Upgrade to latest supported version with manual disruptive update

[Kiko]

Talking with my colleagues from the department, a question has arisen about ontap updates.

Normally they are carried out in a non-disruptive way and respecting the transition between versions. But, if, for example, you can perform a disruptive upgrade with the "Manual disruptive upgrade using the CLI" procedure, could you upgrade, for example, from a 9.1 version to a 9.8 version directly?
Thank you so much.

[TMACMD]

I don’t think that is well advised 

there are upgrades to things like the file system and more that can only really go back 1 (even/odd) or two (odd/odd) versions. 

ONTAP supports 9.8 direct upgrade to 9.9.1 or 9.10.1 or 9.11.1 or I think even 9.12.1

 the newer versions know how to deal with it. Versions before that do not 

i certainly would not suggest trying. 

why not just do the non disruptive upgrades?

9.1->9.3->9.5->9.7->9.8?

[paul_stejskal]

I don't know if ONTAP even allows you to do so. You'll have to bite the bullet and do it in hops.

[EWILTS_SAS]

Don't stop at 9.8 unless you have a really good reason to do so.  You might not want to go to 9.12.1 yet but 9.10 and 9.11 are pretty safe.

[Kiko]

Hello everyone. Thanks for your opinions.

Yes, we always carry out the updates online and follow the steps and updates between versions exactly.

It was simply a question that has come up in our office and we are not clear if the reason for updating from version to version is only for automatic online updates or also applies to manual offline updates.

For example, a FAS2720 used as SnapVault-type snapshot storage that needs to be updated ontap version and 3 prior updates would have to be made to reach the latest supported version.

This storage can shutdown at any time.

Could the latest version of Ontap be directly loaded without going through the intermediate ones?

It would be through the procedure "Manual disruptive upgrade using the CLI"

Basically to save time and directly load the latest version in image2 so that the cabin starts from it and starts the update.

It may be a silly question but it has kept us entertained for quite a while in the office. 😆

Thanks

[Ontapforrum · Accepted solution]

Could the latest version of Ontap be directly loaded without going through the intermediate ones?
A: No. It all depends on your current and target releases, which will decide whether upgrade path will be direct, direct multi-hop, or multi-stage.

For example, you can use the direct update path from 9.8 to 9.9.1, or from 9.8 to 9.10.1. Beginning with ONTAP 9.11.1, software images support upgrading directly to releases that are three releases higher than the running release. For example, you can use the direct upgrade path from 9.8 to 9.11.1.

It would be through the procedure "Manual disruptive upgrade using the CLI"
A: It doesn't matter whether you use Manual disruptive using CLI or Automated : Manual disruptive is only going to save some time that otherwise needed for 'fail-over' stuff to kick-off during ANDU upgrades.

This doc, covers all the info:
https://docs.netapp.com/us-en/ontap/upgrade/concept_upgrade_paths.html#supported-upgrade-paths

Manual:
Current Ontap:9.1
Target Ontap:9.8

multi-stage
- 9.1 → 9.3
- 9.3 → 9.5
- 9.5 → 9.7
- 9.7 → 9.8

ANDU:
Current Ontap:9.1
Target Ontap:9.8

multi-stage:
- 9.1 → 9.3
- 9.3 → 9.7 (direct multi-hop, requires images for 9.5 & 9.7)
- 9.7 → 9.8