I would maybe do it a few hours, not days. In the event of a panic, you run the risk of many issues of a new kernel trying to do something with an old-style file. Other issues may arise if the system panics and does not come back on the same release.

With 8.x and the CF/USB flash devices, it is less of an issue. You can "install" the kernel and so forth, but it is not "activated" until you run download. The download command tells the BIOS/LOADER to flip the image to use to boot with.

Hopefully that helps.

If you are trying an NDU, this is a moot point since you are doing a non-disruptive (i.e. NO CIFS CLIENTS). update anyway.

--tmac Tim McCarthy Principal Consultant RedHat Certified Engineer 804006984323821 (RHEL4) 805007643429572 (RHEL5)

On Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 6:27 PM, Fletcher Cocquyt fcocquyt@stanford.eduwrote:

from pg 54 of the NDU guide:

Note: Activating Data ONTAP 8..x software images with the download process takes significantly longer than in earlier releases.

The download process for Data ONTAP 8..x usually takes 20 to 60 minutes.

Q: Is it safe to issue the download command a few days ahead of the planned maintenance window (to save time in the actual maintenance window?)

thanks

--

Fletcher Cocquyt Principal Engineer Information Resources and Technology (IRT) Stanford University School of Medicine

Email: fcocquyt@stanford.edu Phone: (650) 724-7485

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