You don’t have to be in the process of upgrading your ONTAP software to execute the ONTAP automated upgrade pre-checks. Executing the pre-upgrade checks independently of the ONTAP automated upgrade process allows you to see which checks are performed against your cluster and gives you a list of any errors or warnings that should be corrected before you begin the actual upgrade. For example, suppose you expect to upgrade your ONTAP software during a maintenance window scheduled to occur in two weeks. While you are waiting for the scheduled date, you can run the automated upgrade pre-checks and take any necessary corrective actions in advance of your maintenance window. This will mitigate risks of unexpected configuration errors after you start your upgrade.

If you are ready to begin your ONTAP software upgrade, you do not need to perform this procedure. You should follow the automated upgrade process, which includes execution of the automated upgrade pre-checks.

For MetroCluster configurations, you should first execute these steps on Cluster A, then execute the same steps on Cluster B.

Before you begin

You should download the target ONTAP software image.

To execute the automated upgrade pre-checks for a direct multi-hop upgrade, you only need to download the software package for your target ONTAP version. You won’t need to load the intermediate ONTAP version until you begin the actual upgrade. For example, if you are executing automated pre-upgrade checks for an upgrade from 9.8 to 9.13.1, you need to download the software package for ONTAP 9.13.1. You don’t need to download the software package for ONTAP 9.12.1.

Example 1. Steps

System Manager

Validate the ONTAP target image:

If you are upgrading a MetroCluster configuration, you should validate Cluster A and then repeat the validation process on Cluster B.

Depending on the ONTAP version that you are running, perform one of the following steps:

If you are running…

Do this…

ONTAP 9.8 or later

Click Cluster > Overview.

ONTAP 9.7

Click Configuration > Cluster > Update.
In the right corner of the Overview pane, click .
Click ONTAP Update.

If you are running…	Do this…
ONTAP 9.8 or later	Click Cluster > Overview.
ONTAP 9.7	Click Configuration > Cluster > Update.

In the Cluster Update tab, add a new image or select an available image.

If you want to…	Then…
Add a new software image from a local folder You should have already downloaded the image to the local client.	Under Available Software Images, click Add from Local. Browse to the location you saved the software image, select the image, and then click Open.
Add a new software image from an HTTP or FTP server	Click Add from Server. In the Add a New Software Image dialog box, enter the URL of the HTTP or FTP server to which you downloaded the ONTAP software image from the NetApp Support Site. For anonymous FTP, you must specify the URL in the ftp://anonymous@ftpserver format. Click Add.
Select an available image	Choose one of the listed images.

If you want to…

Then…

Add a new software image from a local folder

You should have already downloaded the image to the local client.

Under Available Software Images, click Add from Local.
Browse to the location you saved the software image, select the image, and then click Open.

Add a new software image from an HTTP or FTP server

Click Add from Server.
In the Add a New Software Image dialog box, enter the URL of the HTTP or FTP server to which you downloaded the ONTAP software image from the NetApp Support Site.

For anonymous FTP, you must specify the URL in the ftp://anonymous@ftpserver format.
Click Add.

Select an available image

Choose one of the listed images.

Click Validate to run the pre-upgrade validation checks.

If any errors or warnings are found during validation, they are displayed along with a list of corrective actions. You must resolve all errors before proceeding with the upgrade. It is best practice to also resolve warnings.

CLI

Load the target ONTAP software image into the cluster package repository:

cluster image package get -url location

cluster1::> cluster image package get -url http://www.example.com/software/9.13.1/image.tgz

Package download completed.
Package processing completed.

Verify that the software package is available in the cluster package repository:

cluster image package show-repository

cluster1::> cluster image package show-repository
Package Version  Package Build Time
---------------- ------------------
9.13.1              MM/DD/YYYY 10:32:15

Execute the automated pre-upgrade checks:

cluster image validate -version package_version_number -show-validation-details true

If you are performing a direct multi-hop upgrade,use the target ONTAP package for verification. You don’t need to validate the intermediate upgrade image separately. For example, if you are upgrading from 9.8 to 9.13.1, you should use the 9.13.1 package for verification. You don’t need to validate the 9.12.1 package separately.

cluster1::> cluster image validate -version 9.13.1 -show-validation-details true

It can take several minutes to complete validation...
Pre-update Check       Status      Error-Action
---------------------  ---------   -------------------------------------------
CIFS status            OK
Cluster health status  OK
Clsuter quorum status  OK
Disk status            OK
High Availability      OK
status
LIF status             OK
LIFs on home node      OK
MetroCluster           OK
configuration status
SnapMirror status      OK
Overall Status         OK
10 entries were displayed.

A list of complete automated upgrade pre-checks is displayed along with any errors or warnings that should be addressed before you begin the upgrade process.