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

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

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 not powered off. After the upgrade, you must reconfigure the config.json file on all the nodes.

Table 1. 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 descriptor 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.

The clone-based upgrade process does not require a restore step. Instead, the snapshot is attached as a secondary disk to the new blockchain, and the node components are started.