Release Automation upgrade and database

[Nicolas PEYRUSSIE]

Hi,

We are about to work on a double upgrade of our Release Automation cluster.
So as to gain back Broadcom support we are planning to upgrade from 6.5 to 6.7.

But first we need to upgrade VM OS from RHEL 6.X to RHEL 7.X on our 6.5 cluster.
The question is about the database since we are going to provision new VMs.

Is it possible to create a full new 6.5 Release Automation cluster (NAC and NES instances) pointing to an existing database ?

[Gregg Stewart]

Hello,

I'd first make the following notes:

• NAC systems are the only component that speak directly to the Nolio DB.
• It's recommended to backup the DB before doing performing these types of activities (adding/removing/changing NACs).

Regarding whether or not you can point new 6.5 NACs to the existing DB:
You should be able to install new NACs and point it to the existing DB. However, I would not recommend doing this. If you'd like further explanation of why - I can offer some additional detail. But mainly because care needs to be taken to ensure no disruption occurs. Instead of pointing a new NAC to an existing DB I would recommend the following:

• Consider pointing the new NACs to a different DB while installing and applying patches.
• Make sure that your new NACs are at the same 6.5 patch level as your current production NACs. You can verify the patch level using the Help -> About option in the UI or by reviewing the NACs <install_dir>/conf/version file. 
• Once your new NACs are ready to replace the old NACs:
  1. Shutdown all NACs (new and old).
  2. Backup the DB.
  3. Reconfigure load balancer to point to the new NACs (since you said the NACs were clustered).
  4. Reconfigure the new NACs to point to the original/existing production DB.
  5. Start one of the new NACs (the one configured by the load balancer to be the primary NAC). Make sure you can access the environment and run some tests to make sure that the new NAC is connecting to the existing NES and jobs work as expected.
  6. Once #5 is done and all looks good, start the other new NAC. Run appropriate tests.
  7. Install/Configure new NES and introduce them into the environment.
  8. Move agents to the new NES. 
  9. Upgrade environment to 6.6 and then 6.7 (since an upgrade to 6.7 was only officially tested/supported from 6.6).

I've included some links below that might helpful:

• Migration Best Practices
• Manually Configure Communication with the Database
• Upgrade a High Availability Deployment
• Upgrade Nolio Release Automation
• KB: CA Release Automation Migration Best Practices
• KB: 6.6 Upgrade Best Practices
• Community Post (excellent upgrade checklist): Upgrade to CA Release Automation 6.x

​
Cheers,
Gregg

[Nicolas PEYRUSSIE]

Hello Gregg,

Thank you very much for your answer. This will help us a lot.

Regards.