Knowledge Base Article: 000495519

Procedure to Upgrade Solutions Enabler & Unisphere for Vmax from 7.6.x or 8.x to 8.4 or 9.x
(000495519)
Primary Product : Unisphere for VMAX
Product : Solutions Enabler 7.6.1,Solutions Enabler 7.6.2.8,Solutions Enabler 8.3,Unisphere for
VMAX 1.6.2,Unisphere for VMAX 1.6.1,Unisphere for VMAX 8.3.0,Unisphere for
VMAX,Unisphere for VMAX 9.0,Unisphere for PowerMax

Version: 14 Article Type: How To Audience: Level 30 = Customers Last Published: Tue Apr 16 05:22:42 GMT 2019

Summary: Steps for upgrading Unisphere for VMAX/PowerMax and Solutions Enabler.

Instructions: Following Procedure typically applies to standalone installations of Unisphere.

As Unisphere 1.6.x & SE 7.6.x are EOSL & no longer supported, the following is the best upgrade procedure to get you
to a supported level.

if a customer has upgraded SE from 7.6 to 8.4 directly, he will get an error:
'The SYMAPI database file cannot be used because it was written by a version of SYMAPI that is no longer supported'

This is because SE 8.4 CANNOT read 7.6 despite what the pop-up says, but 8.3 can read the 7.6 symapi.db

The following Upgrade paths apply:

For Just installations of Solutions Enabler, if your version of SE is less than 8.3, you will need to upgrade SE first to 8.3 &
then to 8.4.
If you wish to install SE 9.x, you can then upgrade directly from 8.4 to all versions of SE 9.x

For installations of Unisphere for VMax 8.4, you will need to upgrade SE first to 8.3, upgrade Unisphere to 8.3, Upgrade
SE to 8.4 and then Upgrade Unisphere to 8.4
For installations of Unisphere for Powermax 9.x, you will need to upgrade SE to 9.x, followed by upgrading Unisphere to
Unisphere for Powermax 9.x

Notes: 1. Run an emcreports or emcgrab on the host that you are upgrading.
a. This will back up any files that will be required in case anything goes wrong with the upgrade process.
b. This utility can be downloaded from the following locations:
i. http://support.emc.com/
1. search for emcreports or emcgrab & select latest version.
ii. For UNIX hosts such as (AIX, HP-UX, Linux, Solaris, Tru64)
1. ftp://ftp.emc.com/pub/emcgrab/Unix/
iii. For Windows hosts
1. ftp://ftp.emc.com/pub/emcgrab/Windows/
iv. For Open VMS hosts
1. ftp://ftp.emc.com/pub/emcgrab/vms/
2. Take a backup/output of the following SE files & outputs: (Save these files to a different directory other than <install
location>EMC>SMAS/SYMAPI/SYMCLI such as the desktop (windows) or /tmp ( Linux))
a. stordaemon list (output)
b. symcfg list (output)
c. syminq (output)
d. d. Copy /var/symapi/config/ (full directory)
e. e. Copy /var/symapi/db/symapi_db.bin (file)
f. f. Export any dgs/cgs you might have:
i. symdg exportall -f <dgexportfile>
ii. symcg exportall -f <cgexportfilename>
g. To get a backup copy of the GNS database (check stordaemon list to see if storgnsd is enabled), please follow the steps
below. Please keep in mind that by doing the "symdg" and "symcg" exports above you are gathering the information that
is found in the GNS database and they can be used to restore the GNS databse if needed. But the following can be done
to keep a constant GNS DB backup file:
i. Set the following in the Daemon_options file found at <install location>\EMC\SYMAPI\config.
1. "GNS_DB_BACKUP" to "enable"
2. "GNS_DB_BACKUP_INTERVAL to "1"
3. then wait an hour for the DB backup to be taken.
4. Then copy the GNS DB backup to another file directory.
1.
4.
1. The location to find the file is <install location>\EMC\symapi\gns.
5. Then after the upgrade set the interval to what you would prefer (the interval is in hours).
3. Backup all your Unisphere Performance Databases in Unisphere via performance/ settings/ databases/ backup.
a. For 8.1 these steps can be found on page 637 of the Online help Guide
i. https://support.emc.com/docu61131_Unisphere-for-VMAX-8.1.0-Online-Help.pdf?language=en_US
b. After taking the performance database backup(s) please save a copy of the file(s) from <install
location>SMAS/Backup/SPA to another directory not in SMAS.
4. Upgrade SE to 8.3 (if at a version lower than 8.3)
a. Run symcfg discover, to ensure SE discovers the arrays previously assigned.
5. Upgrade Unisphere to 8.3 (if at a version lower than 8.3)
a. After upgrading check to make sure you can access Unisphere and that your performance data shows up.
b. If performance data does not show, please restore the Database from the backup file(s) you made before the upgrade.
i. The backup and restore steps can be found on page 690-691 of the Online help Guide
ii. https://support.emc.com/docu78882_Unisphere-for-VMAX-8.3.0-Online-Help.pdf?language=en_US
iii. Make sure to move the Performance Database backup files to <install location>/SMAS/Backup/SPA for Unisphere to see
them.
c. After taking your backup(s) of the now 8.3 performance database(s) please save a copy of the file(s) from <install
location>SMAS/Backup/SPA to another directory not in SMAS.
6. Upgrade SE to 8.4
a. Run symcfg discover, to ensure SE discovers the arrays previously assigned.
7. Upgrade Unisphere to 8.4
a. After upgrading check to make sure you can access Unisphere and that your performance data shows up.
b. If performance data does not show, please restore the Database from the 8.3 backup file(s) you made before the
upgrade.
i. The backup and restore steps can be found on page 695-696 of the Online help Guide
ii. https://support.emc.com/docu84136_Unisphere-for-VMAX-8.4.0-Online-Help.pdf?language=en_US
iii. Make sure to move the Performance Database backup files to <install location>/SMAS/Backup/SPA for Unisphere to see
them.
c. After taking your backup(s) of the now 8.4 performance database(s) please save a copy of the file(s) from <install
location>SMAS/Backup/SPA to another directory not in SMAS.
d. If you have performance settings (not performance viewer settings) that you would like to have moved to 9.0 you will
need to export these setting.
1. The import and export setting for 8.4 can be found on pages 808-809
2. https://support.emc.com/docu84136_Unisphere-for-VMAX-8.4.0-Online-Help.pdf?language=en_US
3. Please write down the password entered as it will be needed for the import. (this can be different than your password
used for login)
4. If you are unsure about if you need to export these settings a description has been added below the "Note, as per install
guide for Unisphere" at the bottom of these instructions.
8. Upgrade SE to 9.x
a. Run symcfg discover, to ensure SE discovers the arrays previously assigned.
9. Upgrade Unisphere for VMax 8.4 to Unisphere for PowerMax 9.0.2 or greater
a. After upgrading check to make sure you can access Unisphere and that your performance data shows up.
b. If performance data does not show, please restore the Database from the 8.4 backup file(s) you made before the
upgrade.
i. The backup and restore steps can be found on page 597-598 of the Online help Guide
ii. https://support.emc.com/docu88874_Unisphere-for-PowerMax-9.0.0-Online-Help.pdf?language=en_US
iii. Make sure to move the Performance Database backup files to <install location>/SMAS/Backup/SPA for Unisphere to see
them.
c. After taking your backup(s) of the now 9.0 performance database(s) please save a copy of the file(s) from <install
location>SMAS/Backup/SPA to another directory not in SMAS.
d. If you have performance settings (not Performance viewer settings) that you would like to have imported to 9.0 you will
need to be at 9.0.2.5 (January release or later) or above. Also, this file can only be imported if the export was done on
version 8.4 or later.
1. The import and export setting for 9.0 can be found on pages 604-605
2. https://support.emc.com/docu88874_Unisphere-for-PowerMax-9.0.0-Online-Help.pdf?language=en_US
3. The password needed for importing, is the same password that was entered when exporting the file. (This is in no way
tied to your user name or password)

Note, as per install guide for Unisphere:

You can upgrade to Unisphere for VMAX V8.3.0 or 8.4.x from the following releases:
Unisphere for VMAX V1.6.2
Unisphere for VMAX V8.x
So, if going from a version less than 1.6.2, you will need to go to this version first to retain your Unisphere configuration.
The installation program automatically upgrades your installation according to the
settings used in the previous installation, including port and connection type.
The following Unisphere for VMAX settings from your previous installation are maintained
through the upgrade process:
- Users
- Alert policies and threshold settings
- Email settings: Mailing list and SMTP configuration
- Performance dashboard settings
- Queries

When upgrading from V1.6.2, or lower, LDAP/AD configuration information is not retained.
Note: The upgrade of Unisphere for VMAX Virtual appliance from 1.6.2 to 8.4 is not supported, please see Unisphere for
VMAX: Is vApp upgrade from 1.6.2 to 8.4.0 supported?

Performance settings (Not performance Viewer settings)

In large environments, it can be very time consuming to setup and configure multiple
instances. Storage systems may have very similar configuration and implementations
across the environment. To assist with the implementation process, the following
settings can be exported and imported:
Performance metrics (KPIs) definitions with their default (not instance-specific) settings
 Global alert definitions
User template dashboards
The settings are saved to an XML file.

Primary Product: Unisphere for VMAX

Product: Solutions Enabler 7.6.1,Solutions Enabler 7.6.2.8,Solutions Enabler 8.3,Unisphere for VMAX 1.6.2,Unisphere for VMAX
1.6.1,Unisphere for VMAX 8.3.0,Unisphere for VMAX,Unisphere for VMAX 9.0,Unisphere for PowerMax