VMware Blockchain provides an upgrade workflow that introduces some operational changes before, during, and after the upgrade process, which you must consider before upgrading.

You can implement an in-place or clone-based upgrade workflow to upgrade the Replica and Client nodes in a blockchain.

Note: When you upgrade from VMware Blockchain 1.2 to 1.3.0.1, implement the clone-based upgrade process.

The in-place upgrade updates the Replica nodes within the blockchain. These nodes are backed up and upgraded consecutively. During the upgrade, the nodes are powered off.

Table 1. In-Place Upgrade Process

During Upgrade

After Upgrade

Update the current VMware Blockchain version to the new release version.

Remove all existing components and customized configurations from the VMware Blockchain

nodes.

Note:

Any customized configurations are lost during this upgrade process and are not recoverable.

Sanitize the Replica node data.

 Monitor the deployed VMware Blockchain nodes' health.

Update the deployment descriptor file parameters.

 Manually clean up any old components.

Run the VMware Blockchain Orchestrator redeployment script.

Replace the old configuration session ID with the new ID.
Update and start the new agents on all the deployed VMware Blockchain nodes.

During a clone-based upgrade, you create a clone blockchain to install the latest version of the product. You must back up the existing Replica and Client nodes data and migrate that data to the cloned blockchain. This upgrade process requires additional vCPU and memory. During the upgrade, the nodes are powered off. After the upgrade, you must reconfigure the config.json file on all of the nodes.

Table 2. Clone-Based Upgrade Process

Before Upgrade

During Upgrade

After Upgrade

Identify all the nodes that must be backed up.

 Stop all the running components. Check whether all the nodes are upgraded properly.

Configure the deployment schema parameters for cloning.

 Stop the Replica, Full Copy Client, and Client nodes. Monitor the cloned deployed VMware Blockchain nodes' health.
Back up all the VMware Blockchain nodes. Delete the initial blockchain deployment to recover the storage resources.
Define clone deployment type and run the VMware Blockchain Orchestrator script.
Install the latest VMware Blockchain product version.
Start the Replica, Full Copy Client, and Client nodes.
Restore the Replica and Client nodes on the cloned blockchain.