About the Xsan 1.3 Update

Four different software updates are available for Xsan 1.3. These updates apply to Mac OS X client and Server versions 10.3.9 and later.

Installation

Both Software Update and Apple Downloads offer these updates:

• Xsan 1.3 Update for 10.4
• Xsan 1.3 Update for 10.3.9
  
  Note: Of the two updates above, you only need to install the one that corresponds to your operating system version.
  
  
• Xsan Admin 1.3 Update
  
  Note: Required for Xsan 1.3 administration and recommended for Xsan 1.0 administration, this update only needs to be installed on admin computers.
  
  
• Xsan 1.3 Uninstaller

Important Notes: Read Before Continuing

1. Before Installation
   • For the Xsan 1.3 Update for 10.3.9 and the Xsan 1.3 Update for 10.4, you must already be running Xsan 1.2. If you're not on Xsan 1.2 yet, stop now and update to 1.2 before continuing.
   • If you are setting up a new Xsan deployment, please see this article for the proper installation order.
   • During the installation, do not make any changes to Xsan settings using Xsan Admin or the command-line tools.
   • Be sure that all MDCs are updated before you make any configuration changes.
   
   
   
2. After Installation
   To avoid a certain stability issue over the long term, you should run the cvfsck command on each Xsan volume, after the MDCs have been updated with Xsan 1.3 Update for 10.3.9 or Xsan 1.3 Update for 10.4. Before continuing, please see the full explanation here.
   
   
3. Metadata Controller (MDC) software version
   Whether you are running Panther or Tiger systems, your MDCs must always have software versions (both Xsan and Mac OS) that are equal to or more recent than the most recent client versions. Specifically, that means: If any client in your Xsan network is running Xsan 1.3 on Mac OS X 10.4.5 or later, then your metadata controllers (MDCs) must also be updated to Xsan 1.3 on Mac OS X 10.4.5 or later; If any client in your Xsan network is running Xsan 1.3 on Mac OS X 10.3.9, then the MDC must run Xsan 1.3 on 10.3.9.

Software Update Installation

Software Update may have referred you to this document. Because some updates are prerequisites for others, you may need to use Software Update more than once to get all available updates (learn more).

Standalone Installer

A standalone installer is also available from Apple Downloads.

Remote Installation

If you need to install the update on a remote computer, you can do so using the "softwareupdate" command-line tool.

System Hardware Requirements

• Xserve or Xserve G5
• Power Mac G4 (dual 800MHz or faster)
• Power Mac G5 (any model)

Storage Network Requirements

• Apple Fibre Channel PCI, PCI-X, or PCI-E Card

Compatibility Matrix

See "Xsan: Compatibility of SAN clients with Xsan and StorNext controllers."

What's New in XSan 1.3

Xsan 1.3 Update for 10.4

The Xsan 1.3 update delivers overall improved reliability for Xsan and is recommended for all systems running 10.4. It includes fixes for:

• labeling and initializing LUNs greater than 2TB in size
• preventing labeled LUNs from becoming unlabeled
• improving AFP performance when re-sharing Xsan volumes
• more accurate file permissions when sharing Xsan volumes via AFP
• accessing Xsan volumes larger than 16TB in size
• greater server stability when re-sharing Xsan volumes via NFS
• handling quotas with no associated user or group name
• maintaining access to Xsan volumes when metadata controller failovers occur
• providing metadata controller services to Mac OS X 10.3.9 and 10.4 systems running Xsan 1.3
• operating Xsan in environments with a mix of Mac OS X 10.3.9 and 10.4 systems
• an issue with storing PostgreSQL 8.0 and 8.1 database files on Xsan volumes
• intermittent issues that can occur when storing NetVault Virtual Disk Library (VDL) files on an Xsan volume
• an issue in which free space and volume sizes were incorrectly reported when sharing volumes with Helios server software.

Important Note: Volumes containing initialized LUNs greater than 2TB can only be used with Xsan 1.3 systems running Mac OS X v10.4.5 or later. Xsan does not support LUNs larger than 2TB on Mac OS X v10.3.9 or systems running StorNext version 2.6.

Warning: Do not use Disk Utility in Mac OS X 10.4.5 to edit Xsan volumes—Learn More.

Software requirements for this update are:

• Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server 10.4.5 or later
• Xsan 1.2

Xsan 1.3 Update for 10.3

The Xsan 1.3 update delivers overall improved reliability for Xsan and is recommended for all systems running 10.3.9. It includes fixes for:

• preventing LUNs from becoming unlabeled
• improved file system reliability when working with 2TB truncated LUNs
• greater server stability when re-sharing Xsan volumes via NFS
• handling quotas with no associated user or group name
• maintaining access to Xsan volumes when metadata controller failovers occur
• operating Xsan in environments with a mix of Mac OS X 10.3.9 and 10.4 systems
• intermittent issues that can occur when storing NetVault Virtual Disk Library (VDL) files on an Xsan volume
• an issue in which free space and volume sizes were incorrectly reported when sharing volumes with Helios server software.

Important Note: If your Xsan network has any volumes that use LUNs greater than 2TB, all Panther clients must be updated to Xsan 1.3.

Software requirements for this update are:

• Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server version 10.3.9
• Xsan 1.2

Xsan Admin 1.3 Update

The Xsan 1.3 update delivers overall improved reliability for remotely administering, configuring, and maintaining Xsan deployments. It includes fixes for:

• labeling and initializing Fibre Channel LUNs larger than 2TB in size
• growing Fibre Channel storage pools and volumes
• working with multiple Xsan metadata controllers in a heterogeneous environment
• displaying progress messages while performing lengthy operations
• preventing manually modified configuration settings from being overwritten during a save
• accurately reporting Fibre Channel multipathing errors

Xsan 1.3 Uninstaller

This uninstaller will remove Xsan from your computer. It will also remove the Xsan Admin application and documentation files.

Before removing Xsan, you should back up all of your data and volumes, and unmount all Xsan volumes.

Documentation

Xsan 1.3 administrators can continue to reference the Xsan 1.1 documentation here.