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Manually Updating the vSphere Plugin

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This page contains instructions for updating the version of the vSphere plugin within Purity. Sometimes there will be a fix for the vSphere Plugin that the customer needs to take advantage of and we will want to update the version that is on the array without doing a Purity upgrade.

The remote vSphere plugin (5.0.0+) is strongly recommended to upgrade to and use over the local vSphere plugin highlighted here. That can be upgraded in place once installed and installed from scratch

Please note that if the plugin is manually upgraded, then it is possible that the next Purity upgrade will overwrite the plugin version.  For example, if the plugin is manually updated to 4.2.0 and then the FlashArray is upgraded to a release that the default is 3.1.1, then post Purity Upgrade the plugin offered from this FlashArray will be 3.1.1 and not 4.2.0.

The overall process is simple:

  1. Have the Customer open an RA to the Array.
  2. Have Pure Support upload the files to the Array.
  3. Copy the files to the peer controller.
  4. Move the files to the plugin folder.
  5. Update ownership of the files in the plugin folder.
  6. Update links in the plugin folder.
  7. Repeat the steps on the peer controller.
  8. Let the customer know that the FlashArray has the plugin updated.


Obtaining the Release

Staging the New Release

On Purity 5.2+ and 5.3+, the files will be pushed to /home/puresupport instead of /home/os76.

If using VATS or Skyline Remote Assist Control, you will also need to elevate from the default "puresupport" user to root via sudo su in order to scp the files across controllers:
scp purestorage-vsphere-plugin-signed-4.2.0_201911062145+5e41f1e-rel_4_2_0.zip root@peer:/home/puresupport.

In the example below, we are going to upgrade the array Purity version before 5.3.x to have the vSphere plugin version 4.2.0. The version could be different, but there should always be an "signed" in the zip file's name.

Uploading the Files:

Manually Updating the Plugin

  1. Authenticate as root on the array either using VATS/Skyline Remote Assist Control or the Dynamic Root Password Guide.
    1. Use sudo su if you are logged in as puresupport to access root. 
  2. The files will be in the /home/puresupport directory (/home/os76 if on 5.1.x or below): 
    cd /home/puresupport
  3. Copy the files to the peer controller's /home/puresupport directory: 
    root@ARRAY-ct0:/home/puresupport# scp purestorage-vsphere-plugin-signed-4.2.0_201911062145+5e41f1e-rel_4_2_0.zip root@peer:/home/puresupport
    root@ARRAY-ct0:/home/puresupport# scp PureStorage_vSphere_installer.jar root@peer:/home/puresupport
    
  4. Create a copy of .jar file:

    root@ARRAY-ct0:/home/puresupport# cp /opt/Purity/ui/plugins/vsphere/PureStorage_vSphere_installer.jar /opt/Purity/ui/plugins/vsphere/PureStorage_vSphere_installer.jar.<version-of-current-vsphere-plugin>
  5. Move the install files (both .zip and .jar) into:/opt/Purity/ui/plugins/vsphere
    root@ARRAY-ct0:/home/puresupport# mv -t /opt/Purity/ui/plugins/vsphere purestorage-vsphere-plugin-signed-4.2.0_201911062145+5e41f1e-rel_4_2_0.zip PureStorage_vSphere_installer.jar
  6. Navigate to the vSphere plugin directory: 

    cd /opt/Purity/ui/plugins/vsphere
  7. Change the owner of the files to root:

    root@ARRAY-ct0:/opt/Purity/ui/plugins/vsphere# chown root:root purestorage-vsphere-plugin-signed-4.2.0_201911062145+5e41f1e-rel_4_2_0.zip
    root@ARRAY-ct0:/opt/Purity/ui/plugins/vsphere# chown root:root PureStorage_vSphere_installer.jar
    
  8.  Update the symlink to point to the new version you just staged (make sure the first file is changed to the one you just uploaded, do not cut and paste this command): 

    root@ARRAY-ct0:/opt/Purity/ui/plugins/vsphere# ln -sf purestorage-vsphere-plugin-signed-4.2.0_201911062145+5e41f1e-rel_4_2_0.zip purestorage-vsphere-plugin.zip
    
  9. Repeat steps 6-10 on the peer controller.

  10. Confirm that the symlink correctly points to the new version:

    root@ARRAY-ct0:/opt/Purity/ui/plugins/vsphere# ls -la
    total 19672
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    4096 Jan 30 09:19 .
    drwxr-xr-x 4 root root    4096 Dec 10 20:14 ..
    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4570659 Dec  2 23:36 PureStorage_vSphere_installer.jar
    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4590324 Dec  9 11:02 PureStorage_vSphere_installer.jar.2.5.1
    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6588718 Dec  2 23:37 purestorage-vsphere-plugin-2.5.1_201704051804+163c8cd-rel_2_5_x.zip
    -rw-rw-r-- 1 root root 8974233 Jan 30 09:15 purestorage-vsphere-plugin-signed-4.2.0_201911062145+5e41f1e-rel_4_2_0.zip
    lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root      36 Jan 30 09:19 purestorage-vsphere-plugin.zip -> purestorage-vsphere-plugin-signed-4.2.0_201911062145+5e41f1e-rel_4_2_0.zip
  11. At this point, you are finished and the array's GUI should now show the new release for the customer to proceed with the install. Please validate with the customer that they are able to see the new version of the plugin in their array GUI.