Backup the OVS Repository
Download the Oracle VM Manager Media
Unzip and Mount the Oracle VM 2.2 ISO
Upgrade Oracle VM Manager
Oracle VM Server Upgrade using up2date
...Oracle VM Server Upgrade Prerequisites
...Oracle VM Server Upgrade Commands
...Reboot the Oracle VM Pool Master Server
...Reboot the None Master Oracle VM servers
...Enter the Server Pool Virtual IP using Oracle VM Manager

 

The upgrade process for Oracle VM consists of first upgrading Oracle VM Manager followed by the Oracle VM servers. Oracle VM Manager is upgraded by using the Oracle VM Manager 2.2 ISO file which is available from the eDelivery portal. Oracle VM servers can be upgraded using either a) the bootable Oracle VM Server 2.2 ISO image or b) with up2date and the Unbreakable Linux Network or c) using up2date or yum with a local yum repository. 

 

Note: Please note that a rolling upgrade of the Oracle VM servers from version 2.1 to version 2.2 is not supported. You will need to backup and then power off all your virtual machines before you upgrade the Oracle VM servers. A rolling upgrade is not supported, due in part, to an upgrade of the OCFS2 file system.

 

List 1 shows the correct order to backup and upgrade all of the Oracle VM components from version 2.1.5 to version 2.2.

 

1. Back up the Oracle VM Manager database

2. Backup the OVS repository

3. Upgrade Oracle VM Manager from version 2.1.5 to version 2.2 using the Oracle VM 2.2.0 ISO 

4. Upgrade the none master Oracle VM servers, i.e. the virtual machine and utility server pool members

5. Upgrade the Oracle VM server master agent server

6. Reboot the master agent server

7. Reboot the none master Oracle VM servers

8. If your server pools are HA enabled, access Oracle VM Manager and enter the server pool virtual VIP

 

Oracle VM Manager is updated by downloading the media from Oracle’s eDelivery portal and executing an installation script. Oracle VM media is freely downloadable from Oracle’s eDelivery portal.

 

The Oracle VM Manager update process will require you to select an installation option of either install, uninstall, or upgrade, as well as entering the passwords for the existing Oracle VM Manager OVS database account and the oc4j admin account. The Oracle VM Manager OVS database account and the oc4j admin account passwords are selected during the Oracle VM Manager installation process. The account passwords for the Oracle VM Manager OVS database account and the oc4jadmin account can be managed from their respected web portals.

 

The OVS account can be maintained from the Oracle Database Express Edition portal which is a part of the Oracle VM Manager install. The Oracle Database Express Edition portal can be accessed from the Oracle VM manager server locally by entering http://127.0.0.1:8080/apex or remotely by entering the ip address or the FQDN followed by :8080/apex, i.e. http://OracleVM_Manager_fqdn:8080/apex in a web browser.

 

Figure 1 shows the Oracle Database Express Edition portal login page.

 

The Application Server Control portal is also part of the Oracle VM Manager install. The oc4j admin account can be maintained from the Application Server Control portal. The Application Server Control portal can only be accessed locally from the Oracle VM server console by entering http://127.0.0.1:8888/em in a local web browser.

 

Figure 2 shows the Application Server Control login page.

 

There are two options to ugrade Oracle VM servers. The first option is to use the up2date command from the Oracle VM server’s dom0 console. Using the up2date command requires Unbreakable Linux Network access. The second option is to upgrade the system to the latest version, using a bootable Oracle VM server ISO image. Oracle VM server ISO is freely downloadable from Oracle’s eDelivery portal.

 

Figure 3 shows the Oracle VM server upgrade options.

 

The difference between the two Oracle VM server upgrade options is a) the ability to perform incremental updates or b) platform upgrades. Using the up2date command with the Unbreakable Linux Network allows Oracle VM servers to receive incremental updates, patches, security fixes as well as upgrades. Using the bootable media requires the machine to be restarted and to select the update option from the boot prompt. Selecting the update option from the boot prompt will update the Oracle VM server to the version of the bootable media, e.g. from 2.1.5 to 2.2.

 

Figure 4 shows the System to Upgrade boot prompt. From the System to Upgrade boot prompt administrators can select to Reinstall System or Oracle VM server 2.x to upgrade the system.

 

When the up2date command is executed from an Oracle VM server’s dom0 console, up2date connects to the ULN repository and downloads the requested packages in RPM format. The up2date command communicates over the internet to “linux-update.oracle.com” on port 443. Up2date then installs the packages on the registered Oracle VM server.

 

Please consult up2date’s man page by executing “man up2date” from the Oracle VM server’s dom0 console as root for a comprehensive list of command augments.

 

The Oracle Unbreakable Linux support program allows customers to open Oracle VM and Linux Service Requests (SRs) 24/7 as well as access to the Unbreakable Linux Network. Existing Oracle support customers use the same support infrastructure i.e. support phone number and web portal to log and track Oracle VM Service Requests (SR) as with Tech and App Service Requests. The Unbreakable Linux Network is an online resource for Oracle Unbreakable Linux subscribers that offers access to Linux and Oracle VM software patches, updates and fixes. The Unbreakable Linux Network can be accessed from registered Linux and Oracle VM hosts with the up2date program as well as with a web browser, by pointing the browser to http://linux.oracle.com. 

 

The Unbreakable Linux Network and My Oracle Support (formally Metalink) are two separate systems, accessed by different URLs and user name and passwords. ULN is used to access Oracle VM and Linux patches, updates, and fixes, and My Oracle Support is used to manage SRs.

 

Figure 5 shows the ULN portal.

 

This section will review the steps to upgrade Oracle VM Manager. We start with a review of the Oracle VM Manager database backup and restore procedure followed by the 2.1.5 to 2.2 Oracle VM Manager upgrade.

 

Our first step to upgrade Orace VM Manager is to backup our Oracle VM Manager database using the backup.sh script. Before you backup the Oracle VM Manager database, access Oracle VM Manager and ensure that the status of all of the Oracle VM servers is "Running". You will need the following details for the backup procedure a) the password for database account 'OVS', which was assigned during the Oracle VM Manager install, b) the path for dump file, i.e. /tmp/ovs.dmp and c) the path for log file, i.e. /tmp/ovs.log. We will conclude Step 1 with a complete Oracle VM Manager database restore.

 

The following example shows how to execute the “/opt/ovs-manager-2.1/bin/backup.sh” script from the Oracle VM Manager server console as root user.

Next to backup the Oracle VM Manager database select the Backup Oracle VM Manager option (number 1) from the backup prompt. The next example shows the backup selection prompt.

The next example reviews a complete Oracle VM Manager database backup. Access the Oracle VM Manager server console as root and type "sh /opt/ovs-manager-2.1/bin/backup.sh" to start the Oracle VM Manager database backup as shown in the following example.

We just executed a successful Oracle VM Manager database backup.

 

In the event that you need to restore the Oracle VM Manager database walk through the same procedure as in the above example and select 2 to restore Oracle VM Manager database. You will need the following details for the restore procedure a) the password for database account 'OVS', which was assigned during the Oracle VM Manager install, b) the path for dump file, i.e. /tmp/ovs.dmp and c) the path for log file, i.e. /tmp/ovs.log.

 

The following example shows how to execute the “/opt/ovs-manager-2.1/bin/backup.sh” script from the Oracle VM Manager server console as root user.

Next, to backup the Oracle VM Manager database, select the Restore Oracle VM Manager option (number 2) from the backup prompt. The next example shows the backup selection prompt.

The next example reviews a complete Oracle VM Manager database restore. Access the Oracle VM Manager server console as root and type "sh /opt/ovs-manager-2.1/bin/backup.sh" to start the Oracle VM Manager database restore as shown in the following example.

 

The next example reviews an Oracle VM Manager database restore procedure. Access the Oracle VM Manager server console as root and type "sh /opt/ovs-manager-2.1/bin/backup.sh" as shown in the following example.

We have just completed an Oracle VM Manager backup and restore.

 

Next we will back up the OVS repository using your existing storage backup tools.

 

Point you browser to http://edelivery.oracle.com/linux to download the Oracle VM Manager ISO files as shown in Figure 6. Click the Continue button to proceed.

 

From the Registration page enter the following required information then click the Continue button to proceed:

Select your country from the drop down list

Select the check box to agree to the Agreement Terms

Select the check box to accept the Export Restrictions

 

Figure 7 shows the Registration Page.

 

From the Media Pack Search page select Oracle VM from the Select a Product Pack drop down box, then select the desired platform either x86 or x86-64 from the Platform drop down box. Click the Go button to proceed.

 

Figure 8 shows the Media Pack Search page.

 

From the Media Pack Search results page select the Oracle VM 2.2 Media Pack radio button. Click the Oracle VM 2.2 Media Pack link to proceed.

 

Figure 9 shows the Media Pack Search results page.

 

From the Oracle VM 2.2 Media Pack page click the Oracle VM Manager 2.2 Download button to download the Oracle VM Manager 2.2 media.

 

Figure 10 shows the Oracle VM 2.2 Media Pack page.

 

We have just completed the steps to download the Oracle VM 2.2 Media Pack from the Oracle eDelivery portal.

Now that you have the Oracle VM Manager 2.2 media, copy it over to your Oracle VM Manager server. From the Oracle VM Manager server console as root, unzip the V18419-01.zip archive as shown in the next example.

The following example shows how to mount the Oracle VM Manager ISO image from the Oracle VM Manager server console as root user.

The following section will start with a review of each of the steps of a successful Oracle VM Manager upgrade. The section will conclude with a complete successful Oracle VM Manager upgrade session.

 

Before you proceed with the Oracle VM Manager 2.2 upgrade you will need the OVS password and the oc4jadmin password, which where both selected durring the Oracle VM Manager install.

The update process requires you to select an upgrade option from the install prompt, as well as enter the passwords for the Oracle VM Manager OVS database account, and the Oracle VM Manager oc4jadmin account.

 

Access the Oracle VM server console as root and cd in to the directory where you mounted the ISO file. The following example shows how to execute the runInstaller.sh from the Oracle VM Manager server console as root user.

Select the Upgrade Oracle VM Manager option (number 3) from the install prompt. The next example shows the installation selection prompt.

Next, you are asked if you would like to backup the Oracle VM Manager database. If you select “N” from the install prompt, the upgrade will be aborted. The following example shows the Oracle VM Manager database backup prompt.

Next you are asked if you would like to proceed or cancel the upgrade. You can enter y to proceed or N to cancel the upgrade. The following example shows the upgrade acceptance prompt.

Next you must enter the OVS password. The following example shows the OVS installation password prompt.

Next enter the oc4jadmin password. The following example shows the oc4jadmin installation password prompt.

A successful upgrade will exit with the following informational warnings.

The following example show a complete Oracle VM Manager 2.2 upgrade session.

In this section we will review how to update an Oracle VM Server using up2date with the Unbreakable Linux Network. We will conclude with a review on how to upgrade Oracle VM servers using up2date with the Unbreakable Linux Network.

It is essential to upgrade and boot the Oracle VM servers in the following order; first upgrade the Oracle VM virtual machine and utlilty servers, followed by the Oracle VM pool master server. After all of the servers are servers upgraded, boot the Oracle VM pool master server followed by the none pool master servers.

 

Note: You can determine the Oracle VM server roles i.e. virtual machine, utlilty and master servers by accessing Oracle VM Manager and displaying the Servers tab as shown in Figure 11.

 

Before we upgrade any of the Oracle VM servers ensure that all of the virtual machines are off and verify the /etc/hosts and /etc/resolv.conf file setting as explained in List 1.

List 1

1- Verify that the hostname in /etc/hosts is associated with the public IP address, not 127.0.0.1.

2- Verify that all of the Oracle VM servers have the proper entries in /etc/resolv.conf or if DNS is not used, make sure the correct setting are in /etc/hosts. Please note that all the servers in the same pool must have the consistent name resolution, either by DNS or by file (/etc/hosts).

The upgrade procees for all of the Oracle VM 2.1.5 pool memeber servers i.e. the virtual machine servers, the utlilty servers and the pool master pool server is idential. We will first upgrade all of the none pool master servers, followed by the pool master pool server, using the following commands.

 

Note: Before we upgrade any of the Oracle VM servers, ensure that all of the virtaul machines are powered off and backed up.

 

First, from dom0 as root install the ovm22upgrade package as shown in the example.

Once the ovm22upgrade package successfully completes, run the ovm22upgrade.py script as shown in the next example.

To complete the Oracle VM server upgrade run the following command, as shown in the next example.

Once you have upgraded all of the none pool master servers, upgrade the pool master pool server. Next we need to boot the pool master pool server followed by the none pool master servers.

 

The next example shows each of the three steps from a sucessful Oracle VM server upgrade.

 

First install ovm22upgrade package as shown in the example.

Next run python script as suggested by the install process as shown in the next example.

We will concluse the upgrade process by running the following command, as show in the next example.

Next we will reboot the Oracle VM pool master server as shown in the next example.

Next we reboot all of the none master Oracle VM servers as shown in the next example.

If you are using HA, the final step is to access Oracle VM Manager and enter a server pool virtual IP address for your server pool or pools. The server pool virtual IP is used to provide automatic Oracle VM master server failover to an Oracle VM none master pool member. The server pool virtual IP must be a vaild IP address on the same network as the pool servers.

 

Access Oracle VM Manager, click the Server Pools tab then click the Edit button to access the Edit Server Pool page. From the Edit Server Pool page, enter the server pool virtual IP in the Server Pool Virtual IP text box then click OK as shown in Figure 12.