Upgrade from ONTAP 9.3 directly to 9.7

[alessice1]

Hi,

I'm an old member of the forum but with the last change on signing procedure I'm unable to recover my old username, so ...

I need to upgrade a FAS2554 (with 2 node HA cluster switchless), that is running 9.3P21 to 9.7, since I buy a new FAS2720 and I need Snapmirror to move data.

The upgrade path suggests to me an upgrade "from ONTAP 9.3 directly to 9.7 ". My FAS is running only NFS shares.

Is recommended and safe "multi-hop" upgrade or is better 9.3 to 9.5, wait some days,  than jump to 9.7?

Thanks

[SpindleNinja]

Have you created a ticket about your username?   

It's safe,  though note that the 9.3 to 9.7 upgrade will also do 9.5 in the background.  Personally, when I have done these multi hop upgrades for customers, I would wait a week or 2 between between major versions. 

[Ontapforrum · Accepted solution]

Just adding to what SpindleNinja has already mentioned.

According to the NetApp recommendations (doc mentioned below) - "it is a best practice to upgrade first to the latest patch release in the same ONTAP release family". This will ensure that any issues in the older version are resolved before upgrading.  Also, b'cos 9.5 'End of Full Support' already reached 31-Jan-2022, it makes sense to get to the 9.7.

Date Posted : 13-Oct-2021 (Latest patch for 9.3)
https://mysupport.netapp.com/site/products/all/details/ontap9/downloads-tab/download/62286/9.3P22

Upgrade path:
9.3P(?) → 9.3P22 → 9.7

Note: If you are upgrading from ONTAP 9.3 directly to 9.7, you must download the software images for both ONTAP 9.5 and 9.7. The automated upgrade process uses the 9.5 image in the background to complete the update to 9.7. You should expect multiple reboots during the process.

https://docs.netapp.com/us-en/ontap/upgrade/concept_upgrade_paths.html

[Drew_C]

@alessice   Your account has been restored.

[alessice]

Thanks.