Orka Upgrades
All Orka upgrades require a scheduled maintenance window. Some Orka upgrades might require additional preparation on your side.
Requesting an upgrade
- Check the release notes for the version that you want to upgrade to. Complete the suggested preparation, if any.
- Submit a ticket through the MacStadium portal.
- Schedule a time for the maintenance window that works for you through the link provided in the ticket.
The suggested time(s) must be Monday through Thursday, 6am or 10pm PST (9am or 1pm EST), depending on availability in the MacStadium Global Operations calendar. - After the upgrade is complete, you might need to download and install a new Orka CLI version and/or restore any missing resources (based on the type of upgrade).
Types of upgrades
New Orka releases
This is the most common type of Orka upgrade. Orka releases bring new CLI and API versions with new features, improved functionality, and critical bug fixes.
Preparing for the upgrade
- Make sure that during the maintenance window there are no running workflows (for example, deploying a VM and running a build.)
- As part of this upgrade, you might need to download and install a new Orka CLI version.
| Aspect | Notes |
|---|---|
| Maintenance window | Up to 3 hours. Must be scheduled with the MacStadium support team. |
| Access to the environment | During the maintenance window, the environment is inaccessible. After the maintenance window, the access to the environment is restored. You can reach your environment at the original IP, Orka domain, or external custom domain. |
| Orka users | Orka users persist. |
| VMs and VM configs | VMs and VM configs persist. |
| Images and ISOs | Images and ISOs persist. |
| Kube accounts | Kube accounts persist. You might need to re-export your kubeconfig. |
| Kubernetes Pods and services | Your custom Pods and services persist. |
Virtualization and orchestration layer upgrades (Kubernetes, Docker, or Linux)
Occasionally, the Orka team upgrades the components of the virtualization and orchestration layer to a newer version. The version in Orka might run a few versions behind the latest and greatest release to ensure that the virtualization layer and orchestration layer is stable and bug-free.
Preparing for the upgrade
- Make sure that during the maintenance window there are no running workflows (for example, deploying a VM and running a build.)
- If this is a Kubernetes upgrade and you are working with the Kubernetes layer directly, make sure to address any deprecated APIs.
| Aspect | Notes |
|---|---|
| Maintenance window | Up to 3 hours Must be scheduled with the MacStadium support team. |
| Access to the environment | During the maintenance window, the environment is inaccessible. After the maintenance window, the access to the environment is restored. You can reach your environment at the original IP, Orka domain, or external custom domain. |
| Orka users | Orka users persist. |
| VMs and VM configs | VM configs persist. VMs are deleted. After the upgrade completes, you can redeploy them from the respective VM configs. |
| Images & ISOs | Images and ISOs persist. |
| Kube accounts | For Kubernetes&Docker upgrades, kube accounts are deleted. For Linux-only upgrades, kube accounts persist. After the upgrade completes, you can re-create your Kube accounts. |
| Kubernetes Pods and services | Your custom Pods and services are lost. After the upgrade completes, you need to re-create them. |
Updated almost 2 years ago