Installation Notes

Auto Reboot

A new kernel is going to be installed and a reboot of the system is necessary. The output of the progress bar may stop before rebooting.

Note: Please wait, until all software packages are installed. The reboot of the system will then be initialized automatically and the server is going to be available after a few minutes.

Install Update within Cluster

Please read the following release notes carefully, before continuing. When installing this update on a Collax V-Cube+ cluster the following steps have to be performed:

Note: If starting the update from 6.1.8 to 6.1.10 no down time of the running virtual machines or applications is required.

Procedure

1. If the nodes have the version 6.1.8 or prior: Please read the appropriate notes for that release including the documented procedure first.
2. The software packages can be downloaded whithin a running Cluster to prepare the update and minimize the planned downtime. Go to the local administration of each node and access the form System Operation → Software → Systemupdate. Then click Get Package List. This will download the list of available update packages. The successful update of the package list is indicated by the message Done!. Click Get Packages. If the packages are downloaded successfully then the message Done! will be displayed.
3. Put one node into standby mode. Go to Status/Maintenance → Cluster Nodes and execute the action Standby. Please wait until the cluster resources are stopped or the VMs are migrated.
4. Now, put this node into maintenance mode. Go to the dialog Status/Maintenance → Cluster Services and stop the service HA Cluster for this node.
5. Click Install within the dialog Systembetrieb → Software → Systemupdate to install all update packages. The end of this process is indicated by the message Done!.
6. If a new kernel is going to be installed the system will be rebooted automatically after installing the update. An appropriate note will be shown. Please wait for the reboot in that case.
7. Start the service HA Cluster on the node that has been updated. Please wait until the service ist started and information about Cluster Resources are available before you proceed with the next step.
8. Once the service HA Cluster has been started resume the node by using the action Set active within the dialog Status/maintenance → Cluster Nodes .
9. Afterwards check the status of the eSAN-disk synchronization in the form Cluster Administration → Virtual Hard Disks. Do not continue with the next step until the column Status shows 100% or OK for all eSAN disks.
10. Please repeat this procedure from step 2 on the next node that needs to be updated.

Install Update from Version 6.0.10 within Cluster

Please read the following release notes carefully, before continuing. Note that when installing this update on a Collax Inter-V cluster the following steps have to be performed:

Procedure

1. This version is deprecated and does not receive further support.
2. Please shut down all virtual machines within the cluster management gui before continuing with the following steps. Please consider to disable the shutdown event tracker for Windows operating systems before shutting down the virtual machine.
3. Put all nodes into standby mode. Go to Status/Maintenance → Cluster Nodes and execute the action Standby. Please wait until the cluster resources are stopped.
4. Put one node into maintenance mode. Go to the dialog Status/Maintenance → Cluster Services and stop the service HA Cluster for this node.
5. Go to the local administration of this node and access the form System Operation → Software → Systemupdate. Then click Get Package List. This will download the list of available update packages. The successful update of the package list is indicated by the message Done!.
6. Click Get Packages. If the packages are downloaded successfully then the message Done! will be displayed.
7. Click Install. This action installs all update packages. The end of this process is indicated by the message Done!.
8. A new kernel is going to be installed. The system will be rebooted automatically after installing the update. An appropriate note will be shown if the update process is completed.
9. After the reboot start the service HA Cluster of the node again: Go to the cluster administration form Status/Maintenance → Cluster services. Please wait until information about Cluster Resources are available.
10. Repeat the steps 3 to 8 for the next cluster node.
11. Once all cluster nodes are updated resume them one by one by using the action Set active within the dialog Status/maintenance → Cluster Nodes .
12. Next check the status of the eSAN disk synchronization in the form Cluster Administration → Virtual Hard Disks. Do not continue with the next step until the column Status shows 100% or OK for all eSAN disks.
13. If all nodes within the cluster are updated and active the virtual machines can be started again.

Install Update on a Collax V-Cube

To install this update on a Collax V-Cube without a Cluster interconnection please follow these steps:

Procedure

1. Please read this document before proceeding to the next step.
2. In the administration interface go to System → System Operation → Software → System Update and then click Get Package List. This will then download the listed update packages. The successful update of the package list is indicated by the message “Done!”.
3. Click Get Packages to download the software packages.
4. Click Install. This action installs the update. The end of this process is indicated by the message Done!.
5. A new kernel is going to be installed. The system will be rebooted automatically after installing the update. An appropriate note will be shown once the update process is completed.
6. If the server is updated and booted the virtual machines can be started again.

New in this Version

Virtualization: Snapshots of Virtual Machines

A Snapshot saves the state of a virtual machine at a certain time. From this update it is possible to create snapshots of virtual machines. After this update online snapshots (the VM is started) or off-line snapshots (the VM is switched off) can be created. In addition an image of the main memory of the virtual machine is created. For the administration of snapshots a form can be accessed within the context menu for every virtual machine under “Settings-> Virtualization-> Machine Control”.

Virtualization: Extended Memory Efficiency with Kernel Samepage Merging (KSM)

From this version the function *Kernel Samepage Merging * is activated. This optimizes the memory allocation to virtual machines if they use identical main memory by providing these same memory pages to several virtual machines at the same time. The yield of the Kernel Samepage Merging rises with the number of identically or similarly operating systems of the virtual machines.

V-Cube+: Management for High Availability Cluster

The virtualization product Collax V-Cube offers an optional module Collax Inter-V from this version on. With this module it is possible to bring together several Collax V-Cube into a high-availability cluster. For a storage back-end either an iSCSI-Target or the module Collax V-Store (Embedded SAN) can be used. To the most important functions of the Collax Inter-V are high availability of virtual machines, highly available cluster administration-GUI, live migration of VMs and snapshots of VMs in the cluster. After the activation of a suitable license and installation on a Collax V-Cube the menu item clusters is available in the tab Settings. For more information about Collax Inter-V go to www.collax.com.

V-Cube+: Embedded SAN for Cluster

For the 64-bit Collax V-Cube the Collax vsan is available with this update. This module enables the use local hard disk space as shared and highly available storage space (Embedded SAN) for two Cluster-Nodes. By means of Replicating Block Device Drivers (DRBD) Collax vsan makes sure that both storages are synchronized and highly available. The Collax Inter-V interface enables simple administration of Collax vsan. After the activation of a valid license key and after the subsequent installation on a Collax V-Cube the menu item Embedded SAN can be accessed within the cluster administration. Please find more information about Collax vsan at www.collax.com.

Backup/Restore: Disks and Snapshots of Virtual Machines

From this version Snapshots, hard disks and CD/DVD ISO files of virtual machines can be included in the Collax data backup system. These backup elements will be written on targets within the network, on USB devices and on tape drives in any backup cycle. After an executed backup job the elements can be restored easily via the tree view within the “Restore” in the Collax administration GUI. Of course the described functionality also apply to virtual machines within the Collax HA Cluster.