Trying this site:
https://theibmi.org/2020/07/26/vios-3-1-upgrade-for-everyone/
You come across stuff like: "Provision an extra disk to the VIO which will be upgraded" or some such thing. Um, yeah, that's something I do on a regular basis - NOT.
I have three Power systems.
Each Power system has two vios partitions.
Each vios partition has two drives in the system unit. One mirrored to the other.
I have done 2.x to 2.y upgrades of vios midday with no disruption. Each VIOS backs up the other. The only loss of function was the tape library was not usable during this time as that is not redundant. Not a whole lot of use midday so no big deal. One of the upgrade sites mentions this as quite common.
Doing a 2.x to 3.x upgrade is a whole different animal. Different command set, etc.
Some people mention just do the backup, wipe out the VIOS, start out with the new version of VIOS and restore the backup.
Ok, I've rekeyed my VIOS setup when upgrading P8 to P9. Not something I want to trust to good notes again so I'm digging that concept. However wiping the disk is a little tough for me to grasp. When I got rid of that P8 I just put all the units in the system unit into one space and installed IBM i to trash the disks. Pretty sure that's not what is recommended for wiping the disk for this upgrade.
I suppose an alternative would be to break the mirrored pair, use the mirror as the upgrade disk, do the upgrade, wipe the original, restoring mirroring. Again, not something I do on a regular basis so I'd need a little more detail.
I could farm this out (and I am strongly considering that) but it's a six time upgrade and the knowledge would be lost. BTW consultants, it would be a hard sell to get my boss to let you in on this deal since we have some credit built up with our existing BP.
Our last P8 is could be down for a little while. I normally do disruptive maintenance on this beast midday. It's one of the three machines mentioned above.
Rob Berendt
--
IBM Certified System Administrator - IBM i 6.1
Group Dekko
Dept 1600
Mail to: 7310 Innovation Blvd, Suite 104
Ft. Wayne, IN 46818
Ship to: 7310 Innovation Blvd, Dock 9C
Ft. Wayne, IN 46818
http://www.dekko.com
midrange.com
