Upgrade to DataStax Enterprise (DSE) 5.1 using the DataStax Installer

These steps show how to upgrade earlier versions of DataStax Enterprise (DSE) up to 5.1 using the DataStax Installer.

Although the Installer facilitates upgrades, DataStax recommends that you carefully review the planning guide and all upgrade instructions to reduce the chance of errors and data loss.

The DataStax Installer upgrades DSE and automatically performs many upgrade tasks:

  • Drains the currently running node.

  • Preserves the configuration files and places them in a backup directory.

    For DSE 4.5 to 5.1, the default DataStax Installer backup directory name is based on date and time, such as 20170212_221550, and the default location depends on your installation type:

    • Installer-Services installations: /usr/share/dse/backups/backup_file_dir

    • Installer-No Services installations: install_location/backups/backup_file_dir

  • Removes previously installed packages.

  • Updates the cassandra.yaml and dse.yaml configuration files with new entries.

Upgrade Linux installations using the DataStax Installer

  1. Familiarize yourself with the changes and features in the latest DSE 5.1 release notes.

  2. Review the general upgrade advice and Cassandra features in NEWS.txt. If you are upgrading from an earlier version, read NEWS.txt all the way back to your current version.

  3. Review Cassandra version changes in CHANGES.txt.

  4. Upgrade to the latest patch release for your current version. Fixes included in the latest patch release can simplify the upgrade process.

    Get the current DSE version, and then compare it against the latest patch release:

    bin/dse -v
    current\_dse\_version
  5. Verify the Java runtime version and upgrade to a supported version if needed.

    java -version

    For DSE 5.0 and later, the JDK is recommended because it provides useful troubleshooting tools that are not in the JRE, such as jstack, jmap, jps, and jstat.

  6. Download the Installer for your target major and minor version. For example:

    curl --user dsa_email:password -O https://downloads.datastax.com/enterprise/DataStaxEnterprise-5.1.x-linux-x64-installer.run
  7. Change to the directory where you downloaded the Installer, and then make it executable:

    chmod +x DataStaxEnterprise-version\_number-linux-x64-installer.run
  8. Run the Installer with sudo:

    sudo ./DataStaxEnterprise-version\_number-linux-x64-installer.run
  9. Follow the instructions in the setup wizard. For more information about the settings, see the DSE 5.1 installation instructions.

  10. If you are installing a version earlier than 5.1.16, and any tables use DSE Tiered Storage, remove all txn_compaction log files from second-level tiers and lower.

    Failure to complete this step can result in data loss.

    For example, given the following dse.yaml configuration, remove txn_compaction log files from /mnt2 and /mnt3 directories:

    tiered_storage_options:
        strategy1:
            tiers:
                - paths:
                    - /mnt1
                - paths:
                    - /mnt2
                - paths:
                    - /mnt3

    The following example removes the files using the find command:

    find /mnt2 -name "*_txn_compaction_*.log" -type f -delete &&
    find /mnt3 -name "*_txn_compaction_*.log" -type f -delete
  11. After completing the install wizard process, start DSE:

    sudo service dse start
  12. For DSE 4.7 and 4.8 only, start the DataStax Agent:

    sudo service datastax-agent start

    For DSE 5.1, use OpsCenter to manage agents.

  13. Verify that DSE is running:

    nodetool status

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