5.2. Upgrading to Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.5
5.2.1. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager 3.5 Upgrade Overview
Important
Always update to the latest minor version of your current Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager version before you upgrade to the next major version.
The process for upgrading Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager comprises three main steps:
- Subscribing to entitlements.
- Updating the required packages.
- Performing the upgrade.
The command used to perform the upgrade itself is
engine-setup, which provides an interactive interface. While the upgrade is in process, virtualization hosts and the virtual machines running on those virtualization hosts continue to operate independently. When the upgrade is complete, you can then upgrade your hosts to the latest versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor.
5.2.2. Features Requiring a Compatibility Upgrade to Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.5
Some of the features provided by Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.5 are only available if your data centers, clusters, and storage have a compatibility version of 3.5.
Table 5.1. Features Requiring a Compatibility Upgrade to Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.5
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
|
Paravirtualized random number generator (RNG) device support
|
This feature adds support for enabling a paravirtualized random number generator in virtual machines. To use this feature, the random number generator source must be set at cluster level to ensure all hosts support and report desired RNG device sources. This feature is supported in Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts of version 6.6 and higher.
|
|
Serial number policy support
|
This feature adds support for setting a custom serial number for virtual machines. Serial number policy can be specified at cluster level, or for an individual virtual machine.
|
|
Save OVF files on any data domain
|
This feature adds support for Open Virtualization Format files, including virtual machine templates, to be stored on any domain in a supported pool.
|
|
Boot menu support
|
This feature adds support for enabling a boot device menu in a virtual machine.
|
|
Import data storage domains
|
This feature adds support for users to add existing data storage domains to their environment. The Manager then detects and adds all the virtual machines in that storage domain.
|
|
SPICE copy and paste support
|
This feature adds support for users to enable or disable SPICE clipboard copy and paste.
|
|
Storage pool metadata removal
|
This feature adds support for storage pool metadata to be stored and maintained in the engine database only.
|
|
Network custom properties support
|
This feature adds support for users to define custom properties when a network is provisioned on a host.
|
5.2.3. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.5 Upgrade Considerations
The following is a list of key considerations that must be made when planning your upgrade.
Important
- Upgrading to version 3.5 can only be performed from version 3.4
- To upgrade a previous version of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization earlier than Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.4 to Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.5, you must sequentially upgrade to any newer versions of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization before upgrading to the latest version. For example, if you are using Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.3, you must upgrade to the latest minor version of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.4 before you can upgrade to Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.5.
- Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager cannot be installed on the same machine as IPA
- An error message displays if the ipa-server package is installed. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager 3.5 does not support installation on the same machine as Identity Management (IdM). To resolve this issue, you must migrate the IdM configuration to another system before re-attempting the upgrade.
- Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager 3.5 is supported to run on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.6
- Upgrading to version 3.5 involves also upgrading the base operating system of the machine that hosts the Manager.
5.2.4. Upgrading to Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager 3.5
The following procedure outlines the process for upgrading Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager 3.4 to Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager 3.5. This procedure assumes that the system on which the Manager is installed is subscribed to the entitlements for receiving Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.4 packages at the start of the procedure.
Important
If the upgrade fails, the
engine-setup command will attempt to roll your Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager installation back to its previous state. For this reason, the repositories required by Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.4 must not be removed until after the upgrade is complete as outlined below. If the upgrade fails, detailed instructions display that explain how to restore your installation.
Procedure 5.5. Upgrading to Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager 3.5
- Subscribe the system on which the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager is installed to the required entitlements for receiving Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager 3.5 packages:
- With RHN Classic:
# rhn-channel --add --channel=rhel-x86_64-server-6-rhevm-3.5
- With Subscription Manager:
# subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-6-server-rhevm-3.5-rpms
- Update the rhevm-setup package:
# yum update rhevm-setup
- Run the following command and follow the prompts to upgrade the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager:
# engine-setup
- Remove or disable the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager 3.4 channel to ensure the system does not use any Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager 3.4 packages:
- With RHN Classic:
# rhn-channel --remove --channel=rhel-x86_64-server-6-rhevm-3.4
- With Subscription Manager:
# subscription-manager repos --disable=rhel-6-server-rhevm-3.4-rpms
- Update the base operating system:
# yum update