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Validate solution upgrade readiness for your Azure Stack HCI

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Applies to: Azure Stack HCI, versions 23H2 and 22H2

This article describes how to assess the upgrade readiness of your Azure Stack HCI solution after the Operating System (OS) was upgraded from version 22H2 to version 23H2.

Throughout this article, we refer to Azure Stack HCI, version 23H2 as the new version and Azure Stack HCI, version 22H2 as the old version.

Assess solution upgrade readiness

This optional but recommended step helps you assess the readiness of your Azure Stack HCI cluster for the solution upgrade. The following steps help you assess the upgrade readiness:

  • Install and use the Environment Checker to verify that Network ATC is installed and enabled on the node. Verify that there are no Preview versions for Arc Resource Bridge running on your cluster.
  • Ensure that sufficient storage space is available for infrastructure volume.
  • Perform other checks such as installation of required and optional Windows features, enablement of Application Control policies, BitLocker suspension, and OS language.
  • Review and remediate the validation checks that block the upgrade.

Use Environment Checker to validate upgrade readiness

We recommend that you use the Environment Checker to validate your system readiness before you upgrade the solution. For more information, see Assess environment readiness with Environment Checker. A report is generated with potential findings that require corrective actions to be ready for the solution update.

Some of the actions require server reboots. The information from the validation report allows you to plan maintenance windows ahead of time to be ready. The same checks are executed during the solution upgrade to ensure your system meets the requirements.

Table: Blocking validation tests for upgrade

The following table contains the validation tests with severity Critical that block the upgrade. Any items that block the upgrade must be addressed before you apply the solution upgrade.

Name Severity
Windows OS is 23H2 Critical
AKS HCI install state Critical
Supported cloud type Critical
BitLocker suspension Critical
Cluster exists Critical
All nodes in same cluster Critical
Cluster node is up Critical
Stretched cluster Critical
Language is English Critical
Microsoft on-premises cloud (MOC) install state Critical
MOC services running Critical
Network ATC feature is installed Critical
Required Windows features Critical
Storage pool Critical
Storage volume Critical
Windows Defender for Application Control (WDAC) enablement Critical

Table: Non-blocking validation tests for upgrade

The following table contains the validation tests with severity Warning that should be addressed after the upgrade to take advantage of the new capabilities introduced with Azure Stack HCI, version 23H2.

Name Severity
Trusted Platform Module (TPM) Property OwnerClearDisabled is False Warning
TPM Property TpmReady is True Warning
TPM Property TpmPresent is True Warning
TPM Property LockoutCount is 0 Warning
TPM Property TpmActivated is True Warning
TPM Property ManagedAuthLevel is Full Warning
TPM Property AutoProvisioning is Enabled Warning
TPM Property LockedOut is False Warning
TPM Property TpmEnabled is True Warning

Set up the Environment Checker

Follow these steps to set up the Environment Checker on a server node of your Azure Stack HCI cluster:

  1. Select one server that's the part of the cluster.

  2. Sign in to the server using local administrative credentials.

  3. Install the Environment Checker on the server. Run the following PowerShell command from the PSGallery:

    Install-Module -Name AzStackHci.EnvironmentChecker -AllowClobber

Run the validation

  1. Sign in to the server where you installed the Environment Checker using local administrative credentials.

  2. To run the validation locally on the server, run the following PowerShell command:

    Invoke-AzStackHciUpgradeValidation

  3. To validate other servers in the cluster, run the following PowerShell command:

    $PsSession=New-Pssession -ComputerName "MyRemoteMachine"
Invoke-AzStackHciUpgradeValidation -PsSession $PsSession
    Expand this section to see an example output.

    Diagram that illustrates sample output from the 23H2 upgrade environment validator.

  4. (Optional) Use the PassThru flag to get the raw output that allows you to filter the output. Run the following command:

    $result=Invoke-AzStackHciUpgradeValidation -PassThru
$result | ? status -eq "failure" |ft displayname,status,severity
    Expand this section to see an example output.
    DisplayName Status Severity
    Test Windows OS is 23H2 Failure Warning
    Test Network ATC feature is installed on the node Failure Warning
    Test required Windows features Failure Warning
    Test storage pool Failure Warning
    Test TMP property OwnerCleareDisabled is False 22H2N1 Failure Warning
    Test TMP property TmpPReady is True 22H2N1 Failure Warning
    Test TMP property TmpPresent is True 22H2N1 Failure Warning
    Test TMP property LockOutCount is 0 Failure Warning
    Test TMP property TmpActivated is True 22H2N1 Failure Warning
    Test TMP property AutoProvisioning is Enabled 22H2N1 Failure Warning
    Test TMP property TmpEnabled is True 22H2N1 Failure Warning

Remediation guidance

Each validation check of Environment Checker includes remediation guidance with links that help you resolve the potential issues. For more information, see Remediation guidance.

Remediation 1: Install required and optional Windows features

Azure Stack HCI, version 23H2 requires a set of Windows roles and features to be installed. Some features would require a restart after the installation. Hence, it's important that you put the server node into maintenance mode before you install the roles and features. Verify that all the active virtual machines have migrated to other cluster members.

Use the following commands for each server to install the required features. If a feature is already present, the install automatically skips it.

#Install Windows Roles & Features 
$windowsFeature =  @( 

                "Failover-Clustering",
                "NetworkATC", 
                "RSAT-AD-Powershell", 
                "RSAT-Hyper-V-Tools", 
                "Data-Center-Bridging", 
                "NetworkVirtualization", 
                "RSAT-AD-AdminCenter"
                ) 
foreach ($feature in $windowsFeature) 
{ 
Install-WindowsFeature -Name $feature -IncludeAllSubFeature -IncludeManagementTools 
} 

#Install requires optional Windows features 
$windowsOptionalFeature = @( 

                "Server-Core", 
                "ServerManager-Core-RSAT", 
                "ServerManager-Core-RSAT-Role-Tools", 
                "ServerManager-Core-RSAT-Feature-Tools", 
                "DataCenterBridging-LLDP-Tools", 
                "Microsoft-Hyper-V", 
                "Microsoft-Hyper-V-Offline", 
                "Microsoft-Hyper-V-Online", 
                "RSAT-Hyper-V-Tools-Feature", 
                "Microsoft-Hyper-V-Management-PowerShell", 
                "NetworkVirtualization", 
                "RSAT-AD-Tools-Feature", 
                "RSAT-ADDS-Tools-Feature", 
                "DirectoryServices-DomainController-Tools", 
                "ActiveDirectory-PowerShell", 
                "DirectoryServices-AdministrativeCenter", 
                "DNS-Server-Tools", 
                "EnhancedStorage", 
                "WCF-Services45", 
                "WCF-TCP-PortSharing45", 
                "NetworkController", 
                "NetFx4ServerFeatures", 
                "NetFx4", 
                "MicrosoftWindowsPowerShellRoot", 
                "MicrosoftWindowsPowerShell", 
                "Server-Psh-Cmdlets", 
                "KeyDistributionService-PSH-Cmdlets", 
                "TlsSessionTicketKey-PSH-Cmdlets", 
                "Tpm-PSH-Cmdlets", 
                "FSRM-Infrastructure", 
                "ServerCore-WOW64", 
                "SmbDirect", 
                "FailoverCluster-AdminPak", 
                "Windows-Defender", 
                "SMBBW", 
                "FailoverCluster-FullServer", 
                "FailoverCluster-PowerShell", 
                "Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ServerAdminTools-Update", 
                "DataCenterBridging", 
                "BitLocker", 
                "Dedup-Core", 
                "FileServerVSSAgent", 
                "FileAndStorage-Services", 
                "Storage-Services", 
                "File-Services", 
                "CoreFileServer", 
                "SystemDataArchiver", 
                "ServerCoreFonts-NonCritical-Fonts-MinConsoleFonts", 
                "ServerCoreFonts-NonCritical-Fonts-BitmapFonts", 
                "ServerCoreFonts-NonCritical-Fonts-TrueType", 
                "ServerCoreFonts-NonCritical-Fonts-UAPFonts", 
                "ServerCoreFonts-NonCritical-Fonts-Support", 
                "ServerCore-Drivers-General", 
                "ServerCore-Drivers-General-WOW64", 
                "NetworkATC" 
            ) 
foreach ($featureName in $windowsOptionalFeature) 
{ 
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -FeatureName $featurename -All -Online 
}

Remediation 2: Ensure that cluster node is up

Ensure that all the cluster members are up and that the cluster is Online. Use the Failover Cluster Manager UI or the PowerShell cmdlets to confirm that all the cluster nodes are online.

To verify all members of the cluster are online, run the following PowerShell command:

Get-ClusterNode -Cluster "mycluster"

Remediation 3: Suspend BitLocker

If a reboot occurs when applying the solution upgrade, disable BitLocker. If there's a reboot, you would need to enter the BitLocker recovery, which interrupts the upgrade process.

Suspend BitLocker

To suspend BitLocker, run the following PowerShell command:

Suspend-Bitlocker -MountPoint "C:" -RebootCount 0

Resume BitLocker

After the upgrade is complete, to resume BitLocker, run the following PowerShell command:

Resume-Bitlocker -MountPoint "C:"

Remediation 4: Enable Application Control (WDAC) policies

If your cluster is running WDAC policies, it could result in a conflict with the Arc enablement of the solution. Before you Arc enable your cluster, disable the policies. After the cluster is Arc enabled, you can enable WDAC using the new version 23H2 WDAC policies.

To learn more about how to disable WDAC policies, see Remove Windows Defender Application Control policies.

Remediation 5: Ensure language is English

Only clusters installed using the English language are eligible to apply the solution upgrade. Make sure that your cluster was installed using English.

If you used the English ISO, but configured a different language during setup, you must change the language settings for the doman account that you will use for upgrade.

  1. Sign in to each node of the cluster using the domain account you plan to use for the upgrade.

  2. Run the following PowerShell commands:

    $UserLanguageList = New-WinUserLanguageList -Language en-US
Set-WinUserLanguageList -LanguageList $UserLanguageList

Remediation 6: Check storage pool space

Azure Stack HCI, version 23H2 creates a dedicated volume. This volume is used solely for the new infrastructure capabilities - for example, to run the Arc Resource Bridge.

The required size for the infrastructure volume is 250 GB. Ensure that the storage pool has enough space to accommodate the new volume.

Free up space in storage pool

Shrinking existing volumes isn't supported with Storage Spaces Direct. There are three alternatives to freeing up space in the storage pool:

  • Option 1: Convert volumes from fixed to thin provisioned. Using thin provisioned volumes is also the default configuration when deploying a new cluster with the default setting.

  • Option 2: Back up all the data, re-create the volume with a smaller size, and restore the content.

  • Option 3: Add more physical drives to expand the pool capacity.

    Note

    Before you convert the volumes to thin provisioned, shut down all the virtual machines stored on that particular volume.

Verify available space

Follow these steps to confirm the storage pool configuration:

  1. To confirm the storage pool size and allocated size, run the following PowerShell command:

    Get-StoragePool -IsPrimordial $false
    Expand this section to see an example output.
    FriendlyName OperationalStatus HealthStatus IsPrimordial IsReadOnly Size AllocatedSize
    S2D on venom OK Healthy False False 2 TB 1.53 TB

  2. To list all volumes in the storage pool, run the following PowerShell command:

    Get-StoragePool -IsPrimordial $false | Get-VirtualDisk
    Expand this section to see an example output.
    FriendlyName ResiliencySettingName FaultDomainRedundancy OperationalStatus HealthStatus Size FootprintOnPool StorageEfficiency
    ClusterPerformanceHistory Mirror 1 OK Healthy 21 GB 43 GB 48.84%
    TestVolume Mirror 0 OK Healthy 1 TB 1 TB 99.95%
    TestVolume2 Mirror 0 OK Healthy 500 GB 55.5 GB 99.90%

  3. To confirm that a fixed volume is provisioned, run the following PowerShell command:

    $volume = Get-VirtualDisk -FriendlyName TestVolume
$volume.ProvisioningType
    Expand this section to see an example output.

    Fixed

  4. To convert the volume to thin provisioned, run the following PowerShell command:

    Set-VirtualDisk -FriendlyName TestVolume -ProvisioningType Thin

  5. To finish the convertion, the volume must be restarted. To do this, run the following PowerShell command. Make sure you adjust the CSV name to match your system:

    Get-ClusterSharedVolume -Name "Cluster Disk 1" | Stop-ClusterResource
Get-ClusterSharedVolume -Name "Cluster Disk 1" | Start-ClusterResource

  6. To confirm that the actual footprint on the storage pool has changed, run the following PowerShell command:

    Get-StoragePool -IsPrimordial $false| Get-VirtualDisk
    Expand this section to see an example output.
    FriendlyName ResiliencySettingName FaultDomainRedundancy OperationalStatus HealthStatus Size FootprintOnPool StorageEfficiency
    ClusterPerformanceHistory Mirror 1 OK Healthy 21 GB 43 GB 48.84%
    TestVolume Mirror 0 OK Healthy 1 TB 36.5 GB 98.63%
    TestVolume2 Mirror 0 OK Healthy 750 GB 28.5 GB 98.25%

Remediation 7: Check the storage volume name

Azure Stack HCI, version 23H2 deployment creates a dedicated volume Infrastructure_1 in the existing storage pool. This volume is dedicated for the new infrastructure capabilities.

Make sure to verify that there are no volumes that exist with the name Infrastructure_1. If there's an existing volume with the same name, this test fails.

Note

Renaming the existing volume impacts the virtual machines as the mount point of the cluster shared volume changes. Additional configuration changes are required for all the virtual machines.

  • To rename the existing volume, run the following PowerShell command:

    Set-VirtualDisk -FriendlyName Infrastructure_1 -NewFriendlyName NewName

Remediation 8: Check the cluster functional level and storage pool version

Make sure that the cluster functional level and storage pool version are up to date. For more information, see Update the cluster functional level and storage pool version.

Remediation 9: Check the Azure Arc Lifecycle extension

  1. Review the extension status using the Azure Arc resource view.

    Screenshot of Azure Arc extensions list view.

    If an update is available, select the AzureEdgeLifecycleManager extension and then select Update.

  2. If the AzureEdgeLifecycleManager extension isn't listed, install it manually using the following steps on each node:

    $ResourceGroup = "Your Resource Group Name"
$Region = "eastus" #replace with your region
$tenantid = "Your tenant ID"
$SubscriptionId = "Your Subscription ID"
Login-AzAccount –UseDeviceAuthentication –tenantid  $tenantid –subscriptionid $SubscriptionId
Install-module az.connectedmachine
New-AzConnectedMachineExtension -Name "AzureEdgeLifecycleManager" -ResourceGroupName $ResourceGroup -MachineName $env:COMPUTERNAME -Location $Region -Publisher "Microsoft.AzureStack.Orchestration" -ExtensionType "LcmController" -NoWait

Remediation 10: Check the MOC install state

If you were running AKS workloads on your Azure Stack HCI cluster, you must remove Azure Kubernetes Service and all the settings from AKS enabled by Azure Arc before you apply the solution upgrade. Kubernetes versions are incompatible between Azure Stack HCI, version 22H2, and version 23H2. Additionally, Preview versions of Arc VMs can't be updated.

For more information, see Uninstall-Aks-Hci for AKS enabled by Azure Arc.

Remediation 11: Check the AKS HCI install state

If you were running AKS workloads on your Azure Stack HCI cluster, you must remove Azure Kubernetes Service and all the settings from AKS hybrid before you apply the solution upgrade. Kubernetes versions are incompatible between Azure Stack HCI, version 22H2 and version 23H2.

For more information, see Uninstall-Aks-Hci for AKS enabled by Azure Arc.

Next steps