OS Upgrade 11 --> 11i

[Jim Mallett]

I guess I'm looking more for opinions than "How To's". I have two L2000 boxes that are almost mirror images...software and hardware wise. One is 11.00 the other is 11.11.

Would you:
*Go the upgrade route. Prior to 11i I probably wouldn't have considered this but I've heard the 11i upgrade works well.
*Go with a fresh OS install, install the other software and vgimport the old data.
*Go with an ignite from the existing 11.11 system and vgimport the old data.

One important factor that I haven't looked into is the 11.00 system is my OmniBack Cell Manager. If anybody knows offhand if the licenses OS specific please let me know. (I guess that is a ?.)

Other than that, I'm pretty comfortable with the steps I'll need to take for each. It seems like the Ignite would be the easiest but I've only done that in DR scenarios. Never to "create" a production box.

TIA...
Jim

[Pete Randall]

Jim,

Though all three of your scenarios would work (and probably work well), my inclination is to go the "cold install" route. The main reason being that you get to clean out all the old patch info that's cluttering up /var. It fills up fast enough with out lugging the old stuff around.


Pete

[A. Clay Stephenson]

As long as your IP address stays the same, your OB2 license will work.

As to the upgrade from 11.0 to 11.11, I am in the minority
but I would go for it IFF (if and only if) you generously oversized / and /stand when you initially loaded 11.0. If you used the default sizes then your upgrade is very questionable.

On the systems where / and /stand were oversized, I've never had an upgrade fail. I think most people were so jaded with the 10.20 -> 11.0 upgrade attempts that they are very wary of 11.0 -> 11.11.


In any event, make sure you do a make_tape_recovery so there is a way back. If you have the backup, you won't need it.


If you absolutely have to complete the task in a given timeframe then the safer method to use the cold install - especially if you can do it on another disk. You then have a very easy path back. I always have enough spare disks that this is the only way I do OS installs. I recently explained a known good method of moving OB2 during an install. This one covers 10.20 to 11.0 but it applies to your migration as well.

http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0x49568b82cc91d711abdc0090277a778c,00.html

[Jim Mallett]

I should've mentioned that Clay. I do have a spare internal for the install. (I actually picked it up after reading a previous upgrade response by you.) It'll also make a good mirror down the road after I'm confident in the cutover to the new OS.

Well, I initially thought Ignite because it would get me in/out quickly. But you both have me thinking differently now.

[Helen French]

If the root filesystem size are big enough to do the upgrade, I would do that. As said above, upgrade from 11.00 to 11i doesn't look very complicated like the 10.20 to 11.00 upgrade. I did this couple of times and didn't have any issues at all since all specifications (FS size, memory etc)met the expectations.

As far as OB, IP address is the factor. If you keep it the same, you don't need to worry. Also, your other choices (cold install and Ignite) are good too, but it's your choice depend up on the applications and time frame.

[Marco Santerre]

Jim,

I know a lot of people on these forums would disagree with me, but I have done both and both have worked fine for me. Actually, now I am even more inclined to do the update as opposed to the cold install because I've never had a problem with it.

Sure, there are a lot of preparation beforehand, like having at least one if not two Ignite tapes and things like that.

If you're really not sure, go the cold route.. otherwise I don't disagree with the update. but I would suggest, if youcan, try it on a server with a lesser impact.