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process. This upgrade method keeps critical VMs running by enabling you to live migrate them to other hosts in
the pool and then to upgrade one host at a time. This process takes only one XenServer host offline at a time.
You can perform a rolling pool upgrade using XenCenter or the xe CLI. If you are using XenCenter, Citrix
recommends using the Rolling Pool Upgrade wizard. This wizard organizes the upgrade path automatically and
guides you through the upgrade procedure. If you are using the xe CLI, you need to perform the rolling upgrade
manually by first planning your upgrade path and then live migrating running VMs between XenServer hosts
accordingly.
Important:
Rolling Pool Upgrade should not be used with Boot from SAN environments. For more
information on upgrading boot from SAN environments see Appendix B, Boot From SAN
Environments.
Note:
The Rolling Pool Upgrade wizard is included in the latest version of XenCenter and intended
for those upgrading from XenServer version 5.6 or later to the current version of XenServer.
XenServer hosts running versions older than 5.6 need to be manually upgraded (via XenCenter
or the xe CLI) through each intermediate release until they are at version 5.6.
Warning:
If you are upgrading pools (from version 5.6 or later to the current version of XenServer) that
contain Citrix StorageLink Gateway SRs, note that only the following adapters are supported:
NetApp and Dell EqualLogic. If the pool contains VMs running on any other types of Citrix
StorageLink Gateway SRs, do not upgrade the pool.
Before you upgrade, you need to first detach any supported Citrix StorageLink Gateway SRs
and then, once you have upgraded, re-attach them and re-enter your credentials.
Warning:
If the default SR in the pool you wish to upgrade is a supported StorageLink Gateway SR,
you must set the default to an SR of a different type (non-StorageLink Gateway). Any VMs
suspended on a StorageLink Gateway SR by the Rolling Pool Upgrade wizard will not be
resumable after the upgrade.
7.1.1. Upgrading XenServer Hosts Using the XenCenter Rolling Pool Upgrade Wizard
You can use the Rolling Pool Upgrade wizard to upgrade XenServer hosts — hosts in a pool or standalone — from
version 5.6 or later to the current version of XenServer. For details on planning a manual rolling pool upgrade for
earlier versions of XenServer, see Section 7.3, “Upgrading XenServer to Version 5.6 or Earlier Using XenCenter”.
The wizard guides you through the upgrade procedure and organizes the upgrade path automatically. For pools,
each of the hosts in the pool is upgraded in turn, starting with the pool master. Before starting an upgrade,
the wizard conducts a series of prechecks to ensure that certain pool-wide features, such as HA and WLB, are
temporarily disabled and that each host in the pool is prepared for upgrade (for example, that the CD/DVD drive
of each host is empty). Only one host is offline at a time, and any running VMs are automatically migrated off
each host before the upgrade is installed on that host.
The wizard can operate in Manual or Automatic mode:
• In Manual Mode, you must manually run the XenServer installer on each XenServer host in turn and follow
the on-screen instructions on the serial console of the host. Once the upgrade begins, XenCenter prompts you
to insert the XenCenter installation media or specify a PXE boot server for each host that you upgrade.
• In Automatic Mode, the wizard uses network installation files located on an HTTP, NFS or FTP server to upgrade
each host in turn, without requiring you to insert installation media, manually reboot, or step through the
installer on each host. If you choose to perform a rolling pool upgrade in this manner, then you must unpack
the XenServer installation media onto your HTTP, NFS or FTP server before starting the upgrade.