Upgrading SPS

SPS for Linux may be upgraded to future releases while preserving existing resource hierarchies. Review this information carefully to ensure that you minimize application downtime.

Note: LifeKeeper can be upgraded to the current version from up to two versions back. If upgrading from a version previous to that, the older version will need to be uninstalled, and SIOS Protection Suite for Linux will have to be reinstalled. An alternative to uninstalling the older version would be to upgrade from the older version to one of the two acceptable versions, then perform the upgrade to the current version.

Note: If using lkbackup during your upgrade, see the lkbackup Known Issue for further information.

Note: Beginning with Version 8.1.1, SPS uses PAM for GUI user authentication. Due to this change, an attempt will be made to add any entries from the old /opt/LifeKeeper/website/passwd to the new group membership mechanism. If the users do not get re-created, they will not be assigned to the corresponding LifeKeeper groups and will have to be added manually. To avoid confusion and maintain consistency if leveraging more complex PAM configurations such as LDAP, NIS and AD, it is recommended that all user and LifeKeeper group accounts exist prior to upgrading SPS.

1. While upgrading a cluster, switch all applications away from the server to be upgraded now. Do this manually or by setting the LifeKeeper shutdown strategy to "Switchover" which causes the applications to be switched when LifeKeeper is stopped or the server is shut down.

2. If necessary, upgrade the Linux operating system before upgrading SPS. It is recommended that you unextend all resources from a server that is to be upgraded prior to performing the operating system upgrade.

3. Upgrade SPS using the SPS Installation Image File. Mount the SPS Installation Image File using the following command:

   mount PATH/IMAGE_NAME MOUNT_POINT -t iso9660 -o loop

   Where PATH is the path to the image

   IMAGE_NAME is the name of the image

   MOUNT_POINT is the path to mount location

4. Change to the sps.img mounted directory and type the following:

./setup

You will see informational messages confirming that the packages are being upgraded.

5. A list of all available SPS Recovery Kits will appear. You will see a "u" next to each currently installed recovery kit indicating that this kit will be upgraded. If you would like to install any additional kits, select the kits by highlighting and pressing the "space" bar. This will place an "i" next to each kit that will be installed.

   Note: Previous to SPS for Linux Version 8.1, recovery kits would need to be upgraded from their individual image files once the core packages finished upgrading. Now, once the packages have been upgraded, you are presented with a list indicating which kits are currently installed and will be automatically upgraded, and you're also given the option to select any other kits you would like installed.

   Note: To add kits at a later time, simply run setup again followed by -k:

   ./setup -k

   Note: Because following packages won't be upgraded by the setup script, update each with the "rpm -U" command.

   • steeleye-lkQWK
   • steeleye-lkECC
   • steeleye-lkROUTE53
   • steeleye-lkOPENSWAN

6. Switch all applications back to the upgraded server.

7. Repeat this procedure for each server in the SPS cluster to be upgraded.

CAUTION: The same version and release of SPS must be installed on all systems in a cluster. In general, different versions and/or releases of SPS are not compatible. For situations other than rolling upgrades, LifeKeeper should not be started when a different version or release is resident and running on another system in the cluster.