Update your Azure Local, version 23H2 via PowerShell

Applies to: Azure Local, version 23H2

This article describes how to apply a solution update to your Azure Local via PowerShell.

The procedure in this article applies to both single node and multi-node systems that run the latest version of Azure Local with the orchestrator (Lifecycle Manager) installed. If your system was created via a new deployment of Azure Local, version 23H2, then the orchestrator was automatically installed as part of the deployment.

Important

The procedure described here applies only when updating from one version of Azure Local, version 23H2 to another higher version. For information on updates for older versions, see Update clusters for Azure Local, version 22H2.

For information on how to apply solution updates to systems created with older versions of Azure Local that didn't have the orchestrator installed see Update Azure Local, version 22H2.

About solution updates

The Azure Local solution updates can consist of platform, service, and solution extension updates. For more information on each of these types of updates, see About updates for Azure Local, version 23H2.

When you apply a solution update, here are the high-level steps that you take:

1. Make sure that all the prerequisites are completed.
2. Identify the software version running on your system.
3. Connect to your Azure Local instance via remote PowerShell.
4. Discover the updates that are available and filter the ones that you can apply to your system.
5. Download the updates, assess the update readiness of your system and once ready, install the updates on your system. Track the progress of the updates. If needed, you can also monitor the detailed progress.
6. Verify the version of the updates installed.

The time taken to install the updates might vary based on the following factors:

• Content of the update.
• Load on your system.
• Number of machines in your system.
• Type of the hardware used.
• Solution Builder Extension used.

The approximate time estimates for a typical single or multi-node system are summarized in the following table:

System/Time	Time for health check hh:mm:ss	Time to install update hh:mm:ss
Single node	0:01:44	1:25:42
4-nodes	0:01:58	3:53:09

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure that:

• You have access to an Azure Local, version 23H2 system that is running 2310 or higher. The system should be registered in Azure.
• You have access to a client that can connect to your Azure Local. This client should be running PowerShell 5.0 or later.
• You have access to the solution update package over the network. You sideload or copy these updates to the machines in your system.

Connect to your Azure Local

Follow these steps on your client to connect to one of the machines in your Azure Local.

1. Run PowerShell as administrator on the client that you're using to connect to your system.

2. Open a remote PowerShell session to a machine on your Azure Local. Run the following command and provide the credentials of your machine when prompted:

   $cred = Get-Credential
   Enter-PSSession -ComputerName "<Computer IP>" -Credential $cred 
   

   Note

   You should sign in using your deployment user account credentials: which is the account you created when preparing Active Directory and used during the deployment of Azure Local.

   Here's an example output:

   PS C:\Users\Administrator> $cred = Get-Credential
    
   cmdlet Get-Credential at command pipeline position 1
   Supply values for the following parameters:
   Credential
   PS C:\Users\Administrator> Enter-PSSession -ComputerName "100.100.100.10" -Credential $cred 
   [100.100.100.10]: PS C:\Users\Administrator\Documents>
   

Step 1: Identify the stamp version on your system

Before you discover the updates, make sure that the system was deployed using the Azure Local, version 23H2, software version 2310.

1. Make sure that you're connected to the machine using the deployment user account. Run the following command:

   whoami
   

2. To ensure that the system was deployed running Azure Local, version 23H2, run the following command on one of the machines of your system:

   Get-StampInformation
   

   Here's a sample output:

   PS C:\Users\lcmuser> Get-StampInformation
   Deployment ID             : b4457f25-6681-4e0e-b197-a7a433d621d6
   OemVersion                : 2.1.0.0
   PackageHash               :
   StampVersion              : 10.2303.0.31
   InitialDeployedVersion    : 10.2303.0.26
   PS C:\Users\lcmuser>
   

3. Make a note of the StampVersion on your system. The stamp version reflects the solution version that your system is running.

Step 2: Discover the updates

You can discover updates in one of the following two ways:

• Discover updates online - The recommended option when your system has good internet connectivity. The solution updates are discovered via the online update catalog.
• Sideload and discover updates - An alternative to discovering updates online and should be used for scenarios with unreliable or slow internet connectivity, or when using solution extension updates provided by your hardware vendor. In these instances, you download the solution updates to a central location. You then sideload the updates to an Azure Local and discover the updates locally.

Discover solution updates online (recommended)

Discovering solution updates using the online catalog is the recommended method. Follow these steps to discover solution updates online:

1. Connect to a machine on your Azure Local using the deployment user account.

2. Verify that the Update service discovers the update package.

   Get-SolutionUpdate | ft DisplayName, State 
   

3. Optionally review the versions of the update package components.

   $Update = Get-SolutionUpdate | ? Version -eq "10.2302.0.31"
   $Update.ComponentVersions
   

   Here's an example output:

    PS C:\Users\lcmuser> $Update = Get-SolutionUpdate | ? Version -eq "10.2302.0.31"
    PS C:\Users\lcmuser> $Update.ComponentVersions
   
   PackageType Version      LastUpdated
   ----------- -------      -----------
   Services    10.2303.0.31
   Platform    10.2303.0.31
   SBE         4.1.2.3
    PS C:\Users\lcmuser>
   

You can now proceed to Download and install the updates.

Sideload and discover solution updates

If you're using solution extension updates from your hardware, you would need to sideload those updates. Follow these steps to sideload and discover your solution updates.

1. Connect to a machine on your Azure Local using the deployment user account.

2. Go to the network share and acquire the update package that you use. Verify that the update package you sideload contains the following files:

   • SolutionUpdate.xml
   • SolutionUpdate.zip
   • AS_Update_10.2303.4.1.zip

   If a solution builder extension is part of the update package, you should also see the following files:

   • SBE_Content_4.1.2.3.xml
   • SBE_Content_4.1.2.3.zip
   • SBE_Discovery_Contoso.xml

3. Create a folder for discovery by the update service at the following location in the infrastructure volume of your system.

   New-Item C:\ClusterStorage\Infrastructure_1\Shares\SU1_Infrastructure_1\sideload -ItemType Directory 
   

4. Copy the update package to the folder you created in the previous step.

5. Manually discover the update package using the Update service. Run the following command:

   Add-SolutionUpdate -SourceFolder C:\ClusterStorage\Infrastructure_1\Shares\SU1_Infrastructure_1\sideload
   

6. Verify that the Update service discovers the update package and that it's available to start preparation and installation.

   Get-SolutionUpdate | ft DisplayName, Version, State 
   

   Here's an example output:

    PS C:\Users\lcmuser> Get-SolutionUpdate | ft DisplayName, Version, State
   
   DisplayName                 Version      State
   -----------                 -------      -----
   2023.03 Feature Update 10.2303.0.31 Ready
   
    PS C:\Users\lcmuser>
   

7. Optionally check the version of the update package components. Run the following command:

   $Update = Get-SolutionUpdate | ? Version -eq "10.2302.0.31"
   $Update.ComponentVersions 
   

   Here's an example output:

    PS C:\Users\lcmuser> $Update = Get-SolutionUpdate | ? Version -eq "10.2302.0.31"
    PS C:\Users\lcmuser> $Update.ComponentVersions
   
   PackageType Version      LastUpdated
   ----------- -------      -----------
   Services    10.2303.0.31
   Platform    10.2303.0.31
   SBE         4.1.2.3
    PS C:\Users\lcmuser>
   

Step 3: Download, check readiness, and install updates

You can download the updates, perform a set of checks to verify your system's update readiness, and start installing the updates.

1. You can only download the update without starting the installation or download and install the update.

   • To download and install the update, run the following command:

     Get-SolutionUpdate | ? Version -eq "10.2302.0.31" | Start-SolutionUpdate
     

   • To only download the updates without starting the installation, use the -PrepareOnly flag with Start-SolutionUpdate.

2. To track the update progress, monitor the update state. Run the following command:

   Get-SolutionUpdate | ft Version,State,UpdateStateProperties,HealthState 
   

   When the update starts, the following actions occur:

   • Download of the updates begins. Depending on the size of the download package and the network bandwidth, the download might take several minutes.

     Here's an example output when the updates are being downloaded:

       PS C:\Users\lcmuser> Get-SolutionUpdate|ft Version,State,UpdateStateProperties,HealthState
     
     Version              State UpdateStateProperties HealthState
     -------              ----- --------------------- -----------
     10.2303.4.1 Downloading                        InProgress
     

   • Once the package is downloaded, readiness checks are performed to assess the update readiness of your system. For more information about the readiness checks, see Update phases. During this phase, the State of the update shows as HealthChecking.

     PS C:\Users\lcmuser> Get-SolutionUpdate|ft Version,State,UpdateStateProperties,HealthState
     
     Version              State UpdateStateProperties HealthState
     -------              ----- --------------------- -----------
     10.2303.4.1 HealthChecking                        InProgress
     

   • When the system is ready, updates are installed. During this phase, the State of the updates shows as Installing and UpdateStateProperties shows the percentage of the installation that was completed.

     Important

     During the install, machines may reboot and you may need to establish the remote PowerShell session again to monitor the updates. If updating a single machine, your Azure Local will experience a downtime.

     Here's a sample output while the updates are being installed.

     PS C:\Users\lcmuser> Get-SolutionUpdate|ft Version,State,UpdateStateProperties,HealthState
     
     Version          State UpdateStateProperties HealthState
     -------          ----- --------------------- -----------
     10.2303.4.1 Installing 6% complete.              Success
     
     
     PS C:\Users\lcmuser> Get-SolutionUpdate|ft Version,State,UpdateStateProperties,HealthState
     
     Version          State UpdateStateProperties HealthState
     -------          ----- --------------------- -----------
     10.2303.4.1 Installing 25% complete.             Success
     
     PS C:\Users\lcmuser> Get-SolutionUpdate|ft Version,State,UpdateStateProperties,HealthState
     
     Version          State UpdateStateProperties HealthState
     -------          ----- --------------------- -----------
     10.2303.4.1 Installing 40% complete.             Success
     
     PS C:\Users\lcmuser> Get-SolutionUpdate|ft Version,State,UpdateStateProperties,HealthState
     
     Version          State UpdateStateProperties HealthState
     -------          ----- --------------------- -----------
     10.2303.4.1 Installing 89% complete.             Success
     

Once the installation is complete, the State changes to Installed. For more information on the various states of the updates, see Installation progress and monitoring.

Step 4: Verify the installation

After the updates are installed, verify the solution version of the environment and the operating system version.

1. After the update is in Installed state, check the environment solution version. Run the following command:

   Get-SolutionUpdateEnvironment | ft State, CurrentVersion
   

   Here's a sample output:

   PS C:\Users\lcmuser> Get-SolutionUpdateEnvironment | ft State, CurrentVersion
   
   State               CurrentVersion
   -----               --------------
   AppliedSuccessfully 10.2303.0.31
   
   

2. Check the operating system version to confirm it matches the recipe you installed. Run the following command:

   cmd /c ver
   

   Here's a sample output:

   PS C:\Users\lcmuser> cmd /c ver
   
   Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.20349.1547]
   PS C:\Users\lcmuser>
   

Troubleshoot updates

To resume a previously failed update run via PowerShell, use the following command:

Get-SolutionUpdate | ? Version -eq "10.2302.0.31" | Start-SolutionUpdate

To resume a previously failed update due to update health checks in a Warning state, use the following command:

Get-SolutionUpdate | ? Version -eq "10.2302.0.31" | Start-SolutionUpdate -IgnoreWarnings

To troubleshoot other update run issues, see Troubleshoot updates.

Next step

Learn more about how to Update Azure Local, version 22H2 when the orchestrator isn't installed.