After you successfully distribute a software upgrade to the Grid Master, you can test an upgrade on the Grid Master before actually implementing it. This allows you to resolve potential data migration issues before the actual upgrade. The length of time the upgrade test takes depends on the amount of data and the difference between the current NIOS version and the software upgrade. The test does not affect NIOS services and you can perform other administrative tasks during the upgrade test.

To start an upgrade test:

• From the Grid tab, select the Upgrade tab, and then click Test Upgrade from the Toolbar. Test upgrade is enabled only for a major upgrade (not an Upgrade Lite compatible upgrade).

After you start an upgrade test, you can view its status in the status bar. You can also stop it at any time. To stop an upgrade test:

• From the Grid Upgrade Test Status bar, click the Stop icon.

Note that if an admin restarts the Grid services or reboots the Grid Master, or if an HA failover occurs on the Grid Master during the upgrade test, the appliance automatically stops the test. The appliance always resets the status of the Grid to "Distributed" when it stops the upgrade test.

If the appliance encounters an error during the test, it stops the test and displays a message in the Upgrade Status panel indicating that the upgrade test failed and the reason for the failure, such as a data translation error or data import error. You can review the syslog for specific error messages before downloading the Support Bundle and contacting Infoblox Technical Support.

After the test successfully finishes, the appliance displays a message confirming that the test upgrade is complete.