Applying maintenance to WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition

Resolving The Problem

Version 7.x

For Hypervisor Version 7.x images, there are two major types: OVA and standalone images. The Hypervisor Version 7.x Service Pack includes all the scripts and artifacts required to upgrade to the latest release.

Hypervisor Version 7.x package contents

Category	File/Folder Name	Usage
Script	installServiceforCB.sh installIMandFEPs.sh	installServiceforCB.sh is the entry script for all service upgrade related operations.  installIMandFEPs.sh is mainly used for IM upgrade and feature pack upgrade using IM.
WAS	was700x	Contains installer of fixpack, sdk, ihs and plugin which are used to upgrade to the later release.
WAS Sync	was_sync	Contains installer of WAS sync which is used to upgrade to the later release.
UPDI	updi	Contains UPDI upgrade installer.
IM	im_update	Contains IM installer of the latest release.
Feature Pack	xml sca cea jpa batch isa web20mobile	Contains the upgrade installer of the supported feature packs.  Note that the feature pack upgrade strategy varies from release to release. Due to the disk size limitation of the root directory, feature pack with large upgrade installer (such as XC10 and Web20mobile) might be cut off from the phoenix package to ensure a successful upgrade.
IFIX	ifixes	Contains ifixes which need to be applied to the later WAS release or feature packs of the later version.
IMP/WVE	ve-maintenance.tgz	Contains upgrade script and upgrade installers of IMP/WVE. Note that IMP/WVE is able to determine whether it is upgrading from an earlier 6.1 or 7.0 version, and IMP/WVE will be upgraded to the latest release accordingly, such as 6.1.0.5 or 7.0.0.2.
HV	hv	Contains the upgrade main script and the latest service package of LINUX4AE, AE, OS and HV RPMs
OS patch	hv	Contains the OS maintenance service patch for OS upgrade (70 RHEL does not have OS patch because of disk size limiation)

OVA images deploy through WCA, IWD, or IPAS only. The following steps show how to upgrade a Hypervisor Version 7.0.0.19 to Version 7.0.0.23.


Upgrading the Hypervisor Version 7.x OVA image

• Go to Catalog -> Virtual Images. Click the green plus button to import the WHV 7.0.0.23 OVA image.
• After the image has finished importing, accept all licenses.
• Go to Instances -> Virtual Systems. Click the 7.0.0.19 virtual system (VS) and the deployment details are displayed on the right-side panel.
• On the upper right corner, click the Service button and expand the section of "Select service level or fixes" on the pop-up window. Under the radio button of "Move to service level", all the available levels are listed. Select WebSphere Application Server 7.0.0.23 and click "OK" to confirm.
• Check the current status and history message on IWD GUI to ensure that the 7.0.0.19 VS is being upgraded.
• When the service upgrade is complete, the VS displays a green arrow.

Upgrading Hypervisor Version 7.x images deployed on WCA, IWD, or IPAS
WCA, IWD, and IPAS make snapshots of the VS before beginning the upgrade process, (for the ESX service upgrade only) in case the upgrade fails and you need to revert to the older state. The VS and all of its running instances are stopped gracefully. WCA, IWD, or IPAS then transfer the Phoenix package (called hv_700XX_.tgz, e.g. hv_70023_sles_x86.tgz) included in the selected target OVA image to each virtual machine (VM) in the VS. Place the package under /tmp/update and uncompress the package. Before you begin, ensure that all Java processes are stopped. The main script installServiceforCB.sh launches the following upgrade installations:

• Detects whether there are any WebSphere Application Server Java processes running. If so, the upgrade stops and requests you to manually stop the Java process.
• Detect whether IHS is started. If yes, IHS is stopped.
• Uninstalls the old UPDI and installs the new UPDI.
• Upgrades WebSphere Application Server and the JDK.
• Calls the script installIMandFEPs.sh to update IM, sync WebSphere Application Server with IM, and updates the following feature packs: XML, SCA, CEA, JPA, and BATCH.
• Updates IHS, IHS JDK, Plugin, and Plugin JDK.
• Installs ISA Lite.
• Uncompresses the IMP package and applies the IMP fix pack if necessary.
• Removes old Hypervisor licenses, applies the OS service pack and updates AE and Hypervisor packages.
• Restarts IHS and ensures permissions are correct.
• WCA/IWD/IPAS starts all the VMs in the VS and starts all of the WebSphere Application Server related processes.

Upgrading Version 7.x standalone images
For standalone images, the preparation steps that are completed automatically by WCA/IWD/IPAS for OVA images must be performed manually. Taking a snapshot for VM, stopping Java processes, copying Fix Packs to VM, uncompressing Fix Packs to /tmp/update, and launching the main script installServiceforCB.sh. This process follows the same major steps as the OVA image, and a manual reboot is needed to make the upgrades take effect.

• Provision the 7.0.0.19 WHV OVF/ESX image.
• (Optional) Snapshot your Virtual Image using the VMware Infrastructure client or analogous tool.

Note: Hypervisor service maintenance cannot be uninstalled. Once the Fix Pack is applied, this snapshot is the only mechanism to rollback the Fix Pack installation.

• Manually stop all Java processes.
• Store the .tgz Fix Pack (hv_700XX_.tgz, e.g. hv_70023_sles_x86.tgz) in a new directory.
• su - root

Note: The root user must apply service maintenance.

• Change directory to where you stored the .tgz Fix Pack and extract the .tgz Fix Pack into /tmp/update, e.g. tar xzf hv_70023_sles_x86.tgz -C /tmp/update

Note: The Fix Pack must be installed from the /tmp/update directory.

• Add execute permissions to the installServiceforCB.sh and installIMandFEPs.sh install scripts

chmod +x ./installServiceforCB.sh chmod +x ./installIMandFEPs.sh

• Install the service update using the following command ./installServiceforCB.sh. When the update completes you received the following message:

Completed installing WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition Service
Note: The install process automatically cleans up the extracted code by deleting the contents of /tmp/update. Store any data you wish to be kept outside of this directory.

• (Optional) Delete the .tgz file you downloaded if it was stored somewhere other than /tmp/update.
• Reboot the VM.

Versions 8.0.0.x and 8.5.x.x
Hypervisor Version 8.x images have two major types: OVA and standalone images. The V8.x service upgrade scheme is different from Version 7.x, because it requires a Fix Pack and an IM repository. In the following table, you can see that the Version 8.x package is smaller than the Version 7.x package, because most of the installables are provided in the IM repository.

Hypervisor Version 8.x package contents

Category	File/Folder Name	Usage
Script	installServiceforCB.sh	installServiceforCB.sh is the entry script which is used to execute all the service upgrade related operations.
IM	im_update	Contains IM installer of the latest release.
HV	hv	Contains the upgrade main script and the latest service package of LINUX4AE, AE, OS and HV RPMs
OS patch	hv	Contains the OS maintenance service patch for OS upgrade

Setting up IM repositories
Refer to the following instructions for the IBM Packaging Utility tool to set up the IM repository: 
Information Center for IBM Packaging Utility

The following example shows how to upgrade from Version 8.0.0.2 to 8.0.0.3. Before deploying VS based on the 8.0.0.2 WHV OVA image, IWD provides an option to enter the remote IM repository in the pattern editing panel. The repository location should be the path which contains the repository file "repository.config". If the IM repository is secured by authentication, username/password can be entered in the panel as well. 

The IM repository is used to upgrade the 8.0.0.2 VS. If the repository is not provided before deploying the 8.0.0.2 VS, you can also add the relative information manually in the VM before launching the service upgrade process.
 
Upgrading Hypervisor 8.x OVA images

• Go to Catalog -> Virtual Images. Click the green plus button to import the WHV 8.0.0.3 OVA image.
• After the image completes importing, accept all licenses.
• Go to Instances -> Virtual Systems. Click the 8.0.0.2 VS and the deployment details are displayed on the right-side panel.
• If the IM repository information is already provided before deploying 8.0.0.2 VS, then skip to the next step; otherwise, log on to each VM in the VS using the root username/password. Edit the file /opt/IBM/WebSphere/Profiles/AppServer_Shared/.settings/repoInfo4upgrade and fill in values for the following parameters, then save the changes.
• 8.0.0.x images

was.repository.location=
was.repository.user=
was.repository.pass=
imp.repository.location=
imp.repository.user=
imp.repository.pass=

• 8.5.x.x images

was.repository.location=
was.repository.user=
was.repository.pass=
• On the upper right corner, Click the Service button. Expand Select service level or fixes on the pop-up window. Under the radio button Move to service level, all the available levels are listed. Select WebSphere Application Server 8.0.0.3 and click OK to confirm.
• Check the current status and history message on the IWD GUI to ensure that 8.0.0.2 VS is being upgraded to 8.0.0.3.
• After the service upgrade is finished, the VS displays with a green arrow.

Upgrading Hypervisor Version 8.x images deployed on WCA, IWD, or IPAS

WCA, IWD, and IPAS follow the same preparation procedure as WHV 70 OVA images. A snapshot is created for the VS in case an older state needs to be returned. Stop services on each VM. Then the Phoenix package (called hv_800X_.tgz, e.g. hv_8003_sles_x86.tgz) is transferred to each VM in the VS. Place it in /tmp/update and then uncompress the package. The main script installServiceforCB.sh is then triggered to launch the following major upgrade installations:

• Checks if IM repository locations are provided. If not, the upgrade skips WebSphere Application Server and IMP/WVE upgrade.
• Updates IM to the latest version.
• Upgrades WebSphere Application Server, IMP/WVE(8.0.0x images), and WebSphere eXtreme Scale(8.5.x.x images) using the provided IM repository.
• Updates AE and Hypervisor packages.
• Ensures permissions are correct after upgrade and clears the phoenix package.

Upgrading Hypervisor Version 8.x standalone images

The major difference between the 8.x OVA image and standalone image is that the IM repository for standalone upgrade needs to be provided manually in a file. The preparation work, such as making snapshot for VM, stop WAS Java processes, copying Fix Pack to VM, decompress Fix Pack to /tmp/update, and launch the main script installServiceforCB.sh should be completed manually. The service upgrade follows the same major procedure as the OVA image, and a manual reboot is needed to make all the upgrades take effect.

• Provision out the 8.0.0.2 WHV OVF image.
• (Optional) Take a snapshot of your virtual image using the VMware Infrastructure client or analogous tool.

Note: Hypervisor Version 8.x service maintenance cannot be uninstalled. Once the Fix Pack is applied, this snapshot is the only mechanism to roll back the Fix Pack installation.

• Manually stop all the WAS Java processes.
• Log on to the VM using root username/password. Edit the file /opt/IBM/WebSphere/Profiles/AppServer_Shared/.settings/repoInfo4upgrade and fill in values for these following parameters, then save the changes.
• 8.0.0.x images

was.repository.location=
was.repository.user=
was.repository.pass=
imp.repository.location=
imp.repository.user=
imp.repository.pass=

• 8.5.x.x images

was.repository.location=
was.repository.user=
was.repository.pass=
• su - root

Note: The root user must apply service maintenance.

• Change directory to where you stored the .tgz Fix Pack and extract the .tgz Fix Pack into /tmp/update, e.g. tar xzf hv_8003_sles_x86.tgz -C /tmp/update

Note: The Fix Pack must be installed from the /tmp/update directory.

• Add execute permissions to the installServiceforCB.sh script using "chmod +x ./installServiceforCB.sh".
• Install the service update using the following command: ./installServiceforCB.sh

Note: The install process automatically cleans up the extracted code by deleting the contents of /tmp/update. Store any data you want to be kept outside of this directory.

• (Optional) delete the .tgz file you downloaded if it was stored somewhere other than /tmp/update.
• Reboot the VM.