Forum Discussion

sdo's avatar
sdo
Moderator
6 years ago

upgrade 6.5.6 to 8.1.1

...don't laugh !

It looks like the shortest possible supported upgrade path is:    6.5.6  -->  7.7.1  -->  8.1.1

Does that fit with poeples' experience ?

Anyone actually done a 6.5.6 to 7.7.1 upgrade on Solaris SPARC ?

.

My main concern is that even though Solaris 10 SPARC is a 64-bit OS, it looks like the NetBackup 6.5.6 Solaris SPARC binaries are 32-bit - so I assume that the NetBackup install / upgrade process will take care of things like internal Sybase ASA database upgrades and any required conversions of NetBackup's own internal relational databases.

Solaris
  • Nicolai's avatar
    Nicolai
    Moderator
    6 years ago

    ha ha ha ha :-)

    How healthy is that 6.5 installation ?

    I think you are better off doing a new installation on Linux/windows - besides the upgrade itself, both the image database (image metadata migration) and the EMM needs conversion - more than one time. So lot of things can go wrong. But again with enough time an the right amount of planing everything is possible. Any reason why you want to upgrade ?

    Cheers !

    Nicolai

    • sdo's avatar
      sdo
      Moderator
      6 years ago

      Supposedly the SPARC hardware and OS is good for vendor support for another three years.  Personally, I'm not convinced that an upgrade approach will end up being any cheaper... and I'm fairly certain that an upgrade approach is by definition riskier than a parellel new build which can be fully built and tested ready for backup client migration.

  • Tousif's avatar
    Tousif
    Level 6
    6 years ago

    Hello, 

    :)

    I think you have to contact Veritas for 6.5 binary to install on 64 bit new hardware. Recover the catalog and then upgrade to 7.5 for binary contact Veritas ( NBU 7.5 have Major Catalog Changes). Then upgrade to 7.7.3 and then 8.1.1

     

    Regards,

    • sdo's avatar
      sdo
      Moderator
      6 years ago

      I was hoping not to have to hop through too many versions.

      AFAICT an upgrade from v6.5.6 direct to v7.7.3 is neither supported, nor possible - as such steps are not mentioned in any v7.7.3 manuals.

      However, interestingly...

      1) The v7.x upgrade portal:

      https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.000040130

      ...lists the upgrade guides, but not the install guides.

      2) The v7.7.x documentation page:

      https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.000094423

      ...lists a zip file (of all manuals) for each version, plus also lists invidually most (but not all) of the manuals from inside the zip files.

      3) The v7.7.1 section does not have a direct link to a v7.7.1 "Install Guide", but the zip file v7.7.1 does contain a "v7.7.1 Install Guide" file, which on page 25 says:

      "Note: You cannot upgrade to NetBackup 7.7.1 if your current installed version is NetBackup 5.x. You must first upgrade to NetBackup 6.0 or 6.5, and then you can upgrade to NetBackup 7.5. Any 6.x version can be upgraded directly to 7.7.1."

      4) The v7.7 Install Guide says something very similar to point 3).

      5) However, there does not appear to be an Install Guide for v7.7.2 or v7.7.3.

      6) I cannot find any mention of a v6.5.6 to v7.7.1 upgrade being supported in the v7.7 Upgrade Guide or in the v7.7.1 Upgrade Guide.

      .

      Are points 4) and 3) true then?  Is it really possible to upgrade NetBackup v6.5.6 direct to v7.7 *or* v7.7.1 in one step ?  It feels like:

      i) a mistake in the v7.7 Install Guide, probably text left over from a v7.5 or v7.6 manual.

      ii) the mistake was copied through to the v7.7.1 Install Guide.

      • Marianne's avatar
        Marianne
        Level 6
        6 years ago

        I'd say it's okay to upgrade from 6.x to 7.7.3.

        I found 7.7.3 Installation Guide:
        https://origin-download.veritas.com/resources/content/live/SFDC/108000/000108119/en_US/NetBackup773_Install_Guide.pdf

        p. 34:
        Note: If you upgrade from NetBackup 6.0 or 6.5, PBX may not upgrade correctly. If the PBX upgrade is not successful, use the ICS disk from your 6.0 or 6.5 package to remove the older version.

        There is also reference to upgrade of clustered media servers from 6.x. 
        You can, however, upgrade existing 6.x clustered media servers to NetBackup 7.7.3 and still keep them clustered.

        So, Upgrade from 6.x is mentioned in different versions of 7.7.x documentation.
        I interpret that as being 'SUPPORTED'. 
        Plus, 7.7.x will have support in case things go wrong.

         

  • Marianne's avatar
    Marianne
    Level 6
    6 years ago

    Solaris 10 SPARC is perfectly good to upgrade to 8.x.

    As far as your plans for 6.5.6  -->  7.7.1  -->  8.1.1 are concerned :

    It will probably work, but the official supported upgrade path to 7.7.x is from 7.x versions: 
    7.x Upgrade Portal
    http://www.veritas.com/docs/000040130