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Revert an ONTAP cluster

Contributors netapp-aherbin netapp-aaron-holt netapp-barbe netapp-forry

Reverting an ONTAP cluster is disruptive. You must take the cluster offline for the duration of the reversion. You should not revert a production cluster without assistance from technical support.

To revert a new or test cluster, you must disable storage failover and data LIFs and address reversion preconditions; then you must revert the cluster and file system configuration on each node in the cluster.

Before you begin.

Step 1: Prepare the cluster for reversion

Before you revert any of your cluster nodes, you should verify that your target ONTAP image is installed and you should disable all the data LIFs in the cluster.

Steps
  1. Set the privilege level to advanced:

    set -privilege advanced

    Enter y when prompted to continue.

  2. Verify that the target ONTAP software is installed:

    system image show

    The following example shows that version 9.13.1 is installed as the alternate image on both nodes:

    cluster1::*> system image show
                     Is      Is                 Install
    Node     Image   Default Current Version    Date
    -------- ------- ------- ------- --------   -------------------
    node0
             image1  true    true    9.14.1      MM/DD/YYYY TIME
             image2  false   false   9.13.1      MM/DD/YYYY TIME
    node1
             image1  true    true    9.14.1      MM/DD/YYYY TIME
             image2  false   false   9.13.1      MM/DD/YYYY TIME
    4 entries were displayed.
  3. Disable all of the data LIFs in the cluster:

    network interface modify {-role data} -status-admin down
  4. Determine if you have inter-cluster flexcache relationships:

    flexcache origin show-caches -relationship-type inter-cluster
  5. If inter-cluster flexcaches are present, disable the data lifs on the cache cluster:

    network interface modify -vserver <vserver_name> -lif <lif_name> -status-admin down

Step 2: Revert cluster nodes

To revert your cluster, you need to revert the first node in an HA pair, then revert the partner node. You then repeat this process for each HA pair in your cluster until all nodes are reverted. If you have a MetroCluster configuration, you need to repeat these steps for both the clusters in the configuration.

4 or more nodes
Steps
  1. Log in to the node that you want to revert.

    To revert a node, you must be logged in to the cluster through the node's node management LIF.

  2. Disable storage failover for the nodes in the HA pair:

    storage failover modify -node <nodename> -enabled false

    You only need to disable storage failover once for the HA pair. When you disable storage failover for a node, storage failover is also disabled on the node's partner.

  3. Set the node's target ONTAP software image to be the default image:

    system image modify -node <nodename> -image <target_image> -isdefault true
  4. Verify that the target ONTAP software image is set as the default image for the node that you are reverting:

    system image show

    The following example shows that version 9.13.1 is set as the default image on node0:

    cluster1::*> system image show
                     Is      Is                 Install
    Node     Image   Default Current Version    Date
    -------- ------- ------- ------- --------   -------------------
    node0
             image1  false   true    9.14.1      MM/DD/YYYY TIME
             image2  true    false   9.13.1      MM/DD/YYYY TIME
    node1
             image1  true    true    9.14.1      MM/DD/YYYY TIME
             image2  false   false   9.13.1      MM/DD/YYYY TIME
    4 entries were displayed.
  5. Verify that the node is ready for reversion:

    system node revert-to -node <nodename> -check-only true -version 9.x

    The check-only parameter identifies any preconditions that must be addressed before reverting, such as disabling the snapshot policy or deleting snapshots that were created after upgrading to the later version of ONTAP.

    The -version option refers to the ONTAP release to which you are reverting. For example, if you are reverting from 9.14.1 to 9.13.1, the correct value of the -version option is 9.13.1.

  6. Revert the cluster configuration of the node:

    system node revert-to -node <nodename> -version 9.x

    The cluster configuration is reverted, and then you are logged out of the clustershell.

  7. Wait for the login prompt; then enter No when you are asked if you want to login to the systemshell.

    It could take up to 30 minutes or more for the login prompt to appear.

  8. Log in to the clustershell with admin.

  9. Switch to the nodeshell:

    run -node <nodename>

    After logging on the clustershell again, it might take a few minutes before it is ready to accept the nodeshell command. So, if the command fails, wait a few minutes and try it again.

  10. Revert the file system configuration of the node:

    revert_to 9.x

    This command verifies that the node's file system configuration is ready to be reverted, and then reverts it. If any preconditions are identified, you must address them and then rerun the revert_to command.

    Note Using a system console to monitor the revert process displays greater details than seen in nodeshell.

    If AUTOBOOT is true, when the command finishes, the node will reboot to ONTAP.

    If AUTOBOOT is false, when the command finishes, the LOADER prompt is displayed. Enter yes to revert; then use boot_ontap to manually reboot the node.

  11. After the node has rebooted, confirm that the new software is running:

    system node image show

    In the following example, image1 is the new ONTAP version and is set as the current version on node0:

    cluster1::*> system node image show
                     Is      Is                 Install
    Node     Image   Default Current Version    Date
    -------- ------- ------- ------- --------   -------------------
    node0
             image1  true    true    X.X.X       MM/DD/YYYY TIME
             image2  false   false   Y.Y.Y      MM/DD/YYYY TIME
    node1
             image1  true    false   X.X.X      MM/DD/YYYY TIME
             image2  false   true    Y.Y.Y      MM/DD/YYYY TIME
    4 entries were displayed.
  12. Verify that the revert status for the node is complete:

    system node upgrade-revert show -node <nodename>

    The status should be listed as "complete", "not needed", or "there are no table entries returned."

  13. Repeat these steps on the other node in the HA pair; then repeat these steps for each additional HA pair.

    If you have a MetroCluster Configuration, you need to repeat these steps on both clusters in the configuration

  14. After all nodes have been reverted, reenable high availability for the cluster:

    cluster ha modify -configured true
2-node cluster
  1. Log in to the node that you want to revert.

    To revert a node, you must be logged in to the cluster through the node's node management LIF.

  2. Disable cluster high availability (HA):

    cluster ha modify -configured false
  3. Disable storage failover:

    storage failover modify -node <nodename> -enabled false

    You only need to disable storage failover once for the HA pair. When you disable storage failover for a node, storage failover is also disabled on the node's partner.

  4. Set the node's target ONTAP software image to be the default image:

    system image modify -node <nodename> -image <target_image> -isdefault true
  5. Verify that the target ONTAP software image is set as the default image for the node that you are reverting:

    system image show

    The following example shows that version 9.13.1 is set as the default image on node0:

    cluster1::*> system image show
                     Is      Is                 Install
    Node     Image   Default Current Version    Date
    -------- ------- ------- ------- --------   -------------------
    node0
             image1  false   true    9.14.1      MM/DD/YYYY TIME
             image2  true    false   9.13.1      MM/DD/YYYY TIME
    node1
             image1  true    true    9.14.1      MM/DD/YYYY TIME
             image2  false   false   9.13.1      MM/DD/YYYY TIME
    4 entries were displayed.
  6. Check whether the node currently holds epsilon:

    cluster show -node <nodename>

    The following example shows that the node holds epsilon:

    cluster1::*> cluster show -node node1
    
              Node: node1
              UUID: 026efc12-ac1a-11e0-80ed-0f7eba8fc313
           Epsilon: true
       Eligibility: true
            Health: true
    1. If the node holds epsilon, mark epsilon as false on the node so that epsilon can be transferred to the node's partner:

      cluster modify -node <nodename> -epsilon false
    2. Transfer epsilon to the node's partner by marking epsilon true on the partner node:

      cluster modify -node <node_partner_name> -epsilon true
  7. Verify that the node is ready for reversion:

    system node revert-to -node <nodename> -check-only true -version 9.x

    The check-only parameter identifies any conditions that must be addressed before reverting, such as disabling the snapshot policy or deleting snapshots that were created after upgrading to the later version of ONTAP.

    The -version option refers to the ONTAP release to which you are reverting. For example, if you are reverting from 9.14.1 to 9.13.1, the correct value of the -version option is 9.13.1.

    The cluster configuration is reverted, and then you are logged out of the clustershell.

  8. Revert the cluster configuration of the node:

    system node revert-to -node <nodename> -version 9.x
  9. Wait for the login prompt; then enter No when you are asked if you want to login to the systemshell.

    It could take up to 30 minutes or more for the login prompt to appear.

  10. Log in to the clustershell with admin.

  11. Switch to the nodeshell:

    run -node <nodename>

    After logging on the clustershell again, it might take a few minutes before it is ready to accept the nodeshell command. So, if the command fails, wait a few minutes and try it again.

  12. Revert the file system configuration of the node:

    revert_to 9.x

    This command verifies that the node's file system configuration is ready to be reverted, and then reverts it. If any preconditions are identified, you must address them and then rerun the revert_to command.

    Note Using a system console to monitor the revert process displays greater details than seen in nodeshell.

    If AUTOBOOT is true, when the command finishes, the node will reboot to ONTAP.

    If AUTOBOOT is false, when the command finishes the LOADER prompt is displayed. Enter yes to revert; then use boot_ontap to manually reboot the node.

  13. After the node has rebooted, confirm that the new software is running:

    system node image show

    In the following example, image1 is the new ONTAP version and is set as the current version on node0:

    cluster1::*> system node image show
                     Is      Is                 Install
    Node     Image   Default Current Version    Date
    -------- ------- ------- ------- --------   -------------------
    node0
             image1  true    true    X.X.X       MM/DD/YYYY TIME
             image2  false   false   Y.Y.Y      MM/DD/YYYY TIME
    node1
             image1  true    false   X.X.X      MM/DD/YYYY TIME
             image2  false   true    Y.Y.Y      MM/DD/YYYY TIME
    4 entries were displayed.
  14. Verify that the revert status is complete for the node:

    system node upgrade-revert show -node <nodename>

    The status should be listed as "complete", "not needed", or "there are no table entries returned."

  15. Repeat these steps on the other node in the HA pair.

  16. After both nodes have been reverted, reenable high availability for the cluster:

    cluster ha modify -configured true
  17. Reenable storage failover on both nodes:

    storage failover modify -node <nodename> -enabled true