HPE Storage Users Group

I noticed in my SSMC it was saying my array was degraded and I was missing a patch. I checked the release notes and figured why not, what could go wrong?

I updated 3.2.2 MU4 (3.2.2.612) with patches P59 and P60 without incident (my SP vm seems to have magically downloaded them at some point so handy, didn't need to get the ISOs)

Went back to SSMC web page and it's still showing a new version is available which is when I noticed it's telling me 3.2.2.642(P59) is available which seems to be EMU4.

From what I can tell, EMU4 is the same as MU4 with P59. The versions in the release notes match what I already have.

So is it safe to update to EMU4 given that it seems like nothing is really going to update (is that really the case; will it skip updates it doesn't need or will it re-upate everything)?

Would I need to rollback P60 first?

Can I apply P60 after even though the release notes don't explicitly say EMU4 in there?

There's also this P74 patch (which replaces a couple others I don't have so I guess I can do P74 right away) but given that I don't have the SSDs mentioned in P74, do I even have to? Will having a P74 causing problems if I want to apply a P6x later (just thinking 7 is later than 6 so maybe I'll have issues?)

Still relatively new to the 3par way of doing things so all these multiple concurrent active branches and patches is a little confusing still.

i have never patched our 3pars using the self install option. always through support. the reason is they have several pre and post patch scripts to check for various issues that can occur during the install and those scripts aren't run when doing the self install option. they can also work out the different dependencies and prereqs (i think the self install does this to a degree but those checks can also put you in a patch level where you're 'stuck'). also if the patch install goes poorly (and they have for us) they're on the hook for fixing it.

so that being said:



I would ask support



P60 depends on MU4 and P59, so maybe? depends on what support says



yes, some of our 3pars are on EMU4 and P60 was installed afterwards.



if you don't have the SSDs you don't need the patch.

some 3par patches are dependent on other patches. some are completely independent. for example a P80 won't necessarily include patches P1-P79, but P81 might depend on P65. you have to read the release notes to be sure.

personally i wish they would do cumulative patches but I think they like having the flexibility of having separate patches like this.

From the release notes:
3PAR OS 3.2.2 EMU4 combines all of the modifications and features provided by 3PAR OS 3.2.2 MU4 Patch 51, Patch 56, Patch 58, Patch 59, and Patch 73.

So if you have all those patches there is no need to "upgrade" to EMU4 as you would be upgrading to the exact same version you are running.

As for cumulative patches, some are cumulative while others are not. I don't want a 200MB File Persona patch installed on my array just because I needed drive firmware for a new SSD while was added in a later patch.

I always use the remote option when getting anything installed. I've never seen any scripts being used when installing patches only, but that doesn't mean there isn't one lurking around the next corner. I would assume that 99+% of all 3PARs installed serve more then one server and in many cases is the only central storage system in the environment. I rather spend a little bit of time handing the upgrading/patching to a bunch of guys that doesn't do anything else (and of course it's good to have someone to blame if something doesn't go as planned) then doing these things myself. Impact is just too big.

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