster:

   ${CPDM_OC_LOGIN}

   Remember: CPDM_OC_LOGIN is an alias for the cpd-cli manage login-to-ocp command.
2. Update the operator and custom resource for watsonx Assistant.

   cpd-cli manage install-components \
   --license_acceptance=true \
   --components=watson_assistant \
   --release=${VERSION} \
   --patch_id=${PATCH_ID} \
   --operator_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INST_OPERATORS} \
   --instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INST_OPERANDS} \
   --image_pull_prefix=${IMAGE_PULL_PREFIX} \
   --image_pull_secret=${IMAGE_PULL_SECRET} \
   --param-file=/tmp/work/install-options.yml \
   --upgrade=true

Validating the upgrade

[SUCCESS]... The install-components command ran successfully

If you want to confirm that the custom resource status is Completed, you can run the cpd-cli manage get-cr-status command:

cpd-cli manage get-cr-status \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INST_OPERANDS} \
--components=watson_assistant

Upgrading existing service instances

The service instances are automatically upgraded when you upgrade watsonx Assistant.

What to do next

watsonx Assistant is ready to use. To get started with watsonx Assistant, see Administering watsonx Assistant.