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Upgrade Path Information

This technical note applies to JSA administrators who need to upgrade to JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7 to prepare for the next major JSA release.

The JSA Development team is working on a release that supports a kernel update to Red Hat Enterprise 8 (RHEL8). This support notice is intended to notify administrators that any software release that updates the operating system (OS) from RHEL 7 to RHEL 8 requires users to first install JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7. After users upgrade to JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7, they can then update to a future software release that includes a Red Hat 8 OS.

Summary

A new required upgrade path is being implemented for future JSA software releases. Administrators who plan to upgrade to a JSA version that includes Red Hat Enterprise 8 must first install JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7. This restriction is to ensure all of the required packages needed to transition to RHEL8 are available when users attempt to upgrade. An upgrade to JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7 is required for users who plan to go to JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 8 or later.

Important notices related to JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 8

  • Update Package 8 Upgrade check: Administrators must confirm if they have appliances that use LUKS encryption. During the JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 8 upgrade, the installer will check systems and block the upgrade if the installer detects LUKS drive encryption.

  • Update Package 8 Important Leapp disk space: Leapp pretests fail to ensure if the /storetmp directory has sufficient disk space to store the upgrade cache directory. You must ensure that all appliances have at minimum 10GB of space available in the /storetmp​​​​​​​ directory before you upgrade to JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 8.

  • Update Package 8 Important (new post-installation requirement for HA): Administrators with High Availability (HA) appliances in their deployment must complete a post-installation step that is new in JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 8.

  • Update Package 8 Important: JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 8 users with WinCollect 7 must update to the latest version. If you upgrade to JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 8 and have WinCollect 7.x agents deployed in managed mode, you must install the WinCollect 7.3.1-43 SFS file.

  • Update Package 7 Important: Administrators need to confirm their managed hosts are encrypted before you upgrade to JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7 to prevent a known issue with deploys documented as "Deploys can fail on unencrypted managed hosts in JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7 unexpectedly". JSA Support is recommending administrators enable encryption on managed host before you begin an upgrade to JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7.

For Known Issues and Resolved Issues listed in JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 8, see JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 8 Release Notes.

JSA Support recommends users plan an upgrade to JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7 to ensure they are prepared for the next major release of JSA that includes a RHEL8 OS upgrade. The requirement to install JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7 cannot be bypassed. Users who are not on JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7 are required to complete an upgrade to JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7 before you can install any SFS that contains a RHEL8 OS upgrade. The next major release of JSA in development includes a RHEL8 OS update, which is JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 8.

Benefits of upgrading:

  • The most recent product and security fixes are delivered on JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7 Interim Fix releases.

  • Administrators who install JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7 meet the baseline requirements to upgrade to a RHEL8 JSA release.

  • Users waiting for fixes planned for future versions, such as JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 8 or later are required to install JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7.

  • Upgrading to JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7 can prevents scenarios where administrators might be required to install back-to-back upgrades to get to a future software release.

JSA deployment Upgrade path

Product and security mitigations are provided on the latest interim fix for JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7. For most administrators, they can upgrade the JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7 release in preparation for the Red Hat Enterprise 8 update. Users on older JSA versions can use the provided table to confirm their upgrade paths to prepare for a JSA RHEL8 software release.

The following Table 1 shows the example upgrade paths for JSA administrators to install a RHEL8-based JSA release. For more information about Release Notes, see JSA 7.5.0 Release Notes.

Table 1: Upgrade Path

Current version (any of)

Required upgrade 1

Required upgrade 2

Required upgrade 3

JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 6

JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7 (Any interim fix version)

JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 8

None

JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 5

JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 4

JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 3

JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 2

JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 1

JSA 7.5.0 GA

JSA 7.3.2 Fix Pack 3 and later

JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7 (Any interim fix version)

JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 8

None

JSA 7.3.0 GA to 7.3.2 Fix Pack 2

Install JSA 7.4.1 Fix Pack 2

JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 7

JSA 7.5.0 Update Package 8