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Controller hardware upgrade for AFF and FAS systems resolution guide

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Applies to

  • ONTAP 9
  • Controller Hardware Upgrade
    • Headswap
    • Head Upgrade
  • AFF systems
  • FAS systems
  • MetroCluster
  • Systems with FlexArray Virtualization Software

Description

This guide describes how to upgrade controller hardware of an AFF system or a FAS system in a cluster by moving storage or volumes.

  • The hardware upgrade procedures have been simplified in ONTAP 9.8 with the introduction of the automatic port placement feature.
  • When you are upgrading a system running ONTAP 9.8 and later, use the correct procedure to account for the port placement feature.
Upgrade procedures

Review the following table to see the available upgrade procedures. See each guide for additional details to determine if the procedure is appropriate.

Hardware Upgrade Method
Location
Upgrade by moving aggregates on systems running ONTAP 9.8 or later
Upgrade by moving aggregates on systems running ONTAP 9.7 or earlier
Upgrade by moving storage or volumes (most systems)

 

Resolution Guide

Review the following table to see known issues that may arise during your upgrade: 

Known Issues Resolution
Compatibility issues

Controller model of node "node_name" is not supported for controller replacement operation

FAS8300 does not support 10GBe links on any of the onboard ports
New FAS or AFF controllers boot with incorrect ONTAP release during a Head Upgrade
Network Config issues
Cannot run this command because the system is not fully initialized.
  • Cluster LIFs are missing from network interface show output
  • Cluster SVM is missing from vserver show output
  • Attempting to migrate cluster LIFs to new platform ports while in this state using network interface migrate results in error:

Error: command failed: LIF "node1_clus1" on Vserver "Cluster" could not be found in database (database vifids is not open). Contact technical support for assistance.

Error: command failed: Cannot remove port that is a failover target for a LIF. To list LIFs containing a failover target, use the "network interface show -failover-targets <targetname>" command.
HA interconnect down after FAS8300 head swap

 Upgrade using nondisruptive aggregate relocation (ARL) procedure or moving storage disruptive procedure

  • FAS8200 to FAS8300
  • AFF A300 to AFF A400
Failover issues

Takeover is not possible after controller upgrade

Takeover is not possible: Storage failover mailbox disk state is invalid, Storage failover is disabled on the partner node, Storage failover interconnect error, NVRAM log not synchronized, Disk inventory not exchanged

Attempting to add 2 new AFF A250 nodes to an existing cluster with CN1610 cluster network switches.
Storage Access issues
 
Upgrade Issues

::*> system controller replace show-details

Error on node cluster1-02.
         Reason: Error in modifying bootarg.head.ontapupgrade 

mgmtgwd.var.recovery:EMERGENCY]: Part of the /var boot directory is missing.

Additional Information

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