Data Domain Upgrade - Customer Preparation Guide v1.5

Customer Upgrade Preparation Guide
Data Domain
As your partner in IT, DELL EMC has created this Upgrade Preparation Guide to help guide you to a successful upgrade of
your DELL EMC equipment. While this guide is not intended as a replacement for any of our other guides or release notes,
it does point out known concerns related to the upgrade we will be performing for you, which have the potential to disrupt
your environment, as well as guidelines on how to ensure you have a smoother upgrade experience.
As mentioned during the exchange with the DELL EMC Scheduler, you have two options with this guide:
1. Review this guide ahead of your scheduled Upgrade Pre-Check and prepare any questions you may have as a
result, for discussion with the Upgrade Engineer when they contact you during the Technical Consultation.
2. Review this guide independently and ensure your environment is protected against these known concerns.
In preparation for your upcoming upgrade event, please note the below items:
• Review and complete the Initial Request email with the details required for each server that needs to be upgraded,
particularly fields highlighted to be vital. One SR is required per server. If there are replication partners, they will also
need to be upgraded. Please let us know if you would like the devices to be upgraded in a particular order. If your DD
is integrated with an Avamar, it may need to be upgraded to be compatible with the new DDOS version. For
assistance in gathering this information, please refer to https://support.emc.com/kb/486331
• It’s important to ensure that each SR you open has the correct asset setup. In the case of DD that would be the
systems Serial Number. For DDVE that would be the SWID (Software ID).
• Review the DDOS Software Versions on https://support.emc.com/downloads/9012_Data-Domain (under ‘DD OS’)
and choose the DDOS version to which you want to upgrade to.
o The Target Code in each family is our recommended code if your objective is to upgrade to the version that
has had sufficient runtime and adoption in the field.
o The latest GA in each family is our recommendation if your objective it to have all the latest bug fixes.
o If you are unsure on what code to upgrade to, be assured we will be happy to advise you during the
Technical Consultation.
o If a Code you wish to upgrade to is not listed, please refer to the following article for more information:
https://support.emc.com/kb/525902
• Review the release notes for both the Code the DD Server is currently running, and the code to which you are
upgrading. Pay special attention to the section "Assuring overall compatibility of the DDOS upgrade". It is critical that
you do this should there be any features you are using that might be subject to change at the new code.
• Verify the version is suitable for your Backup Environment by reviewing the Compatibility Guide, and other Data
Protection Products integrated with your DD, such as Avamar and Networker. Ensuring overall compatibility for your
Backup Environment, and the updating of clients and plugins, is ultimately the customer’s responsibility.
• Pre-Checks will be scheduled to make sure the system is in a healthy state and ready for an upgrade. The engineer
will complete an Upgrade Plan for you during this process.
• In preparation for your upgrade, please make sure you have downloaded the correct Upgrade RPM to
‘/ddr/var/releases’ on each server and verified the md5sum/sha256 values prior to the scheduled upgrade date.
• Estimated downtime for the upgrade is around 3.5 to 5.5 hours. But the time to complete the upgrade will vary due
to the upgrade type (DDHA take longer) system size, the version to which you are upgrading to and whether an index
rebuild is required (see below). Schedule your upgrade for a time that is appropriate for this recommended
disruptive downtime.
• Prior to starting the activity, our technical engineer will call or email you at your preferred contact number/email and
verify the activity details with you. We reserve the right to postpone a Technical Consultation or Upgrade if it cannot
be started on time because of you not being available at the scheduled time.
PLEASE TURN TO THE NEXT PAGE FOR FURTHER GUIDELINES
Dell Customer Communication - Confidential

• If your DD is attached to a DLm (Disk Library for Mainframe – Backup and Storage system for Maintframes), RPS will
not be able to handle this upgrade. A Field Engineer will be responsible for the entire DLm Project. Please contact the
Field Team to arrange.
• DDMC (DD Management Center) is customer installable/upgradeable. For more info please refer to the release notes
and installation/administration guides available on support.emc.com.
• A minimum of 10% free capacity is required for a DD Upgrade. For assistance in freeing up space, please refer to this
article https://community.emc.com/docs/DOC-38886. If you need further assistance, please open a ticket with
Support.
• DDOS 5.7 systems or older that are upgrading to 6.x and using old licenses should be converted. For more info on
how to convert please refer to the release notes or this article https://support.emc.com/kb/498110
• Customers upgrading from DDOS 6.0, or earlier versions of DDOS 6.1.x, may require an index rebuild to be completed
during the final stages of the upgrade. This will add X amount of time to the expected upgrade duration. An estimate
of the additional time it will take will be displayed during the system upgrade check. The time will be different for
each system based on the used storage size. Please accommodate sufficient time to allow for the upgrade and index
rebuild to complete. For more information on this, please refer to the ‘Read Me’ displayed just prior to downloading
the code.
• If you are using PCR (Physical Capacity Reporting) please review https://support.emc.com/kb/533373 to see if
remediation is required with the DD Support Team prior to your upgrade.
• If your DD is attached to an IDPA, please make sure to mention this. We would not recommend doing a sub
component upgrade unless there is a specific reason to go outside the appliance upgrade process. Please contact
IDPA Support for assistance.
• For DD Upgrade FAQ’s please refer to https://support.emc.com/kb/486723, or you may wait till the technical
consultation to ask any pertinent questions you may have.
• Why it is important to Upgrade Secure Remote Services Gateway before upgrading code on any other Dell EMC
device https://support.emc.com/kb/525338
Dell EMC
Confidential
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