Prism Central is a centralized management tool that runs as a separate instance comprised of either a single VM or a set of VMs. This multi-cluster view, allows you to monitor and manage multiple clusters through a single web console. If you would like to deploy a Prism Central instance, you can either follow the 1-Click method or the manual method.
Do you have a Prism Central(PC) instance deployed in your environment and are planning to upgrade it? Here is the second installation of the Upgrade Series as promised to provide you quick tips and tricks to plan and execute your upgrade activities with ease.
Prism Central Guide for the latest version (as of 10th of July, 2020) can be found here. To check for the release notes or Guide, navigate to Nutanix Support Portal > Menu> Documentation > Prism and filter out the PC version from the top right section of the dropdown.
Note: PC upgrades is necessarily just a reboot activity on the Prism Central Virtual Machine(s) and does not interfere with the production. This upgrade does NOT reboot the CVM or host.
PC upgrades can be done through the Upgrade Software section on the Prism Central UI. You can either use the one click download method or upload the binaries as required and perform upgrades.
Before you begin:
- Follow the PC upgrade guidelines and requirements checklist.
- Keep in mind Prism central and Prism Element upgrades go hand in hand. Make sure to refer the Software Product Interoperability before planning the upgrades. More details on this in the later sections of this post.
- Refer the Upgrade Path Matrix to verify if upgrade to the target PC version is supported in a single jump. If you are on an outdated PC version, there may be a possibility that you need to perform a multi-step upgrade to reach the target version.
- Always make sure you run a complete NCC health check on the Prism Central and look for critical issues before proceeding with the upgrades. It is recommended to run these checks from the latest NCC version.
Upgrading Prism Central:
You can upgrade Prism central using the Upgrade Prism Central option in Prism Central Settings.
Note: If you are not able to find the target version in the Upgrade Software panel despite having internet connectivity to the Prism Central, the target PC version might not have been qualified for 1-click Upgrade yet. You can use the alternative method of downloading the target binary and metadata files from the Downloads section in Support Portal and then upload it to the cluster using the upload the PC binary option in the upgrade pane.
PC and AOS Upgrade Planning:
When upgrading Prism Central and AOS, upgrade Prism Central first, then upgrade AOS on the clusters managed by Prism Central.
Let's say you have multiple clusters registered on the Prism Central, all running on different AOS versions and the upgrade order plan is a bit fuzzy? Don't worry, here is a checklist for you, illustrated with examples, to devise the upgrade order easily.
Step 1: Decide on the target PC version. Once you have it refer the Upgrade Path Matrix (PC) to determine the PC upgrade order - single hop or multi hop.
Scenario:
Example Environment Details:
- Prism Central: PC 5.10.6
- Cluster A: AOS 5.5.9.5
- Cluster B: AOS 5.10
- Cluster C: AOS 5.10.6
Let us consider PC 5.17.1 as the target version.
As per upgrade path matrix, order chosen: PC 5.10.6 -> PC 5.16.1.3 -> PC 5.17.1
Step 2: Consider the AOS clusters (Prism Elements) one by one.
- Check the Software Product Interoperability - Prism Central and AOS. Choose your target AOS version based on the PC versions decided.
- Plan the AOS upgrade order following the Upgrade Path Matrix for AOS.
Scenario:
Target PC version - 5.17.1 supports AOS 5.10 and above, which implies Cluster A needs to be upgraded to a compatible version.
Intermediary PC version 5.16.1.3 supports 5.5.9.5 and above.
Step 3: Repeat the above step for all the clusters and rearrange the upgrade order combining your mini-plans from the above steps into one fully-fledged upgrade activity on the cluster.
Upgrade Plan:
- Since the intermediary PC version is compatible with all the AOS versions, Upgrade PC to 5.16.1.3
- Upgrade cluster 1 - AOS 5.5.9.5 to 5.10.10.2.
- Upgrade PC to target 5.17.1
Stay tuned for the next post on tips and tricks for an AOS upgrade activity. Until then!
RELATED QUICK LINKS:
Note: The below PC specific links are for the latest PC version, 5.17 (as of 10th of July, 2020). If you are looking for any other versions, explore the Documentation section in the Support Portal as needed.