As you prepare to upgrade your EMC Isilon cluster to a new version of OneFS, you probably want to know the following information:
- What new features are in the release
- Which issues are fixed
- Whether any issues involved with the new release could affect you
All this information can be found in the OneFS release notes. The release notes serve as the primary source for information about fixed issues, new features, enhancements, previously released patches, and known issues that affect the release.
How to find release notes
Currently, two sets of release notes are published for each supported OneFS branch. The initial release note is published when a new major or minor OneFS release is released (for example, 7.0, 7.1.1, and 7.2.0). Subsequently, new maintenance release (MR) notes are published whenever a new maintenance version for a particular branch is released (for example, 7.0.2.12, 7.1.1.2, and 7.2.0.1). The initial and maintenance release notes contain similar information, but there are a few differences.
All OneFS release notes are available in PDF format from the EMC Online Support site. The easiest way to find them is to go to support.emc.com and search for “OneFS <your 3-digit release number> release notes.” For example, if you’re running 7.0.2.12, search for “OneFS 7.0.2 release notes.” You’ll find both the initial OneFS 7.0.2 Release Notes and the OneFS 7.0.2 MR Release Notes.
For more information about OneFS major, minor, and maintenance releases, see knowledgebase article 89210 on the EMC Online Support site.
What you’ll find in release notes
Release notes contain summary descriptions of issues that are fixed in the release, and known issues that affect the release. But it’s important to note that these lists aren’t all inclusive. We provide information about fixed and known issues that Isilon customers have reported or might encounter. Some fixes and known issues that affect OneFS code under-the-hood, and don’t have a known customer impact, aren’t included in the release notes.
The initial release notes contain information about functionality changes between the previous major/minor OneFS release and the current one—for example, changes in the formatting of CLI commands. They also contain summaries of new features. The MR release notes don’t contain feature and functionality information, but do contain information about previously released patches that are included in the release. In most cases, the initial release notes don’t contain any information about patches.
Structure and content
Initial and MR release notes contain a standard set of topics, as you’ll see in this screen shot from the 7.1.1.2 maintenance release notes.
The Upgrading OneFS topic contains information about where you can find system requirements and applicable patches for the release, as well as the list of OneFS releases that can be upgraded to the documented release.
The release note also contains tables listing enhancements that were added in the release—for example, new command options—and issues that were resolved (that is, bug fixes). In maintenance release notes, the Enhancements and Resolved issues topics are cumulative and organized by maintenance release number.
The patches topic, which is relatively new to the release notes template, contains a table listing previously released patches that were included in the current maintenance release or a preceding maintenance release.
Improvements over time
Over the past few years, changes have been made to improve the ease of use and overall quality of the release notes. For example, because MR release notes are cumulative, they can become quite long. To fix this, we removed some information that can be accessed in other product documents, such as the upgrade instructions.
We also responded to requests to add patch and hardware compatibility information. For example, information about previously released patches can help you to confirm whether or not a later release includes the fixes from a patch that you’ve installed on your cluster.
Finally, we understand that cross-referencing two different types of release notes can be challenging, and that it might not always be clear which document contains the information you need. Looking ahead, we plan to combine the initial and MR release notes into a single document. This document will contain information about functionality changes and features that were introduced when the major or minor release was made available, but it will also be updated to include information about the most current MR that’s available for download from the EMC Online Support site.
Provide us with your release notes feedback
Do the release notes provide the information that you really need? Does the format help you find the information you’re looking for? Please take a minute or two to help us improve the release notes so we can learn about ways to better serve your needs.
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