How do I migrate my RHEV hypervisors from Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6?

Solution Unverified - Updated -

Environment

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) 3.0

Issue

I've migrated my RHEV-M from 2.2 to 3.0, and now want to upgrade my hypervisors to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6-based hosts.

Resolution

NOTE: This is a strategy document, not a detailed HOWTO.

  • Step 1 - Decide between your migration options
Option 1 - Continue to work with the old VMs in the old data centers with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 hypervisors, 
but create new data centers with for new VMs with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 hypervisors. Any VM you want to move 
to run on the RHEL 6 hypervisor will require export/import operations.
*   Pros: Upgrade to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6-based host capabilities and V2 storage level
*   Cons: Very slow upgrade procedure
Option 2 - Create a new RHEV 3.0 cluster along side the RHEV 2.2 level cluster in the RHEV 2.2
level data center (this is allowed, the vice verse is not). Next, in order to have a VM running
on the RHEV 3.0 cluster, just power off, move to the new cluster in the VM properties and start again.
*   Pros: Fast upgrade to RHEL 6-based capabilities
*   Cons: continue to work on a V1 level storage (NOTE: for most customers there is no impact)
  • Step 2: In any of the above options, in order to reuse a host, it must be re-installed with a RHEL 6 hypervisor. In-place upgrades for the host are not supported. This should not be much of an issue since RHEV-H hosts are considered stateless at the moment.

Note, if migration tool was used, please check this articles before upgrading the hosts:
How to recreate RHEV-M CA and update RHEV setup with the new certificate (migration from 2.1 only)
RHEV Hypervisors ssh_keys do not match with the public key of RHEV Manager

  • Step 3: Upgrade the VM guest tools as soon as possible.

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