PowerVC

Hi

I wanted to get your feedback on the best approach to migrate PowerVC from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.
From what I understand it's a 2-step migration : 1.4.4 -> 2.0 -> 2.0.2, which seems pretty annoying and error-prone.

I was wondering if this was not easier to install a new 2.0.2 PowerVC environment and rebuild from scratch, by adding the Storage and HMCs, and then managing the volumes and LPARs.

I am curious to know what you guys think.

Thanks

------------------------------
QuikJean
------------------------------

Hi QuikJean,

maybe it depends on how big you environment is. Thinking of my little demo environment I'm able to recreate it from a new installed PowerVC instance in a one or two hours (2 storages, 3 FC switches, 2 networks, 7 servers, 20 VMs, 10 images, 10 users, 3 projects, 4 storage templates, 6 SCGs).

Things that you should evaluate/need to do (just brainstorming ...):
- Define users + projects
- Define the storages
- Define storage templates
- Define the FC switches
- Define the networks
- Are there any locked IPs?
- Onboard the HMCs and hosts
- Onboard the existing VMs
- Enter the IPs of the existing VMs (so that these are not used in new deployments)
- Edit details of VM (OS)
- Modify FC ports (tags, usage)
- Define SCGs
- Onboard the image volumes
- Set storage template for onboarded volumes
- Define the images by using the onboarded image volumes

Maybe you can setup the new environment in parallel to your existing and switch when everything is fine.

So, the more I'm thinking about it, more and more little details that should be done after a new installation come into ma mind. Probably it depends on how much you use of PowerVC and how many instances of each area above you have. Maybe calculate how much time you probably need for every instance in each area. If its not that much, starting from scratch may be an option.

------------------------------
Stephen Lutz
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 08, 2022 10:34 AM
From: QuikJean
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi

I wanted to get your feedback on the best approach to migrate PowerVC from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.
From what I understand it's a 2-step migration : 1.4.4 -> 2.0 -> 2.0.2, which seems pretty annoying and error-prone.

I was wondering if this was not easier to install a new 2.0.2 PowerVC environment and rebuild from scratch, by adding the Storage and HMCs, and then managing the volumes and LPARs.

I am curious to know what you guys think.

Thanks

------------------------------
QuikJean
------------------------------

Thanks for your feedback Stephen

I think you confirmed that my best path is the "start from scratch".

I have scripts to rebuild all my networks, importing all the VMs is going to be "import all", so the longest might be to rebuild all my images using the right volumes.

------------------------------
QuikJean
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 08, 2022 11:35 AM
From: Stephen Lutz
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi QuikJean,

maybe it depends on how big you environment is. Thinking of my little demo environment I'm able to recreate it from a new installed PowerVC instance in a one or two hours (2 storages, 3 FC switches, 2 networks, 7 servers, 20 VMs, 10 images, 10 users, 3 projects, 4 storage templates, 6 SCGs).

Things that you should evaluate/need to do (just brainstorming ...):
- Define users + projects
- Define the storages
- Define storage templates
- Define the FC switches
- Define the networks
- Are there any locked IPs?
- Onboard the HMCs and hosts
- Onboard the existing VMs
- Enter the IPs of the existing VMs (so that these are not used in new deployments)
- Edit details of VM (OS)
- Modify FC ports (tags, usage)
- Define SCGs
- Onboard the image volumes
- Set storage template for onboarded volumes
- Define the images by using the onboarded image volumes

Maybe you can setup the new environment in parallel to your existing and switch when everything is fine.

So, the more I'm thinking about it, more and more little details that should be done after a new installation come into ma mind. Probably it depends on how much you use of PowerVC and how many instances of each area above you have. Maybe calculate how much time you probably need for every instance in each area. If its not that much, starting from scratch may be an option.

------------------------------
Stephen Lutz

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 08, 2022 10:34 AM
From: QuikJean
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi

I wanted to get your feedback on the best approach to migrate PowerVC from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.
From what I understand it's a 2-step migration : 1.4.4 -> 2.0 -> 2.0.2, which seems pretty annoying and error-prone.

I was wondering if this was not easier to install a new 2.0.2 PowerVC environment and rebuild from scratch, by adding the Storage and HMCs, and then managing the volumes and LPARs.

I am curious to know what you guys think.

Thanks

------------------------------
QuikJean
------------------------------

Hi Stephen

I have a question, is it possible for you to help me? 
I created the PowerVC environment on another server version 2.3.0.0, I added the SAN switches and the storages, I created the networks.
Now I need to add the hosts that are in the old POWERVC 1.4.1, is it possible to move it, and then add the LPARs?
Or should I check after the hosts something related to the FCS and networks?
thanks for your help

------------------------------
Publio Ricardo Romero Rojas
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 08, 2022 11:35 AM
From: Stephen Lutz
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi QuikJean,

maybe it depends on how big you environment is. Thinking of my little demo environment I'm able to recreate it from a new installed PowerVC instance in a one or two hours (2 storages, 3 FC switches, 2 networks, 7 servers, 20 VMs, 10 images, 10 users, 3 projects, 4 storage templates, 6 SCGs).

Things that you should evaluate/need to do (just brainstorming ...):
- Define users + projects
- Define the storages
- Define storage templates
- Define the FC switches
- Define the networks
- Are there any locked IPs?
- Onboard the HMCs and hosts
- Onboard the existing VMs
- Enter the IPs of the existing VMs (so that these are not used in new deployments)
- Edit details of VM (OS)
- Modify FC ports (tags, usage)
- Define SCGs
- Onboard the image volumes
- Set storage template for onboarded volumes
- Define the images by using the onboarded image volumes

Maybe you can setup the new environment in parallel to your existing and switch when everything is fine.

So, the more I'm thinking about it, more and more little details that should be done after a new installation come into ma mind. Probably it depends on how much you use of PowerVC and how many instances of each area above you have. Maybe calculate how much time you probably need for every instance in each area. If its not that much, starting from scratch may be an option.

------------------------------
Stephen Lutz

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 08, 2022 10:34 AM
From: QuikJean
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi

I wanted to get your feedback on the best approach to migrate PowerVC from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.
From what I understand it's a 2-step migration : 1.4.4 -> 2.0 -> 2.0.2, which seems pretty annoying and error-prone.

I was wondering if this was not easier to install a new 2.0.2 PowerVC environment and rebuild from scratch, by adding the Storage and HMCs, and then managing the volumes and LPARs.

I am curious to know what you guys think.

Thanks

------------------------------
QuikJean
------------------------------

We've been trying to go "by the book", and so far, we've hit an impasse. When we backup our v1.4.4.2 database, we cannot get it to import successfully onto v2.0.1. Our current goal is simply to get to a supported level by EOM Apr22. I don't relish the thought of having to try and rebuild our PowerVC pods infrastructure from scratch, though we might be forced down that path, anyway. When we go to v2.0.2, I don't anticipate making use of the 3-node architecture, as the additional cost and management of the clustered environment seems to outweigh it's potential benefits, IMO.

------------------------------
Mackey Morgan
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 08, 2022 10:34 AM
From: QuikJean
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi

I wanted to get your feedback on the best approach to migrate PowerVC from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.
From what I understand it's a 2-step migration : 1.4.4 -> 2.0 -> 2.0.2, which seems pretty annoying and error-prone.

I was wondering if this was not easier to install a new 2.0.2 PowerVC environment and rebuild from scratch, by adding the Storage and HMCs, and then managing the volumes and LPARs.

I am curious to know what you guys think.

Thanks

------------------------------
QuikJean
------------------------------

If on RHEL... reminder ... the separately licensed RHEL HA Add-On is a prereq (even if only running a single PowerVC host).  Same on SLES I believe.  Check to see if you have this entitlement or purchase / obtain before the upgrade.

See https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/powervc/2.0.2?topic=center-installing-power-virtualization-from-media - and bullet point 1a under 'Perform the following steps to install PowerVC:'

------------------------------
Charlie Berry
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 08, 2022 10:34 AM
From: QuikJean
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi

I wanted to get your feedback on the best approach to migrate PowerVC from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.
From what I understand it's a 2-step migration : 1.4.4 -> 2.0 -> 2.0.2, which seems pretty annoying and error-prone.

I was wondering if this was not easier to install a new 2.0.2 PowerVC environment and rebuild from scratch, by adding the Storage and HMCs, and then managing the volumes and LPARs.

I am curious to know what you guys think.

Thanks

------------------------------
QuikJean
------------------------------

Been there as well :)

Noticed that on 2.0.1 ; if one does not have all iFixes installed on top of 2.0.1 ; the import goes OK...but at least all storage related stuff is not restored OK.

Having iFixes on place, I managed to restore 1.4.4 backup OK, take new backup which I then finally restored on my "final destination" ; fresh 2.0.2.1 env >> All worked nicely.

Clean 2.0.2.1 install works fine (and might be the easiest way) , but I didn't have any script to restore my network configs (we have over 200 VLANs defined) ...so therefore chose the migration all the way long...

Br,
tommi

------------------------------
Tommi Sihvo, Lead Service Architect
TietoEVRY, Compute Services
email tommi.sihvo@tietoevry.com mobile +358 (0)40 5180 Finland
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Mon April 11, 2022 02:19 PM
From: Charlie Berry
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

If on RHEL... reminder ... the separately licensed RHEL HA Add-On is a prereq (even if only running a single PowerVC host).  Same on SLES I believe.  Check to see if you have this entitlement or purchase / obtain before the upgrade.

See https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/powervc/2.0.2?topic=center-installing-power-virtualization-from-media - and bullet point 1a under 'Perform the following steps to install PowerVC:'

------------------------------
Charlie Berry

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 08, 2022 10:34 AM
From: QuikJean
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi

I wanted to get your feedback on the best approach to migrate PowerVC from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.
From what I understand it's a 2-step migration : 1.4.4 -> 2.0 -> 2.0.2, which seems pretty annoying and error-prone.

I was wondering if this was not easier to install a new 2.0.2 PowerVC environment and rebuild from scratch, by adding the Storage and HMCs, and then managing the volumes and LPARs.

I am curious to know what you guys think.

Thanks

------------------------------
QuikJean
------------------------------

Tommi, I read your last post with interest, as we were hopeful of finding a way forward with our plans to upgrade from v1.4.4.2 to v2.0.1.1 (we're not ready for 2.0.2, yet). Alas, I think you may have inserted too many negatives in places where they shouldn't have been, so I could only guess at your meaning. As of now, we've tried to powervc-restore to v2.0.1.1 plus one ifix for MongoDB--didn't succeed. In a different data center, we tried powervc-restore to v2.0.0+ifixes--that failed, as well. 
Having shared these results with the PowerVC IBM Support folks, they've shared with us a new impediment. They pointed out that it is extremely unlikely that we will be able to recover our PowerVC management server to a stable and reliable state once having encountered a failure of powervc-restore. This was a shocker to me! And I'll be opening a separate discussion thread about the ramifications of that, shortly.

------------------------------
Mackey Morgan
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Tue April 12, 2022 02:12 AM
From: Tommi Sihvo
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Been there as well :)

Noticed that on 2.0.1 ; if one does not have all iFixes installed on top of 2.0.1 ; the import goes OK...but at least all storage related stuff is not restored OK.

Having iFixes on place, I managed to restore 1.4.4 backup OK, take new backup which I then finally restored on my "final destination" ; fresh 2.0.2.1 env >> All worked nicely.

Clean 2.0.2.1 install works fine (and might be the easiest way) , but I didn't have any script to restore my network configs (we have over 200 VLANs defined) ...so therefore chose the migration all the way long...

Br,
tommi

------------------------------
Tommi Sihvo, Lead Service Architect
TietoEVRY, Compute Services
email tommi.sihvo@tietoevry.com mobile +358 (0)40 5180 Finland

Original Message:
Sent: Mon April 11, 2022 02:19 PM
From: Charlie Berry
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

If on RHEL... reminder ... the separately licensed RHEL HA Add-On is a prereq (even if only running a single PowerVC host).  Same on SLES I believe.  Check to see if you have this entitlement or purchase / obtain before the upgrade.

See https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/powervc/2.0.2?topic=center-installing-power-virtualization-from-media - and bullet point 1a under 'Perform the following steps to install PowerVC:'

------------------------------
Charlie Berry

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 08, 2022 10:34 AM
From: QuikJean
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi

I wanted to get your feedback on the best approach to migrate PowerVC from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.
From what I understand it's a 2-step migration : 1.4.4 -> 2.0 -> 2.0.2, which seems pretty annoying and error-prone.

I was wondering if this was not easier to install a new 2.0.2 PowerVC environment and rebuild from scratch, by adding the Storage and HMCs, and then managing the volumes and LPARs.

I am curious to know what you guys think.

Thanks

------------------------------
QuikJean
------------------------------

Hi Mackey,

Sorry for my bad english, trying to describe the steps I did here a bit better.

1. I built temporary vanilla RHEL8.4 VM from the ISO image from Redhat pages + enabled needed RHEL repos (Ansible, High availability etc).
2. Installed clean 2.0.0 PowerVC + update to 2.0.1 + installed all 2.0.1 iFixes from Fixcentral to the RHEL 8.4 VM
3. Took PowerVC backup from my 1.4.4.2 environment with the specific script needed (backup_n_uninstall_144.sh -s)
4. Restored the backup to the RHEL8.4 system & tested that restore was OK + everything looked OK on the PVC GUI.
5. Built up "permanent" vanilla RHEL8.4 VM + enabled repos.
6. Installed PowerVC 2.0.2.1 to the new RHEL8.4 VM
7. Took backup on my 2.0.1 system (powervc-backup --active)
8. Restored the backup on my 2.0.2.1 system (powervc-opsmgr restore -c powervc-prod -b <folder where powervc_backup.tar.gz was located) 

Not sure if there was some easier way, but at least with those steps I was able to do successful migration; and even do test migration before the actual production swap-over from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.1.

Please compare my steps above and the ones you have tried, are those same?

I assume you have opened support case, when U said that result are shared with PowerVC Support team?
They should be able to do better than saying "U R not able to recover if restore fails.." E.g from the powervc-diag etc logs they should be able to identify the exact point where the restore fails + also the root cause for the fail.








------------------------------
Tommi Sihvo, Lead Service Architect
TietoEVRY, Compute Services
email tommi.sihvo@tietoevry.com mobile +358 (0)40 5180 Finland
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 15, 2022 05:49 PM
From: Mackey Morgan
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Tommi, I read your last post with interest, as we were hopeful of finding a way forward with our plans to upgrade from v1.4.4.2 to v2.0.1.1 (we're not ready for 2.0.2, yet). Alas, I think you may have inserted too many negatives in places where they shouldn't have been, so I could only guess at your meaning. As of now, we've tried to powervc-restore to v2.0.1.1 plus one ifix for MongoDB--didn't succeed. In a different data center, we tried powervc-restore to v2.0.0+ifixes--that failed, as well. 
Having shared these results with the PowerVC IBM Support folks, they've shared with us a new impediment. They pointed out that it is extremely unlikely that we will be able to recover our PowerVC management server to a stable and reliable state once having encountered a failure of powervc-restore. This was a shocker to me! And I'll be opening a separate discussion thread about the ramifications of that, shortly.

------------------------------
Mackey Morgan

Original Message:
Sent: Tue April 12, 2022 02:12 AM
From: Tommi Sihvo
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Been there as well :)

Noticed that on 2.0.1 ; if one does not have all iFixes installed on top of 2.0.1 ; the import goes OK...but at least all storage related stuff is not restored OK.

Having iFixes on place, I managed to restore 1.4.4 backup OK, take new backup which I then finally restored on my "final destination" ; fresh 2.0.2.1 env >> All worked nicely.

Clean 2.0.2.1 install works fine (and might be the easiest way) , but I didn't have any script to restore my network configs (we have over 200 VLANs defined) ...so therefore chose the migration all the way long...

Br,
tommi

------------------------------
Tommi Sihvo, Lead Service Architect
TietoEVRY, Compute Services
email tommi.sihvo@tietoevry.com mobile +358 (0)40 5180 Finland

Original Message:
Sent: Mon April 11, 2022 02:19 PM
From: Charlie Berry
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

If on RHEL... reminder ... the separately licensed RHEL HA Add-On is a prereq (even if only running a single PowerVC host).  Same on SLES I believe.  Check to see if you have this entitlement or purchase / obtain before the upgrade.

See https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/powervc/2.0.2?topic=center-installing-power-virtualization-from-media - and bullet point 1a under 'Perform the following steps to install PowerVC:'

------------------------------
Charlie Berry

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 08, 2022 10:34 AM
From: QuikJean
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi

I wanted to get your feedback on the best approach to migrate PowerVC from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.
From what I understand it's a 2-step migration : 1.4.4 -> 2.0 -> 2.0.2, which seems pretty annoying and error-prone.

I was wondering if this was not easier to install a new 2.0.2 PowerVC environment and rebuild from scratch, by adding the Storage and HMCs, and then managing the volumes and LPARs.

I am curious to know what you guys think.

Thanks

------------------------------
QuikJean
------------------------------

Tommi,
My path wasn't entirely identical to what you described. When you say you installed "2.0.0 PowerVC + update to 2.0.1 + installed all 2.0.1 iFixes from Fixcentral", I saw the 30+ ifixes for 2.0.1 and said "no freakin' way I'm installing that many ifixes!!". The next day or two, 2.0.1.1 fixpack came out that included all of the 30+ ifixes in a single fixpack. So that's what I had installed upon my first attempt to do powervc-restore (which failed). Somewhat later, I applied a single ifix for MongoDB on top of 2.0.1.1 and tried the powervc-restore, again (which also failed). Of course, if it is true that a failed powervc-restore is an unrecoverable error, then whatever I tried after the first powervc-restore failure is moot, anyway!

------------------------------
Mackey Morgan
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Tue April 19, 2022 01:29 AM
From: Tommi Sihvo
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi Mackey,

Sorry for my bad english, trying to describe the steps I did here a bit better.

1. I built temporary vanilla RHEL8.4 VM from the ISO image from Redhat pages + enabled needed RHEL repos (Ansible, High availability etc).
2. Installed clean 2.0.0 PowerVC + update to 2.0.1 + installed all 2.0.1 iFixes from Fixcentral to the RHEL 8.4 VM
3. Took PowerVC backup from my 1.4.4.2 environment with the specific script needed (backup_n_uninstall_144.sh -s)
4. Restored the backup to the RHEL8.4 system & tested that restore was OK + everything looked OK on the PVC GUI.
5. Built up "permanent" vanilla RHEL8.4 VM + enabled repos.
6. Installed PowerVC 2.0.2.1 to the new RHEL8.4 VM
7. Took backup on my 2.0.1 system (powervc-backup --active)
8. Restored the backup on my 2.0.2.1 system (powervc-opsmgr restore -c powervc-prod -b <folder where powervc_backup.tar.gz was located) 

Not sure if there was some easier way, but at least with those steps I was able to do successful migration; and even do test migration before the actual production swap-over from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.1.

Please compare my steps above and the ones you have tried, are those same?

I assume you have opened support case, when U said that result are shared with PowerVC Support team?
They should be able to do better than saying "U R not able to recover if restore fails.." E.g from the powervc-diag etc logs they should be able to identify the exact point where the restore fails + also the root cause for the fail.








------------------------------
Tommi Sihvo, Lead Service Architect
TietoEVRY, Compute Services
email tommi.sihvo@tietoevry.com mobile +358 (0)40 5180 Finland

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 15, 2022 05:49 PM
From: Mackey Morgan
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Tommi, I read your last post with interest, as we were hopeful of finding a way forward with our plans to upgrade from v1.4.4.2 to v2.0.1.1 (we're not ready for 2.0.2, yet). Alas, I think you may have inserted too many negatives in places where they shouldn't have been, so I could only guess at your meaning. As of now, we've tried to powervc-restore to v2.0.1.1 plus one ifix for MongoDB--didn't succeed. In a different data center, we tried powervc-restore to v2.0.0+ifixes--that failed, as well. 
Having shared these results with the PowerVC IBM Support folks, they've shared with us a new impediment. They pointed out that it is extremely unlikely that we will be able to recover our PowerVC management server to a stable and reliable state once having encountered a failure of powervc-restore. This was a shocker to me! And I'll be opening a separate discussion thread about the ramifications of that, shortly.

------------------------------
Mackey Morgan

Original Message:
Sent: Tue April 12, 2022 02:12 AM
From: Tommi Sihvo
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Been there as well :)

Noticed that on 2.0.1 ; if one does not have all iFixes installed on top of 2.0.1 ; the import goes OK...but at least all storage related stuff is not restored OK.

Having iFixes on place, I managed to restore 1.4.4 backup OK, take new backup which I then finally restored on my "final destination" ; fresh 2.0.2.1 env >> All worked nicely.

Clean 2.0.2.1 install works fine (and might be the easiest way) , but I didn't have any script to restore my network configs (we have over 200 VLANs defined) ...so therefore chose the migration all the way long...

Br,
tommi

------------------------------
Tommi Sihvo, Lead Service Architect
TietoEVRY, Compute Services
email tommi.sihvo@tietoevry.com mobile +358 (0)40 5180 Finland

Original Message:
Sent: Mon April 11, 2022 02:19 PM
From: Charlie Berry
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

If on RHEL... reminder ... the separately licensed RHEL HA Add-On is a prereq (even if only running a single PowerVC host).  Same on SLES I believe.  Check to see if you have this entitlement or purchase / obtain before the upgrade.

See https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/powervc/2.0.2?topic=center-installing-power-virtualization-from-media - and bullet point 1a under 'Perform the following steps to install PowerVC:'

------------------------------
Charlie Berry

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 08, 2022 10:34 AM
From: QuikJean
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi

I wanted to get your feedback on the best approach to migrate PowerVC from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.
From what I understand it's a 2-step migration : 1.4.4 -> 2.0 -> 2.0.2, which seems pretty annoying and error-prone.

I was wondering if this was not easier to install a new 2.0.2 PowerVC environment and rebuild from scratch, by adding the Storage and HMCs, and then managing the volumes and LPARs.

I am curious to know what you guys think.

Thanks

------------------------------
QuikJean
------------------------------

Hi,

Not the smoothest road you've been riding.. :) 
Yeah, it seems that if the restore goes south once...U R gone baby gone; meaning only way out is to wipe out all...and start from the clean table? (e.g create clean 2.0.1.1env; take new 1.4.4 backup & re-try restore then.

If that STILL fails..Then powervc-diag + open (new) PMR ; from the logs, Support team need to be able to pinpoint the exact phase on which the restore fails...


------------------------------
Tommi Sihvo, Lead Service Architect
TietoEVRY, Compute Services
email tommi.sihvo@tietoevry.com mobile +358 (0)40 5180 Finland
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Wed April 20, 2022 11:35 AM
From: Mackey Morgan
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Tommi,
My path wasn't entirely identical to what you described. When you say you installed "2.0.0 PowerVC + update to 2.0.1 + installed all 2.0.1 iFixes from Fixcentral", I saw the 30+ ifixes for 2.0.1 and said "no freakin' way I'm installing that many ifixes!!". The next day or two, 2.0.1.1 fixpack came out that included all of the 30+ ifixes in a single fixpack. So that's what I had installed upon my first attempt to do powervc-restore (which failed). Somewhat later, I applied a single ifix for MongoDB on top of 2.0.1.1 and tried the powervc-restore, again (which also failed). Of course, if it is true that a failed powervc-restore is an unrecoverable error, then whatever I tried after the first powervc-restore failure is moot, anyway!

------------------------------
Mackey Morgan

Original Message:
Sent: Tue April 19, 2022 01:29 AM
From: Tommi Sihvo
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi Mackey,

Sorry for my bad english, trying to describe the steps I did here a bit better.

1. I built temporary vanilla RHEL8.4 VM from the ISO image from Redhat pages + enabled needed RHEL repos (Ansible, High availability etc).
2. Installed clean 2.0.0 PowerVC + update to 2.0.1 + installed all 2.0.1 iFixes from Fixcentral to the RHEL 8.4 VM
3. Took PowerVC backup from my 1.4.4.2 environment with the specific script needed (backup_n_uninstall_144.sh -s)
4. Restored the backup to the RHEL8.4 system & tested that restore was OK + everything looked OK on the PVC GUI.
5. Built up "permanent" vanilla RHEL8.4 VM + enabled repos.
6. Installed PowerVC 2.0.2.1 to the new RHEL8.4 VM
7. Took backup on my 2.0.1 system (powervc-backup --active)
8. Restored the backup on my 2.0.2.1 system (powervc-opsmgr restore -c powervc-prod -b <folder where powervc_backup.tar.gz was located) 

Not sure if there was some easier way, but at least with those steps I was able to do successful migration; and even do test migration before the actual production swap-over from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.1.

Please compare my steps above and the ones you have tried, are those same?

I assume you have opened support case, when U said that result are shared with PowerVC Support team?
They should be able to do better than saying "U R not able to recover if restore fails.." E.g from the powervc-diag etc logs they should be able to identify the exact point where the restore fails + also the root cause for the fail.








------------------------------
Tommi Sihvo, Lead Service Architect
TietoEVRY, Compute Services
email tommi.sihvo@tietoevry.com mobile +358 (0)40 5180 Finland

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 15, 2022 05:49 PM
From: Mackey Morgan
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Tommi, I read your last post with interest, as we were hopeful of finding a way forward with our plans to upgrade from v1.4.4.2 to v2.0.1.1 (we're not ready for 2.0.2, yet). Alas, I think you may have inserted too many negatives in places where they shouldn't have been, so I could only guess at your meaning. As of now, we've tried to powervc-restore to v2.0.1.1 plus one ifix for MongoDB--didn't succeed. In a different data center, we tried powervc-restore to v2.0.0+ifixes--that failed, as well. 
Having shared these results with the PowerVC IBM Support folks, they've shared with us a new impediment. They pointed out that it is extremely unlikely that we will be able to recover our PowerVC management server to a stable and reliable state once having encountered a failure of powervc-restore. This was a shocker to me! And I'll be opening a separate discussion thread about the ramifications of that, shortly.

------------------------------
Mackey Morgan

Original Message:
Sent: Tue April 12, 2022 02:12 AM
From: Tommi Sihvo
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Been there as well :)

Noticed that on 2.0.1 ; if one does not have all iFixes installed on top of 2.0.1 ; the import goes OK...but at least all storage related stuff is not restored OK.

Having iFixes on place, I managed to restore 1.4.4 backup OK, take new backup which I then finally restored on my "final destination" ; fresh 2.0.2.1 env >> All worked nicely.

Clean 2.0.2.1 install works fine (and might be the easiest way) , but I didn't have any script to restore my network configs (we have over 200 VLANs defined) ...so therefore chose the migration all the way long...

Br,
tommi

------------------------------
Tommi Sihvo, Lead Service Architect
TietoEVRY, Compute Services
email tommi.sihvo@tietoevry.com mobile +358 (0)40 5180 Finland

Original Message:
Sent: Mon April 11, 2022 02:19 PM
From: Charlie Berry
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

If on RHEL... reminder ... the separately licensed RHEL HA Add-On is a prereq (even if only running a single PowerVC host).  Same on SLES I believe.  Check to see if you have this entitlement or purchase / obtain before the upgrade.

See https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/powervc/2.0.2?topic=center-installing-power-virtualization-from-media - and bullet point 1a under 'Perform the following steps to install PowerVC:'

------------------------------
Charlie Berry

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 08, 2022 10:34 AM
From: QuikJean
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi

I wanted to get your feedback on the best approach to migrate PowerVC from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.
From what I understand it's a 2-step migration : 1.4.4 -> 2.0 -> 2.0.2, which seems pretty annoying and error-prone.

I was wondering if this was not easier to install a new 2.0.2 PowerVC environment and rebuild from scratch, by adding the Storage and HMCs, and then managing the volumes and LPARs.

I am curious to know what you guys think.

Thanks

------------------------------
QuikJean
------------------------------

Hi Tommi/Mackey
I just upgraded PowerVC V1.4.4.2 to version 2.0.1.1 and is functional. I believe the reason your PowerVC-restore is failing on version 2.0.1.1 is that you can't restore PowerVC config data directly on version 2.0.1.1. Below are the steps I followed.
1-Installed PowerVC 2.0.0.0
2-Install Mandatory ifix IT35528  before restoring data
3- Restored PowerVC config
4-Install ifix IT35568IT35277, IT35989IT36056IT36136
5- Install PowerVC 2.0.1 fix pack
6- Now you are at PowerVC version 2.0.1, install Fix Pack 1 for PowerVC version 2.0.1 and it will include 30+ fixes
7- After installing this fix pack you will be at version2.0.1.1
8-Install below fixes for PowerVC 2.0.1.1
-IT39891,IT39027,IT40231
MAKE SURE YOU INSTALL FIXES BY OLDEST TO LATEST RELEASE DATE.

------------------------------
Rizwan
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Wed April 20, 2022 11:35 AM
From: Mackey Morgan
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Tommi,
My path wasn't entirely identical to what you described. When you say you installed "2.0.0 PowerVC + update to 2.0.1 + installed all 2.0.1 iFixes from Fixcentral", I saw the 30+ ifixes for 2.0.1 and said "no freakin' way I'm installing that many ifixes!!". The next day or two, 2.0.1.1 fixpack came out that included all of the 30+ ifixes in a single fixpack. So that's what I had installed upon my first attempt to do powervc-restore (which failed). Somewhat later, I applied a single ifix for MongoDB on top of 2.0.1.1 and tried the powervc-restore, again (which also failed). Of course, if it is true that a failed powervc-restore is an unrecoverable error, then whatever I tried after the first powervc-restore failure is moot, anyway!

------------------------------
Mackey Morgan

Original Message:
Sent: Tue April 19, 2022 01:29 AM
From: Tommi Sihvo
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi Mackey,

Sorry for my bad english, trying to describe the steps I did here a bit better.

1. I built temporary vanilla RHEL8.4 VM from the ISO image from Redhat pages + enabled needed RHEL repos (Ansible, High availability etc).
2. Installed clean 2.0.0 PowerVC + update to 2.0.1 + installed all 2.0.1 iFixes from Fixcentral to the RHEL 8.4 VM
3. Took PowerVC backup from my 1.4.4.2 environment with the specific script needed (backup_n_uninstall_144.sh -s)
4. Restored the backup to the RHEL8.4 system & tested that restore was OK + everything looked OK on the PVC GUI.
5. Built up "permanent" vanilla RHEL8.4 VM + enabled repos.
6. Installed PowerVC 2.0.2.1 to the new RHEL8.4 VM
7. Took backup on my 2.0.1 system (powervc-backup --active)
8. Restored the backup on my 2.0.2.1 system (powervc-opsmgr restore -c powervc-prod -b <folder where powervc_backup.tar.gz was located) 

Not sure if there was some easier way, but at least with those steps I was able to do successful migration; and even do test migration before the actual production swap-over from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.1.

Please compare my steps above and the ones you have tried, are those same?

I assume you have opened support case, when U said that result are shared with PowerVC Support team?
They should be able to do better than saying "U R not able to recover if restore fails.." E.g from the powervc-diag etc logs they should be able to identify the exact point where the restore fails + also the root cause for the fail.








------------------------------
Tommi Sihvo, Lead Service Architect
TietoEVRY, Compute Services
email tommi.sihvo@tietoevry.com mobile +358 (0)40 5180 Finland

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 15, 2022 05:49 PM
From: Mackey Morgan
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Tommi, I read your last post with interest, as we were hopeful of finding a way forward with our plans to upgrade from v1.4.4.2 to v2.0.1.1 (we're not ready for 2.0.2, yet). Alas, I think you may have inserted too many negatives in places where they shouldn't have been, so I could only guess at your meaning. As of now, we've tried to powervc-restore to v2.0.1.1 plus one ifix for MongoDB--didn't succeed. In a different data center, we tried powervc-restore to v2.0.0+ifixes--that failed, as well. 
Having shared these results with the PowerVC IBM Support folks, they've shared with us a new impediment. They pointed out that it is extremely unlikely that we will be able to recover our PowerVC management server to a stable and reliable state once having encountered a failure of powervc-restore. This was a shocker to me! And I'll be opening a separate discussion thread about the ramifications of that, shortly.

------------------------------
Mackey Morgan

Original Message:
Sent: Tue April 12, 2022 02:12 AM
From: Tommi Sihvo
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Been there as well :)

Noticed that on 2.0.1 ; if one does not have all iFixes installed on top of 2.0.1 ; the import goes OK...but at least all storage related stuff is not restored OK.

Having iFixes on place, I managed to restore 1.4.4 backup OK, take new backup which I then finally restored on my "final destination" ; fresh 2.0.2.1 env >> All worked nicely.

Clean 2.0.2.1 install works fine (and might be the easiest way) , but I didn't have any script to restore my network configs (we have over 200 VLANs defined) ...so therefore chose the migration all the way long...

Br,
tommi

------------------------------
Tommi Sihvo, Lead Service Architect
TietoEVRY, Compute Services
email tommi.sihvo@tietoevry.com mobile +358 (0)40 5180 Finland

Original Message:
Sent: Mon April 11, 2022 02:19 PM
From: Charlie Berry
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

If on RHEL... reminder ... the separately licensed RHEL HA Add-On is a prereq (even if only running a single PowerVC host).  Same on SLES I believe.  Check to see if you have this entitlement or purchase / obtain before the upgrade.

See https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/powervc/2.0.2?topic=center-installing-power-virtualization-from-media - and bullet point 1a under 'Perform the following steps to install PowerVC:'

------------------------------
Charlie Berry

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 08, 2022 10:34 AM
From: QuikJean
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi

I wanted to get your feedback on the best approach to migrate PowerVC from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.
From what I understand it's a 2-step migration : 1.4.4 -> 2.0 -> 2.0.2, which seems pretty annoying and error-prone.

I was wondering if this was not easier to install a new 2.0.2 PowerVC environment and rebuild from scratch, by adding the Storage and HMCs, and then managing the volumes and LPARs.

I am curious to know what you guys think.

Thanks

------------------------------
QuikJean
------------------------------

Rizwan, we did exactly that in one of our other DCs, and no joy! The powervc-restore at v2.0.0.0 + IT35528 fails.

2022-04-14 09:04:51 INFO powervc_oslo.config.data_utils [-] sqlalchemy.exc.OperationalError: (MySQLdb._exceptions.OperationalError) (1118, 'Row size too large. The maximum row size for the used table type, not counting BLOBs, is 8126. This includes storage overhead, check the manual. You have to change some columns to TEXT or BLOBs')
2022-04-14 09:04:51 INFO powervc_oslo.config.data_utils [-] [SQL:
2022-04-14 09:04:51 INFO powervc_oslo.config.data_utils [-] ALTER TABLE instances ADD hidden BOOL]
2022-04-14 09:04:51 INFO powervc_oslo.config.data_utils [-] (Background on this error at: http://sqlalche.me/e/e3q8)​

But at least the powervc-services will start up on that one! So close!

------------------------------
Mackey Morgan
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Thu April 21, 2022 12:42 PM
From: Rizwan
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi Tommi/Mackey
I just upgraded PowerVC V1.4.4.2 to version 2.0.1.1 and is functional. I believe the reason your PowerVC-restore is failing on version 2.0.1.1 is that you can't restore PowerVC config data directly on version 2.0.1.1. Below are the steps I followed.
1-Installed PowerVC 2.0.0.0
2-Install Mandatory ifix IT35528  before restoring data
3- Restored PowerVC config
4-Install ifix IT35568IT35277, IT35989IT36056IT36136
5- Install PowerVC 2.0.1 fix pack
6- Now you are at PowerVC version 2.0.1, install Fix Pack 1 for PowerVC version 2.0.1 and it will include 30+ fixes
7- After installing this fix pack you will be at version2.0.1.1
8-Install below fixes for PowerVC 2.0.1.1
-IT39891,IT39027,IT40231
MAKE SURE YOU INSTALL FIXES BY OLDEST TO LATEST RELEASE DATE.

------------------------------
Rizwan

Original Message:
Sent: Wed April 20, 2022 11:35 AM
From: Mackey Morgan
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Tommi,
My path wasn't entirely identical to what you described. When you say you installed "2.0.0 PowerVC + update to 2.0.1 + installed all 2.0.1 iFixes from Fixcentral", I saw the 30+ ifixes for 2.0.1 and said "no freakin' way I'm installing that many ifixes!!". The next day or two, 2.0.1.1 fixpack came out that included all of the 30+ ifixes in a single fixpack. So that's what I had installed upon my first attempt to do powervc-restore (which failed). Somewhat later, I applied a single ifix for MongoDB on top of 2.0.1.1 and tried the powervc-restore, again (which also failed). Of course, if it is true that a failed powervc-restore is an unrecoverable error, then whatever I tried after the first powervc-restore failure is moot, anyway!

------------------------------
Mackey Morgan

Original Message:
Sent: Tue April 19, 2022 01:29 AM
From: Tommi Sihvo
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi Mackey,

Sorry for my bad english, trying to describe the steps I did here a bit better.

1. I built temporary vanilla RHEL8.4 VM from the ISO image from Redhat pages + enabled needed RHEL repos (Ansible, High availability etc).
2. Installed clean 2.0.0 PowerVC + update to 2.0.1 + installed all 2.0.1 iFixes from Fixcentral to the RHEL 8.4 VM
3. Took PowerVC backup from my 1.4.4.2 environment with the specific script needed (backup_n_uninstall_144.sh -s)
4. Restored the backup to the RHEL8.4 system & tested that restore was OK + everything looked OK on the PVC GUI.
5. Built up "permanent" vanilla RHEL8.4 VM + enabled repos.
6. Installed PowerVC 2.0.2.1 to the new RHEL8.4 VM
7. Took backup on my 2.0.1 system (powervc-backup --active)
8. Restored the backup on my 2.0.2.1 system (powervc-opsmgr restore -c powervc-prod -b <folder where powervc_backup.tar.gz was located) 

Not sure if there was some easier way, but at least with those steps I was able to do successful migration; and even do test migration before the actual production swap-over from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.1.

Please compare my steps above and the ones you have tried, are those same?

I assume you have opened support case, when U said that result are shared with PowerVC Support team?
They should be able to do better than saying "U R not able to recover if restore fails.." E.g from the powervc-diag etc logs they should be able to identify the exact point where the restore fails + also the root cause for the fail.








------------------------------
Tommi Sihvo, Lead Service Architect
TietoEVRY, Compute Services
email tommi.sihvo@tietoevry.com mobile +358 (0)40 5180 Finland

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 15, 2022 05:49 PM
From: Mackey Morgan
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Tommi, I read your last post with interest, as we were hopeful of finding a way forward with our plans to upgrade from v1.4.4.2 to v2.0.1.1 (we're not ready for 2.0.2, yet). Alas, I think you may have inserted too many negatives in places where they shouldn't have been, so I could only guess at your meaning. As of now, we've tried to powervc-restore to v2.0.1.1 plus one ifix for MongoDB--didn't succeed. In a different data center, we tried powervc-restore to v2.0.0+ifixes--that failed, as well. 
Having shared these results with the PowerVC IBM Support folks, they've shared with us a new impediment. They pointed out that it is extremely unlikely that we will be able to recover our PowerVC management server to a stable and reliable state once having encountered a failure of powervc-restore. This was a shocker to me! And I'll be opening a separate discussion thread about the ramifications of that, shortly.

------------------------------
Mackey Morgan

Original Message:
Sent: Tue April 12, 2022 02:12 AM
From: Tommi Sihvo
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Been there as well :)

Noticed that on 2.0.1 ; if one does not have all iFixes installed on top of 2.0.1 ; the import goes OK...but at least all storage related stuff is not restored OK.

Having iFixes on place, I managed to restore 1.4.4 backup OK, take new backup which I then finally restored on my "final destination" ; fresh 2.0.2.1 env >> All worked nicely.

Clean 2.0.2.1 install works fine (and might be the easiest way) , but I didn't have any script to restore my network configs (we have over 200 VLANs defined) ...so therefore chose the migration all the way long...

Br,
tommi

------------------------------
Tommi Sihvo, Lead Service Architect
TietoEVRY, Compute Services
email tommi.sihvo@tietoevry.com mobile +358 (0)40 5180 Finland

Original Message:
Sent: Mon April 11, 2022 02:19 PM
From: Charlie Berry
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

If on RHEL... reminder ... the separately licensed RHEL HA Add-On is a prereq (even if only running a single PowerVC host).  Same on SLES I believe.  Check to see if you have this entitlement or purchase / obtain before the upgrade.

See https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/powervc/2.0.2?topic=center-installing-power-virtualization-from-media - and bullet point 1a under 'Perform the following steps to install PowerVC:'

------------------------------
Charlie Berry

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 08, 2022 10:34 AM
From: QuikJean
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi

I wanted to get your feedback on the best approach to migrate PowerVC from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.
From what I understand it's a 2-step migration : 1.4.4 -> 2.0 -> 2.0.2, which seems pretty annoying and error-prone.

I was wondering if this was not easier to install a new 2.0.2 PowerVC environment and rebuild from scratch, by adding the Storage and HMCs, and then managing the volumes and LPARs.

I am curious to know what you guys think.

Thanks

------------------------------
QuikJean
------------------------------

Hi Mackey
Can you try running below command to check if it comes clean or reports any error along with health check on PowerVC1.4.4.x before you take backup? If there are any errors, you may need to fix them before you take backup.
/opt/ibm/powervc/bin/powervc-manage -o dbpurge --older-than-days 7 -y

Thanks
Rizwan

------------------------------
Rizwan
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Thu April 21, 2022 01:01 PM
From: Mackey Morgan
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Rizwan, we did exactly that in one of our other DCs, and no joy! The powervc-restore at v2.0.0.0 + IT35528 fails.

2022-04-14 09:04:51 INFO powervc_oslo.config.data_utils [-] sqlalchemy.exc.OperationalError: (MySQLdb._exceptions.OperationalError) (1118, 'Row size too large. The maximum row size for the used table type, not counting BLOBs, is 8126. This includes storage overhead, check the manual. You have to change some columns to TEXT or BLOBs')2022-04-14 09:04:51 INFO powervc_oslo.config.data_utils [-] [SQL:2022-04-14 09:04:51 INFO powervc_oslo.config.data_utils [-] ALTER TABLE instances ADD hidden BOOL]2022-04-14 09:04:51 INFO powervc_oslo.config.data_utils [-] (Background on this error at: http://sqlalche.me/e/e3q8)​

But at least the powervc-services will start up on that one! So close!

------------------------------
Mackey Morgan

Original Message:
Sent: Thu April 21, 2022 12:42 PM
From: Rizwan
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi Tommi/Mackey
I just upgraded PowerVC V1.4.4.2 to version 2.0.1.1 and is functional. I believe the reason your PowerVC-restore is failing on version 2.0.1.1 is that you can't restore PowerVC config data directly on version 2.0.1.1. Below are the steps I followed.
1-Installed PowerVC 2.0.0.0
2-Install Mandatory ifix IT35528  before restoring data
3- Restored PowerVC config
4-Install ifix IT35568IT35277, IT35989IT36056IT36136
5- Install PowerVC 2.0.1 fix pack
6- Now you are at PowerVC version 2.0.1, install Fix Pack 1 for PowerVC version 2.0.1 and it will include 30+ fixes
7- After installing this fix pack you will be at version2.0.1.1
8-Install below fixes for PowerVC 2.0.1.1
-IT39891,IT39027,IT40231
MAKE SURE YOU INSTALL FIXES BY OLDEST TO LATEST RELEASE DATE.

------------------------------
Rizwan

Original Message:
Sent: Wed April 20, 2022 11:35 AM
From: Mackey Morgan
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Tommi,
My path wasn't entirely identical to what you described. When you say you installed "2.0.0 PowerVC + update to 2.0.1 + installed all 2.0.1 iFixes from Fixcentral", I saw the 30+ ifixes for 2.0.1 and said "no freakin' way I'm installing that many ifixes!!". The next day or two, 2.0.1.1 fixpack came out that included all of the 30+ ifixes in a single fixpack. So that's what I had installed upon my first attempt to do powervc-restore (which failed). Somewhat later, I applied a single ifix for MongoDB on top of 2.0.1.1 and tried the powervc-restore, again (which also failed). Of course, if it is true that a failed powervc-restore is an unrecoverable error, then whatever I tried after the first powervc-restore failure is moot, anyway!

------------------------------
Mackey Morgan

Original Message:
Sent: Tue April 19, 2022 01:29 AM
From: Tommi Sihvo
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi Mackey,

Sorry for my bad english, trying to describe the steps I did here a bit better.

1. I built temporary vanilla RHEL8.4 VM from the ISO image from Redhat pages + enabled needed RHEL repos (Ansible, High availability etc).
2. Installed clean 2.0.0 PowerVC + update to 2.0.1 + installed all 2.0.1 iFixes from Fixcentral to the RHEL 8.4 VM
3. Took PowerVC backup from my 1.4.4.2 environment with the specific script needed (backup_n_uninstall_144.sh -s)
4. Restored the backup to the RHEL8.4 system & tested that restore was OK + everything looked OK on the PVC GUI.
5. Built up "permanent" vanilla RHEL8.4 VM + enabled repos.
6. Installed PowerVC 2.0.2.1 to the new RHEL8.4 VM
7. Took backup on my 2.0.1 system (powervc-backup --active)
8. Restored the backup on my 2.0.2.1 system (powervc-opsmgr restore -c powervc-prod -b <folder where powervc_backup.tar.gz was located) 

Not sure if there was some easier way, but at least with those steps I was able to do successful migration; and even do test migration before the actual production swap-over from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.1.

Please compare my steps above and the ones you have tried, are those same?

I assume you have opened support case, when U said that result are shared with PowerVC Support team?
They should be able to do better than saying "U R not able to recover if restore fails.." E.g from the powervc-diag etc logs they should be able to identify the exact point where the restore fails + also the root cause for the fail.








------------------------------
Tommi Sihvo, Lead Service Architect
TietoEVRY, Compute Services
email tommi.sihvo@tietoevry.com mobile +358 (0)40 5180 Finland

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 15, 2022 05:49 PM
From: Mackey Morgan
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Tommi, I read your last post with interest, as we were hopeful of finding a way forward with our plans to upgrade from v1.4.4.2 to v2.0.1.1 (we're not ready for 2.0.2, yet). Alas, I think you may have inserted too many negatives in places where they shouldn't have been, so I could only guess at your meaning. As of now, we've tried to powervc-restore to v2.0.1.1 plus one ifix for MongoDB--didn't succeed. In a different data center, we tried powervc-restore to v2.0.0+ifixes--that failed, as well. 
Having shared these results with the PowerVC IBM Support folks, they've shared with us a new impediment. They pointed out that it is extremely unlikely that we will be able to recover our PowerVC management server to a stable and reliable state once having encountered a failure of powervc-restore. This was a shocker to me! And I'll be opening a separate discussion thread about the ramifications of that, shortly.

------------------------------
Mackey Morgan

Original Message:
Sent: Tue April 12, 2022 02:12 AM
From: Tommi Sihvo
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Been there as well :)

Noticed that on 2.0.1 ; if one does not have all iFixes installed on top of 2.0.1 ; the import goes OK...but at least all storage related stuff is not restored OK.

Having iFixes on place, I managed to restore 1.4.4 backup OK, take new backup which I then finally restored on my "final destination" ; fresh 2.0.2.1 env >> All worked nicely.

Clean 2.0.2.1 install works fine (and might be the easiest way) , but I didn't have any script to restore my network configs (we have over 200 VLANs defined) ...so therefore chose the migration all the way long...

Br,
tommi

------------------------------
Tommi Sihvo, Lead Service Architect
TietoEVRY, Compute Services
email tommi.sihvo@tietoevry.com mobile +358 (0)40 5180 Finland

Original Message:
Sent: Mon April 11, 2022 02:19 PM
From: Charlie Berry
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

If on RHEL... reminder ... the separately licensed RHEL HA Add-On is a prereq (even if only running a single PowerVC host).  Same on SLES I believe.  Check to see if you have this entitlement or purchase / obtain before the upgrade.

See https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/powervc/2.0.2?topic=center-installing-power-virtualization-from-media - and bullet point 1a under 'Perform the following steps to install PowerVC:'

------------------------------
Charlie Berry

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 08, 2022 10:34 AM
From: QuikJean
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi

I wanted to get your feedback on the best approach to migrate PowerVC from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.
From what I understand it's a 2-step migration : 1.4.4 -> 2.0 -> 2.0.2, which seems pretty annoying and error-prone.

I was wondering if this was not easier to install a new 2.0.2 PowerVC environment and rebuild from scratch, by adding the Storage and HMCs, and then managing the volumes and LPARs.

I am curious to know what you guys think.

Thanks

------------------------------
QuikJean
------------------------------

Rizwan, yes we did have to clean up deleted volumes from the v1.4.4.2 database, first. I left that part out, as we have a means of addressing that issue. But yes, we did that prior to running the python script to backup the PowerVC configuration. And powervc-restore still fails.

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Mackey Morgan
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Original Message:
Sent: Thu April 21, 2022 01:14 PM
From: Rizwan
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi Mackey
Can you try running below command to check if it comes clean or reports any error along with health check on PowerVC1.4.4.x before you take backup? If there are any errors, you may need to fix them before you take backup.
/opt/ibm/powervc/bin/powervc-manage -o dbpurge --older-than-days 7 -y

Thanks
Rizwan

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Rizwan

Original Message:
Sent: Thu April 21, 2022 01:01 PM
From: Mackey Morgan
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Rizwan, we did exactly that in one of our other DCs, and no joy! The powervc-restore at v2.0.0.0 + IT35528 fails.

2022-04-14 09:04:51 INFO powervc_oslo.config.data_utils [-] sqlalchemy.exc.OperationalError: (MySQLdb._exceptions.OperationalError) (1118, 'Row size too large. The maximum row size for the used table type, not counting BLOBs, is 8126. This includes storage overhead, check the manual. You have to change some columns to TEXT or BLOBs')2022-04-14 09:04:51 INFO powervc_oslo.config.data_utils [-] [SQL:2022-04-14 09:04:51 INFO powervc_oslo.config.data_utils [-] ALTER TABLE instances ADD hidden BOOL]2022-04-14 09:04:51 INFO powervc_oslo.config.data_utils [-] (Background on this error at: http://sqlalche.me/e/e3q8)​

But at least the powervc-services will start up on that one! So close!

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Mackey Morgan

Original Message:
Sent: Thu April 21, 2022 12:42 PM
From: Rizwan
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi Tommi/Mackey
I just upgraded PowerVC V1.4.4.2 to version 2.0.1.1 and is functional. I believe the reason your PowerVC-restore is failing on version 2.0.1.1 is that you can't restore PowerVC config data directly on version 2.0.1.1. Below are the steps I followed.
1-Installed PowerVC 2.0.0.0
2-Install Mandatory ifix IT35528  before restoring data
3- Restored PowerVC config
4-Install ifix IT35568IT35277, IT35989IT36056IT36136
5- Install PowerVC 2.0.1 fix pack
6- Now you are at PowerVC version 2.0.1, install Fix Pack 1 for PowerVC version 2.0.1 and it will include 30+ fixes
7- After installing this fix pack you will be at version2.0.1.1
8-Install below fixes for PowerVC 2.0.1.1
-IT39891,IT39027,IT40231
MAKE SURE YOU INSTALL FIXES BY OLDEST TO LATEST RELEASE DATE.

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Rizwan

Original Message:
Sent: Wed April 20, 2022 11:35 AM
From: Mackey Morgan
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Tommi,
My path wasn't entirely identical to what you described. When you say you installed "2.0.0 PowerVC + update to 2.0.1 + installed all 2.0.1 iFixes from Fixcentral", I saw the 30+ ifixes for 2.0.1 and said "no freakin' way I'm installing that many ifixes!!". The next day or two, 2.0.1.1 fixpack came out that included all of the 30+ ifixes in a single fixpack. So that's what I had installed upon my first attempt to do powervc-restore (which failed). Somewhat later, I applied a single ifix for MongoDB on top of 2.0.1.1 and tried the powervc-restore, again (which also failed). Of course, if it is true that a failed powervc-restore is an unrecoverable error, then whatever I tried after the first powervc-restore failure is moot, anyway!

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Mackey Morgan

Original Message:
Sent: Tue April 19, 2022 01:29 AM
From: Tommi Sihvo
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi Mackey,

Sorry for my bad english, trying to describe the steps I did here a bit better.

1. I built temporary vanilla RHEL8.4 VM from the ISO image from Redhat pages + enabled needed RHEL repos (Ansible, High availability etc).
2. Installed clean 2.0.0 PowerVC + update to 2.0.1 + installed all 2.0.1 iFixes from Fixcentral to the RHEL 8.4 VM
3. Took PowerVC backup from my 1.4.4.2 environment with the specific script needed (backup_n_uninstall_144.sh -s)
4. Restored the backup to the RHEL8.4 system & tested that restore was OK + everything looked OK on the PVC GUI.
5. Built up "permanent" vanilla RHEL8.4 VM + enabled repos.
6. Installed PowerVC 2.0.2.1 to the new RHEL8.4 VM
7. Took backup on my 2.0.1 system (powervc-backup --active)
8. Restored the backup on my 2.0.2.1 system (powervc-opsmgr restore -c powervc-prod -b <folder where powervc_backup.tar.gz was located) 

Not sure if there was some easier way, but at least with those steps I was able to do successful migration; and even do test migration before the actual production swap-over from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.1.

Please compare my steps above and the ones you have tried, are those same?

I assume you have opened support case, when U said that result are shared with PowerVC Support team?
They should be able to do better than saying "U R not able to recover if restore fails.." E.g from the powervc-diag etc logs they should be able to identify the exact point where the restore fails + also the root cause for the fail.








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Tommi Sihvo, Lead Service Architect
TietoEVRY, Compute Services
email tommi.sihvo@tietoevry.com mobile +358 (0)40 5180 Finland

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 15, 2022 05:49 PM
From: Mackey Morgan
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Tommi, I read your last post with interest, as we were hopeful of finding a way forward with our plans to upgrade from v1.4.4.2 to v2.0.1.1 (we're not ready for 2.0.2, yet). Alas, I think you may have inserted too many negatives in places where they shouldn't have been, so I could only guess at your meaning. As of now, we've tried to powervc-restore to v2.0.1.1 plus one ifix for MongoDB--didn't succeed. In a different data center, we tried powervc-restore to v2.0.0+ifixes--that failed, as well. 
Having shared these results with the PowerVC IBM Support folks, they've shared with us a new impediment. They pointed out that it is extremely unlikely that we will be able to recover our PowerVC management server to a stable and reliable state once having encountered a failure of powervc-restore. This was a shocker to me! And I'll be opening a separate discussion thread about the ramifications of that, shortly.

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Mackey Morgan

Original Message:
Sent: Tue April 12, 2022 02:12 AM
From: Tommi Sihvo
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Been there as well :)

Noticed that on 2.0.1 ; if one does not have all iFixes installed on top of 2.0.1 ; the import goes OK...but at least all storage related stuff is not restored OK.

Having iFixes on place, I managed to restore 1.4.4 backup OK, take new backup which I then finally restored on my "final destination" ; fresh 2.0.2.1 env >> All worked nicely.

Clean 2.0.2.1 install works fine (and might be the easiest way) , but I didn't have any script to restore my network configs (we have over 200 VLANs defined) ...so therefore chose the migration all the way long...

Br,
tommi

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Tommi Sihvo, Lead Service Architect
TietoEVRY, Compute Services
email tommi.sihvo@tietoevry.com mobile +358 (0)40 5180 Finland

Original Message:
Sent: Mon April 11, 2022 02:19 PM
From: Charlie Berry
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

If on RHEL... reminder ... the separately licensed RHEL HA Add-On is a prereq (even if only running a single PowerVC host).  Same on SLES I believe.  Check to see if you have this entitlement or purchase / obtain before the upgrade.

See https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/powervc/2.0.2?topic=center-installing-power-virtualization-from-media - and bullet point 1a under 'Perform the following steps to install PowerVC:'

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Charlie Berry

Original Message:
Sent: Fri April 08, 2022 10:34 AM
From: QuikJean
Subject: Migration from 1.4.4.x to 2.0.2.X

Hi

I wanted to get your feedback on the best approach to migrate PowerVC from 1.4.4 to 2.0.2.
From what I understand it's a 2-step migration : 1.4.4 -> 2.0 -> 2.0.2, which seems pretty annoying and error-prone.

I was wondering if this was not easier to install a new 2.0.2 PowerVC environment and rebuild from scratch, by adding the Storage and HMCs, and then managing the volumes and LPARs.

I am curious to know what you guys think.

Thanks

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QuikJean
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