Is it possible to downgrade the Clariion CX FLARE to a lower version?

After checking the searches that lead to my blog, one came up that was interesting to me, so I decided to answer the question in fairly short post since it might be useful to some. The question was if it is possible to downgrade from one major version of the FLARE operating environment to a lower version.

The short answer is: Yes. It is possible to downgrade, but there are some situations that you need to consider, and here are some scenarios with the matching answer:

Major versions:

So, let’s say you want to downgrade from FLARE 29 to FLARE 28.

• If you have upgraded, but not yet “committed” the new version you are all set. You can downgrade without any problems. However, it is most unlikely that this is a situation you will actually encounter. With newer versions that bring you features such as spinning down drives or shrinking of thin LUNs, you actually need to commit the newer version. If you don’t you won’t be able to use these new features, which is why it is most unlikely to find people running an uncommitted major FLARE version for longer times.
• If you have upgraded and committed the new major version you can still downgrade. Drawback is that you can’t do it yourself. In such a case you need to consider how much the downgrade brings you, because you need to contact one of the engineering teams. They can install an older version but keep in mind that this is not something that is easily done.

Minor versions:

You want to downgrade from one of higher patch versions. For example from patch .018 to .010.

• Again, If you have upgraded, but not yet “committed” the new patch you are all set. You can downgrade without any problems.
• If you have committed the new patch you can still downgrade, but this involves the engineering mode and I would recommend to still contact one of EMC’s engineering teams so that they can help you. It’s not an option that is recommended or supported as a self-service scenario, but the procedure is not as intrusive as it is when downgrading a major release.

So, to sum it up you can always downgrade from both a major and a minor release. If you haven’t committed the changes yet you are always good to go. If you have committed, then just contact EMC and they can actually help you downgrade, but keep in mind that even if they help you there will be limits too how far you can downgrade.