Installation Notes

Cluster Update from V-Cube 6.0.6 oder lower

An update from V-Cube 6.0.6 requires the installation of V-Cube 6.0.8. It is necessary to perform this intermediate step to assure the operation of the virtual machines during the update. The intermediate step is automatically enforced by the Collax update server.

If cluster nodes are being updated it is necessary to update all nodes to V-Cube 6.0.8 first. Only after all nodes are updated to Version 6.0.8 the Version 6.0.10 can be installed.

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: Virtualization I/O-Driver for Windows

From this update on new virtio driver for Windows guest VMs are available. Important: The virtio drivers for virtual disks need to be updated on running machines with Windows operating system to prevent data loss or system crashes under heavy load. The event log of the Windows operating system reports DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL when the error occurs.

Virtualization: Link to VNC Console is Displayed for VMs Which are Shutoff

From this update on links to the VNC console will be displayed in the list of virtual machines even the virtual machine is not running.

System Management: Option for Automatic File System Check

From this update on an automatic file system check can be scheduled within the dialog Shutdown/Reboot for the next boot up of the server.

Issues Fixed in this Version

Virtualization: Date of Snapshots not correct

The date of a snapshot could be displayed wrong under certain circumstances. With this update the date of the snapshots will be displayed correctly.

Virtualization: RAM State File is not being deleted after snapshot

If a snapshot could not be created correctly, the settings were reset afterwards. The memory state file of the related snapshot was not deleted. From this update all snapshot setting will be reset correctly if the creation of a snapshot fails.

Virtualization: OS of the VM shows more NICs than configured

If the configuration of a virtual machine was saved without changing a value more NICs were assigned to the VM which were detected by the operating system as not connected network interfaces. This will be fixed with this update.

Virtualization: Boot Order in BIOS 0.6.2

If a virtual machine was set up to boot from BIOS version 0.6.2 the boot order could not be changed afterwards under certain circumstances. This will be fixed with this software update.

V-Cube+: Hostnames with Capital Letters

The initialization of a Collax Cluster can’t be executed if the hostname contains capital letters.

V-Cube+: Removing Node from Cluster restarts Cluster-Share

If a cluster node was removed from cluster domain the resource cluster share was restarted under certain circumstances. This is going to be changed with this update, the cluster will not be restarted in that case.

V-Cube+: Putting one Cluster-Node to Standby, When The Other Node was Already Shutdown

In case that one cluster node was shutdown already the second cluster node could not be set into standby mode. With this update the check for the eSAN synchronization within the dialog Cluster-Nodes is modified. Putting the last active cluster node into standby mode is now possible.

V-Cube+: Live Migration of a VM Partially Does Not work

If an virtual machine was reverted to an snapshot the live migration of that virtual machine sometimes failed. With this update the start and stop procedure of the virtualization management is corrected for snapshots, which improves the live migration of virtual machines.

V-Cube+: Changing IP Address of a Host

Changing the IP address of a host within the cluster administration did not always work. The handling of references for cluster objects for e.g. hosts is improved with this update.

V-Cube+: Split Brain Handling of DRBD if Hardware Error occur

In case of a hardware failure of the network connection between the cluster nodes the cluster manager takes care of the affected cluster resources. A time out within the DRBD synchronization (drbd: PingAck did not arrive in time) sometimes led to a live migration of a virtual machine that could fail or one node was powered off in worst case. With this update the the split brain handling of a DRBD is improved, an automatic live migration of a virtual is not necessary in that case anymore.

V-Cube+: Resume I/O after Split Brain Handling of DRBD Device

If the I/O for a eSAN device was suspended in case of a split brain, it was not automatically resumed after the situation was resolved. With this update the drbd device is resumed correctly.

Backup/Restore: Virtual Machines - Field ‘info’ missing

Creating an Instant-VM from backup data led to the error message field info missing within the dialog Virtual Machines. The list of VMs was not shown. The attribute info is set for virtual machines created from backup date with this update, so the list of virtual machines is displayed correctly.

Authentication: LDAP Server does not Start after Reboot

In this update many improvements will be implemented for the integration of Active Directories. These improvements deal with email addresses, active monitoring of the AD proxy and clean up of imported AD objects when leaving an AD.

System Management: Nagios Threshold for File System Check

The threshold values for the monitoring of file systems are adjusted within this update. The state of the FSCK check returns CRITICAL only if the file system is unclean.

System Management: Locking Timed Out, When Cluster Share was not writable

If the cluster share was not available the locking method was unable to write its locking information. From this update on this information is stored within the Cluster Information Base.

Hardware: Update Problem if Using old Series 7 and 8 of 3ware Raid Controller

If the series 7 or 8 of the 3ware Raid controller are used for a V-Cube server the update can’t rewrite the systems default volume group correctly. This is going to be fixed with this update.

Hardware: Disk Storage greater than 10TB only usable for Disk Image files for VMs

When installing the software on hard disks greater than 10TB this storage could only be used for disk image files. With this update storage greater than 10TB can be used also for logical volumes.

Hardware: Software Installation Provides Default Values for Networking

Under certain circumstances the network settings could fall back to default values after an software installation. This is corrected in the installation procedure with this update.

Notes

Virtualization: Number of CPU Sockets for VMs with Windows Server 2012/Windows 8 and 2012R2/8.1

The number of cpu sockets for virtual machines with the operating system Windows Server 2012/Windows 8 and 2012R2/8.1 must be set to one. Otherwise the installation will stop with a blue screen. The number of CPU cores may be set higher than one.

Misc: Windows Setup notes Error Message 0x80300001

If Windows Server 2008 R2 and above is to be installed on Virtio hard disks using the Virtio driver CD for Windows, Windows reports the error code 0x80300001. The error message occurs if the partitions are recognized and the user clicks the button Next. The message means, that the installation CD of Windows needs to be inserted again.