Every Data ONTAP release family has unique upgrade requirements that you must understand before you decide to upgrade. Depending on your version of Data ONTAP, you might have to upgrade to an intermediate release before upgrading to the current release.
Because significant new features are introduced in each new Data ONTAP release family, you might encounter issues when upgrading to a new release family, especially if you are not upgrading from the immediately previous version of Data ONTAP.
For example, if you are upgrading from a release in the 8.0 family to the current 8.2 release, you must review and resolve upgrade issues associated with the 8.1 and 8.2 release families before upgrading to Data ONTAP 8.2 or later.
Be sure to consult the Release Notes for the upgrade target release for a complete listing of upgrade issues. If an intermediate upgrade is required, you should also consult the Release Notes for the intermediate release.
