Upgrade In Place

Upgrade In Place was introduced with z/VM V6.3 to help upgrade a release with minimal disruption to the current running release. You can upgrade to a release that is currently in service. ex: V7.1 can upgrade to either V7.2 or V7.3.

The upgrade process is different from the traditional migration process because it will install the new release to a temporary work system second level. It will move the new release to the current system with minimal impact. Select the version/release using the 'Change version or product' drop down at the top of the screen in the: z/VM Installation Guide. Upgrade is explained in Part 4 of the Guide.

NOTE: It can't be stressed enough that reading and planning is critical to the success of upgrading. Please read the Installation Guide and fill out the worksheets.

Benefits of using upgrade

  • No manual merge of directories
  • Automatically adds new userids to current system
  • Upgrade files on existing disks under VMSES control
  • Flag local modifications for review and customized files
  • Supports upgrading both non-SSI and SSI systems
      Upgrade Installation with an SSI Cluster
    • All members must be at the same z/VM Release level
    • Support upgrading single members of an SSI Cluster

Is your system a candidate to upgrade?

    Must meet the following criteria. This criteria is only kept up to date in the latest copy of the z/VM Installation Guide, for the specific release. Use these as examples only.
  • Running z/VM Version 6.2 or higher
  • Must not have changed identity/subconfig definitions with user entrie for all entries in the initial directory shipped by IBM.
  • Must not have changed IBM supplied USER or IDENTITY names
  • Must not have changed IBM Supplied minidisk addresses
  • Must not have moved IBM supplied minidisks to different virtual machine definitions
  • Must not have changed the default values in VMSESE PROFILE or VMFINS DEFAULTS
  • An override to the SERVP2P PPF is being used
  • Upgraded from a mixed-release SSI cluster is not allowed

Upgrade education