Upgrade SLES SuSE9 SP4 -> SLES SuSE10 SP2

[former_member267944]

Hello SAP on Linux forum,

We must upgrade our MaxDB SAP System Landscape Servers (> 100 servers) running on Novell SLES SuSE9 SP4 to Novell SLES SuSE10 SP2.

We want to upgrade with minimal manual intervention.

I've read the SAP notes: 958253 and 1275776 and also the Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise

Server Installation and Administration Guide May 2008

Does anyone has some hint and tips how to upgrade our large environment? Are there some lessons learned? Tools which support an automatic upgrade?

Please advise.

Best Regards,

Mike Laanen

[hannes_kuehnemund]

Hi Mike,

I've talked to some Novell colleagues and they said, that there is currently no possibility for an automated update. As I can't believe this, I'd ask you to engage your Novell support channel and ask for clarification there. If you have some more information, you might want to share them ...

Thanks,

Hannes

[former_member267944]

Hello Hannes,

Thank you for your reply, we allready asked Novell, see the following correspondention:

"In doing some research the officially supported methods of upgrading from SLES 9 SP2 to SP3 are to use YOU (YaST updates) and by using the CD/DVD. Novell does offer a new update tool SMT (Subscription Management Tool) but it is more geared to replace a YOU server than an automated upgrade like you are looking for. In my research I couldn't find a tool that would perform the task you are wanting. Autoyast looked promising but in speaking with some of the autoyast engineers their initial optimism faded as potential problems came to light.

Because autoyast was build to perform installs getting it to change and do upgrades is questionable. We are unsure how autoyast will react to software conflicts, how it may handle trying to upgrade partitions with data already on them, etc. The potential for problems with autoyast are high which may leave you with a down server in an unrecoverable state. We haven't tested autoyast in these conditions so the unknowns are many. Using autoyast in this way is not supported.

Most of the engineers I spoke with recommended creating a SP 3 install source. Then boot the server up off of the SP 3 media and point it to the SP 3 install source and select the upgrade option. This does require some manual steps but will be faster than swapping media in and out of the CD.

Best of luck,

-

---

Brian King

ASE Advantage - OS"

So unfortunately NO support from Novell to perform an automatic upgrade of our systemlandscape (> 100 servers).

Best Regards,

Mike Laanen

Sr. Architect Technische Infrastructuur SAP