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Learn about ONTAP upgrade

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When you upgrade your ONTAP software, you can take advantage of new and enhanced ONTAP features that can help you reduce costs, accelerate critical workloads, improve security, and expand the scope of data protection available to your organization.

A major ONTAP upgrade consists of moving from a lower to higher ONTAP numbered release. An example would be an upgrade of your cluster from ONTAP 9.14.1 to ONTAP 9.18.1. A minor (or patch) upgrade consists of moving from a lower ONTAP version to a higher ONTAP version within the same numbered release. An example would be an upgrade of your cluster from ONTAP 9.17.1P1 to 9.17.1P4.

To get started, you can use one of the following methods to prepare for the upgrade.

  • Upgrade Advisor

    If you have an active SupportEdge contract for Active IQ Digital Advisor (also known as Digital Advisor), you should prepare to upgrade with Upgrade Advisor. Upgrade Advisor provides intelligence that helps you minimize uncertainty and risk by assessing your cluster and creating an upgrade plan specific to your configuration.

    Upgrade Advisor is suitable for users with a smaller environment who prefer a cloud-based, UI-centered experience.

    Learn more about Upgrade Advisor.

  • Upgrade Health Checker

    You can also prepare to upgrade with Upgrade Health Checker. Upgrade Health Checker is an upgrade advisory service tool that conducts onsite, comprehensive health checks to identify upgrade blockers and warnings. A SupportEdge contract is not required to use Upgrade Health Checker.

    Upgrade Health Checker is suitable for users who have a large or complex environment, limited access to the internet, or existing automation and orchestration framework.

    Learn more about Upgrade Health Checker.

  • Manual preparation

    If you don't use Upgrade Advisor or the Upgrade Health Checker tool you need to prepare to upgrade manually. Manual preparation requires the completion of multiple tasks to check for any known issues or blockers and ensure that your cluster meets the necessary requirements for the upgrade.

    Learn more about manual upgrade preparation.

After you prepare for your upgrade, it is recommended that you perform upgrades using automated non-disruptive upgrade (ANDU) from System Manager. ANDU takes advantage of ONTAP's high-availability (HA) failover technology to ensure that clusters continue to serve data without interruption during the upgrade.

Note Beginning with ONTAP 9.12.1, System Manager is fully integrated with the NetApp Console. If the Console is configured on your system, you can upgrade through the Systems page.

If you want assistance upgrading your ONTAP software, NetApp Professional Services offers a Managed Upgrade Service. If you are interested in using this service, contact your NetApp sales representative or submit NetApp's sales inquiry form. The Managed Upgrade Service as well as other types of upgrade support are available to customers with SupportEdge Expert Services at no additional cost.

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