Troubleshooting NSX Upgrades: Do's and Don'ts

Products

• VMware NSX

Issue/Introduction

This article outlines the user tasks that are permitted and those that are prohibited during an NSX upgrade.

Environment

VMware NSX

Resolution

Tasks which are prohibited:

Task	Details
Do not manually delete files from the /repository directory on an NSX Manager appliance	This can cause repository sync failures and also result in Manager, Edge or Host upgrade failure
Do not manually modify any files in /repository directory on an NSX Manager appliance	Modifying files changes the checksum of the file and can result in repository sync failure
Do not run the API DELETE /api/v1/upgrade/plan	Manager may lose the upgrade target version information, requires support of is lost. Remediation involved invoking a complex API.
Do not manually mount or unmount NSX Manager or Edge partitions	The upgrade process performs mount/unmount operations in a certain order. Manual intervention can lead to upgrade failure or system being in inconsistent state.
Do not rollback of the Upgrade Coordinator via the cli command rollback upgrade-coordinator	Can leave the system in an inconsistent state
Do not ssh into a Manager or Edge appliance while it is upgrading	Upgrade may fail to unmount a partition due to access busy
Do not restart a Manager or Edge appliance while it is upgrading	Can result in upgrade failure
Do not delete or replace an NSX Manager appliance mid upgrade	Results in inconsistent state. Official rollback and
From NSX 9.0, once the vCenter, ESX and Edge upgrade has been started, do not rollback the Manager or restore the Manager to a lower version.	The NSX Manager should always be at the same or higher version than VC/Host/Edge.
For VCF upgrades, do not upload the pub files to NSX Manager directly.	The upgrade should be driven from SDDC Manager. Uploading a pub file to NSX directly upgrades the upgrade coordinator version of NSX. If an upgrade is then initiated from SDCC Manager, it will fail as SDDC Manager is not aware of PUB. If a pub file has been uploaded to NSX directly, upload the mub file to NSX directly also, then initiate the upgrade from SDDC Manager.

 

Tasks which are permitted:

Task	Details
Mid upgrade, the target version of the upgrade needs to be changed.	Upload the new mub file and start the upgrade, upgrade all components.
During Edge upgrade if a problem arises with an Edge e.g. storage incident damages an Edge, the Edge can be redeployed or replaced with a new Edge.	Any new Edge deployment/redeployment performed before completion of the Edge component upgrade will deploy the Edge using the existing NSX version. The Edge will then need to be upgraded. Post Edge component upgrade completion, any new Edge deployment/redeployment will be at the target version. The Edge will not need to be upgraded.

Additional Information

• Troubleshooting NSX Upgrade Failures