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Applies to: ✔️ Linux VMs
Caution
Following the process in this article will cause a disconnection between the data plane and the control plane of the virtual machine (VM). Azure features such as automatic guest patching, automatic operating system (OS) image upgrades, Hotpatching, and Azure Update Manager won't be available. To utilize these features, we recommend creating a new VM using your preferred OS instead of performing an in-place upgrade.
Upgrading your Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) system is a crucial task to ensure that you benefit from the latest features, security updates, and support. This article introduces how to use the Leapp utility to upgrade Linux virtual machines (VMs) that use SAP-HANA or SAP-APPS pay-as-you-go (PAYG) images from RHEL 8.x to RHEL 9.x.
Important
Red Hat Update Infrastructure (RHUI) is intended only for PAYG images. If you use custom or golden images (also known as bring-your-own-subscription (BYOS)), you have to attach the system to Red Hat Subscription Manager (RHSM) or Satellite in order to receive updates. For more information, see How to register and subscribe an RHEL system to the Red Hat Customer Portal using RHSM.
For more information about performing a Leapp upgrade on custom, golden or PAYG images provided by Red Hat, see Upgrading SAP environments from RHEL 8 to 9.
Prerequisites
- Make a backup of the Linux VM or a snapshot of the OS disk.
- Clear enough space in
/var/lib/leapp
to accommodate the upgrade. A best practice is to have at least 2-5 GB of free space. - Set up access to the Serial Console.
- Run the commands in this article with root privileges.
Prepare the VM for the Leapp pre-upgrade and upgrade process
You can perform an in-place upgrade from RHEL 8 to the following RHEL 9 minor versions.
System configuration | Source OS version | Target version |
---|---|---|
SAP HANA | RHEL 8.10 | RHEL 9.4 |
SAP HANA | RHEL 8.10 | RHEL 9.6 |
SAP NetWeaver and other SAP Applications | RHEL 8.10 | RHEL 9.4 |
SAP NetWeaver and other SAP Applications | RHEL 8.10 | RHEL 9.6 |
Note
For more information, see Supported in-place upgrade paths for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
According to the Upgrading SAP environments from RHEL 8 to RHEL 9 - Supported upgrade paths documentation, SAP validates SAP HANA for the RHEL minor versions that receive package updates for more than six months. Currently, the supported in-place upgrade paths for an SAP HANA system are from RHEL 8.10 to RHEL 9.4 and from RHEL 8.10 to RHEL 9.6. This documentation also describes restrictions and detailed steps for upgrading an SAP HANA system.
SAP validates SAP NetWeaver for each major RHEL version. The supported in-place upgrade paths for an SAP NetWeaver system are the two latest Extended Update Support (EUS)/Update Services for SAP Solutions (E4S) releases that the Leapp utility supports for non-HANA systems. For more information, see Upgrading from RHEL 8 to RHEL 9 - Supported upgrade paths. Certain deviations from the default upgrade procedure are described in Upgrading an SAP NetWeaver system. For systems where both SAP HANA and SAP NetWeaver are installed, the SAP HANA restrictions apply.
- RHEL 8.10 to RHEL 9.4 - SAP-HANA PAYG VMs
- RHEL 8.10 to RHEL 9.6 - SAP-HANA PAYG VMs
- RHEL 8.10 to RHEL 9.4 - SAP-APPS PAYG VMs
- RHEL 8.10 to RHEL 9.6 - SAP-APPS PAYG VMs
This section outlines the necessary steps before you perform an in-place upgrade from RHEL 8.10 to RHEL 9.4 by using the Leapp utility on SAP-HANA PAYG VMs.
Note
If your VM is part of a Hight Availability cluster, the upgrade is possible if the cluster nodes do not use any packages that are part of Resilient Storage. For more information, see Procedure to upgrade a RHEL 8 High Availability cluster to RHEL 9.
Note
To update an SAP-HANA system from RHEL 8.10 to RHEL 9.4, you must first upgrade the system to RHEL 8.10 if it isn't already upgaded. For more information, see How to upgrade RHEL-SAP-HANA and RHEL-SAP-APPS pay-as-you-go virtual machines from 8.x to 8.10.
Make sure that your current Red Hat release is 8.10:
sudo cat /etc/redhat-release
sudo cat /etc/yum/vars/releasever
To make sure your system is ready for upgrade, install required RHUI packages:
sudo dnf install leapp-rhui-azure-sap
Stop the SAP HANA systems and terminate all SAP processes.
Important
- Don't unmount the SAP HANA file systems, as they're necessary for detecting the presence and version of the installed SAP HANA system.
- If your VM is configured to start SAP processes automatically at boot time, disable this configuration.
Configure RHEL settings for SAP HANA:
According to SAP Note 2772999, the following parameters are necessary for SAP Applications, including SAP HANA. They're configured in the /etc/sysctl.d/sap.conf file.
vm.max_map_count = 2147483647 kernel.pid_max = 4194304
All other settings configured in the files /etc/sysctl.conf and /etc/sysctl.d/sap_hana.conf are the same for both RHEL 8 and RHEL 9 and should remain unchanged. For more information, see the SAP Notes 2382421.
To make sure that your RHEL 8.10 system is up to date, update all packages:
sudo dnf update
Reboot the VM:
sudo reboot
After the VM is started and running, make sure that the SAP HANA systems and all SAP processes are stopped on it. Also make sure the SAP HANA file systems are mounted.
Temporarily disable antivirus software to prevent the upgrade from failing.
Before you run the
leapp preupgrade
command, disable any configuration management systems with a client-server architecture (such as Puppet, Salt, or Chef) or an agentless architecture (such as Ansible).Install the Leapp utility:
sudo dnf install leapp-upgrade
Leapp pre-upgrade process
The Leapp pre-upgrade report highlights possible issues, provides recommended solutions, and helps determine whether it's feasible or advisable to proceed with the upgrade.
- RHEL 8.10 to RHEL 9.4 - SAP-HANA PAYG VMs
- RHEL 8.10 to RHEL 9.6 - SAP-HANA PAYG VMs
- RHEL 8.10 to RHEL 9.4 - SAP-APPS PAYG VMs
- RHEL 8.10 to RHEL 9.6 - SAP-APPS PAYG VMs
Run the leapp preupgrade
command with the e4s
channel:
sudo leapp preupgrade --target <target_os_version> --channel e4s --no-rhsm
Replace <target_os_version>
with the target OS version, for example, 9.4
.
Review the report located in the /var/log/leapp/leapp-report.txt
file and resolve any identified issues manually. Some problems come with recommended fixes. Inhibitor issues must be resolved before you can proceed with the upgrade. For detailed information about the various issues that might appear in the report, see Troubleshooting Red Hat OS upgrade issues.
Leapp upgrade process
Continue the Leapp upgrade process after the Leapp pre-upgrade report shows no errors or inhibitors and everything is marked as resolved. The output is typically green or yellow, indicating that it's safe to proceed with the Leapp upgrade.
Important
- Make sure to run the
leapp upgrade
command through the Serial Console to avoid any network interruptions that could affect your secure shell (SSH) terminal and disrupt the upgrade process. - If you want to perform an automatic reboot, which is needed during the upgrade process, add the
--reboot
option to theleapp upgrade
command.
- RHEL 8.10 to RHEL 9.4 - SAP-HANA PAYG VMs
- RHEL 8.10 to RHEL 9.6 - SAP-HANA PAYG VMs
- RHEL 8.10 to RHEL 9.4 - SAP-APPS PAYG VMs
- RHEL 8.10 to RHEL 9.6 - SAP-APPS PAYG VMs
Run the
leapp upgrade
command with thee4s
channel:sudo leapp upgrade --target <target_os_version> --channel e4s --no-rhsm
Replace
<target_os_version>
with the target OS version, for example,9.4
.If the
--reboot
option wasn't included in the previous command, monitor the Serial Console. Once the upgrade process confirms that a reboot is required to continue the process, as shown in the following output, manually reboot the VM:Complete! ====> * add_upgrade_boot_entry Add new boot entry for Leapp provided initramfs. A reboot is required to continue. Please reboot your system. Debug output written to /var/log/leapp/leapp-upgrade.log
sudo reboot
Once the upgrade is finished, check if the system is in the desired state.
Verify the upgrade process
This section outlines the recommended verification steps after completing an in-place upgrade.
Verify that the current OS version belongs to RHEL 9:
sudo cat /etc/redhat-release
Verify the version lock file:
sudo cat /etc/yum/vars/releasever
Check the kernel version:
uname -r
Verify the new repositories:
sudo dnf repolist
Here's an example output:
rhel-9-for-x86_64-appstream-e4s-rhui-rpms Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 for x86_64 - AppStream - Update Services for SAP Solutions from RHUI (RPMs) rhel-9-for-x86_64-baseos-e4s-rhui-rpms Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 for x86_64 - BaseOS - Update Services for SAP Solutions from RHUI (RPMs) rhel-9-for-x86_64-highavailability-e4s-rhui-rpms Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 for x86_64 - High Availability - Update Services for SAP Solutions from RHUI (RPMs) rhel-9-for-x86_64-sap-netweaver-e4s-rhui-rpms Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 for x86_64 - SAP NetWeaver - Update Services for SAP Solutions from RHUI (RPMs) rhel-9-for-x86_64-sap-solutions-e4s-rhui-rpms Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 for x86_64 - SAP Solutions - Update Services for SAP Solutions from RHUI (RPMs)
Post-upgrade tasks
Once you verify the upgrade is successful, perform the post-upgrade tasks.
Post-configuration for SAP-HANA PAYG VMs
After you verify that the upgrade is successful, you must configure the upgraded system for SAP HANA according to the applicable SAP notes for RHEL 9. For more information, see Configuring the system for SAP HANA.
Third-party information disclaimer
The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, about the performance or reliability of these products.
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