Staying up-to-date with SAS Viya software is more important than ever. Updating regularly will give you the latest features and fixes, but also ensures that your deployment doesn't fall out of Standard Support. Before you set sail on your voyage to update to new SAS Viya version, it's essential to prepare properly to ensure a safe and smooth transition. In this article, we'll explore the important pre-upgrade tasks that will help reduce the risk of unforeseen issues and ensure you are set up for a successful update.
Pre-update Checklist
The SAS Viya Platform Administration documentation lists the SAS Viya platform versions that are in Standard Support and the recommended update paths to the latest version. In fact, the task of checking the support status of your deployment is the very first item in the Pre-update checklist of essential tasks that SAS now provides, which should be consulted before each update. If skipping versions or switching cadence as part of your update, take care to correctly identify interim versions which may be relevant; you will need to consult the Deployment Notes and execute the documented Before Deployment Commands for these.
In addition to checking your SAS Viya software support status, the checklist includes a task to verify your deployed Kubernetes version. Carefully read the documentation to see if you also need to upgrade to a supported version of Kubernetes or Kustomize.
Additionally, if your deployment includes it, consider updating the SAS Deployment Operator with each SAS Viya software update. Updates are backwards compatible, so running the latest version is a good practice. Note that if you have the SAS Deployment Operator deployed, you must use it to perform the SAS Viya update. If you used the sas-orchestration deploy method for the initial install, you must use that. It is not possible to mix and match deployment methods for update tasks.
A good practice is to run an inventory scan report before and after any major platform changes, including software updates. The two scans can be compared to verify that your content was not affected/changed during the update.
The inventory scan should also be run prior to a backup (and if required, after a restore). Pre-update backups should include an ad-hoc SAS Deployment Backup, backups of the $deploy directory and kustomization file, and if applicable, the SASDeployment CR file.
Next on the checklist is Deployment Assets. These should be retrieved for the target version you are moving to. Once downloaded, take a look at the README.md files for products you have deployed - this step is particularly important if you are adding new software as part of an upgrade, as there may be additional kustomizations or other manual steps that need to be performed for those new products. Note that assets automatically include the latest available license.
There are additional tasks in the checklist for multi-tenant environments and deployments that include SingleStore or multiple CAS servers. Be sure to work diligently through the list to ensure all relevant tasks are appropriately addressed.
Additional Tasks
Updates should be carefully co-ordinated with relevant technical resources to complete pre-requisite tasks. You may need to liaise and work with your Kubernetes administrator, security teams, change managers, end users, etc. to ensure you are ready for the update to begin. For example, you may need resources assigned to perform supplementary tasks ahead of time, such as:
- providing sufficient access to enable you to perform the software update
- upgrading Kubernetes software (if required)
- verifying that the cluster has sufficient available resources to enable duplicates of each pod to run temporarily during the update
- notifying users of potential disruption
- updating the mirror registry, if applicable
- retrieving the output of the update checker job (bonus points for automating this)
Each organisation may have unique considerations, so seek further guidance from SAS Technical Support if necessary. With a well-executed pre-upgrade plan, you will avoid pitfalls and minimise disruptions on your way to the latest version of SAS Viya.
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