Add upgrade path requirements for Rancher minor version upgrades

docs/getting-started/installation-and-upgrade/install-upgrade-on-a-kubernetes-cluster/upgrades.md

@@ -26,6 +26,31 @@ Review the list of known issues for each Rancher version, which can be found in
 
 Note that upgrades _to_ or _from_ any chart in the [rancher-alpha repository](../resources/choose-a-rancher-version.md#helm-chart-repositories) aren't supported.
 
+### Upgrade Path
+
+:::important
+
+**Important:** The only tested and supported Rancher upgrade path between minor versions (e.g. v2.13.x to v2.14.x) is to upgrade from the latest available patch version of your current running minor release to the latest available patch version of the next minor release.
+
+Before initiating an upgrade, verify that you are running the most recent patch release of your current version.
+
+You can query the available chart versions with the Helm CLI:
+
+1. Update your local Helm repo cache.
+
+    ```
+    helm repo update
+    ```
+
+1. Search for available versions in your [specific repository](../resources/choose-a-rancher-version.md#helm-chart-repositories) (e.g., rancher-stable):
+
+    ```
+    helm repo search rancher-<CHART_REPO>/rancher --versions
+    ```
+
+If your installation is not on the latest patch version of the current minor release, you must upgrade to that version before proceeding to the next minor version.
+:::
+
 ### Helm Version
 
 :::important

versioned_docs/version-2.10/getting-started/installation-and-upgrade/install-upgrade-on-a-kubernetes-cluster/upgrades.md

@@ -29,6 +29,31 @@ Review the list of known issues for each Rancher version, which can be found in
 
 Note that upgrades _to_ or _from_ any chart in the [rancher-alpha repository](../resources/choose-a-rancher-version.md#helm-chart-repositories) aren't supported.
 
+### Upgrade Path
+
+:::important
+
+**Important:** The only tested and supported Rancher upgrade path between minor versions (e.g. v2.9.x to v2.10.x) is to upgrade from the latest available patch version of your current running minor release to the latest available patch version of the next minor release.
+
+Before initiating an upgrade, verify that you are running the most recent patch release of your current version.
+
+You can query the available chart versions with the Helm CLI:
+
+1. Update your local Helm repo cache.
+
+    ```
+    helm repo update
+    ```
+
+1. Search for available versions in your [specific repository](../resources/choose-a-rancher-version.md#helm-chart-repositories) (e.g., rancher-stable):
+
+    ```
+    helm repo search rancher-<CHART_REPO>/rancher --versions
+    ```
+
+If your installation is not on the latest patch version of the current minor release, you must upgrade to that version before proceeding to the next minor version.
+:::
+
 ### Helm Version
 
 The upgrade instructions assume you are using Helm 3.

versioned_docs/version-2.11/getting-started/installation-and-upgrade/install-upgrade-on-a-kubernetes-cluster/upgrades.md

@@ -29,6 +29,31 @@ Review the list of known issues for each Rancher version, which can be found in
 
 Note that upgrades _to_ or _from_ any chart in the [rancher-alpha repository](../resources/choose-a-rancher-version.md#helm-chart-repositories) aren't supported.
 
+### Upgrade Path
+
+:::important
+
+**Important:** The only tested and supported Rancher upgrade path between minor versions (e.g. v2.10.x to v2.11.x) is to upgrade from the latest available patch version of your current running minor release to the latest available patch version of the next minor release.
+
+Before initiating an upgrade, verify that you are running the most recent patch release of your current version.
+
+You can query the available chart versions with the Helm CLI:
+
+1. Update your local Helm repo cache.
+
+    ```
+    helm repo update
+    ```
+
+1. Search for available versions in your [specific repository](../resources/choose-a-rancher-version.md#helm-chart-repositories) (e.g., rancher-stable):
+
+    ```
+    helm repo search rancher-<CHART_REPO>/rancher --versions
+    ```
+
+If your installation is not on the latest patch version of the current minor release, you must upgrade to that version before proceeding to the next minor version.
+:::
+
 ### Helm Version
 
 The upgrade instructions assume you are using Helm 3.

versioned_docs/version-2.12/getting-started/installation-and-upgrade/install-upgrade-on-a-kubernetes-cluster/upgrades.md

@@ -26,6 +26,31 @@ Review the list of known issues for each Rancher version, which can be found in
 
 Note that upgrades _to_ or _from_ any chart in the [rancher-alpha repository](../resources/choose-a-rancher-version.md#helm-chart-repositories) aren't supported.
 
+### Upgrade Path
+
+:::important
+
+**Important:** The only tested and supported Rancher upgrade path between minor versions (e.g. v2.11.x to v2.12.x) is to upgrade from the latest available patch version of your current running minor release to the latest available patch version of the next minor release.
+
+Before initiating an upgrade, verify that you are running the most recent patch release of your current version.
+
+You can query the available chart versions with the Helm CLI:
+
+1. Update your local Helm repo cache.
+
+    ```
+    helm repo update
+    ```
+
+1. Search for available versions in your [specific repository](../resources/choose-a-rancher-version.md#helm-chart-repositories) (e.g., rancher-stable):
+
+    ```
+    helm repo search rancher-<CHART_REPO>/rancher --versions
+    ```
+
+If your installation is not on the latest patch version of the current minor release, you must upgrade to that version before proceeding to the next minor version.
+:::
+
 ### Helm Version
 
 The upgrade instructions assume you are using Helm 3.

versioned_docs/version-2.13/getting-started/installation-and-upgrade/install-upgrade-on-a-kubernetes-cluster/upgrades.md

@@ -26,6 +26,31 @@ Review the list of known issues for each Rancher version, which can be found in
 
 Note that upgrades _to_ or _from_ any chart in the [rancher-alpha repository](../resources/choose-a-rancher-version.md#helm-chart-repositories) aren't supported.
 
+### Upgrade Path
+
+:::important
+
+**Important:** The only tested and supported Rancher upgrade path between minor versions (e.g. v2.12.x to v2.13.x) is to upgrade from the latest available patch version of your current running minor release to the latest available patch version of the next minor release.
+
+Before initiating an upgrade, verify that you are running the most recent patch release of your current version.
+
+You can query the available chart versions with the Helm CLI:
+
+1. Update your local Helm repo cache.
+
+    ```
+    helm repo update
+    ```
+
+1. Search for available versions in your [specific repository](../resources/choose-a-rancher-version.md#helm-chart-repositories) (e.g., rancher-stable):
+
+    ```
+    helm repo search rancher-<CHART_REPO>/rancher --versions
+    ```
+
+If your installation is not on the latest patch version of the current minor release, you must upgrade to that version before proceeding to the next minor version.
+:::
+
 ### Helm Version
 
 :::important

versioned_docs/version-2.14/getting-started/installation-and-upgrade/install-upgrade-on-a-kubernetes-cluster/upgrades.md

@@ -26,6 +26,31 @@ Review the list of known issues for each Rancher version, which can be found in
 
 Note that upgrades _to_ or _from_ any chart in the [rancher-alpha repository](../resources/choose-a-rancher-version.md#helm-chart-repositories) aren't supported.
 
+### Upgrade Path
+
+:::important
+
+**Important:** The only tested and supported Rancher upgrade path between minor versions (e.g. v2.13.x to v2.14.x) is to upgrade from the latest available patch version of your current running minor release to the latest available patch version of the next minor release.
+
+Before initiating an upgrade, verify that you are running the most recent patch release of your current version.
+
+You can query the available chart versions with the Helm CLI:
+
+1. Update your local Helm repo cache.
+
+    ```
+    helm repo update
+    ```
+
+1. Search for available versions in your [specific repository](../resources/choose-a-rancher-version.md#helm-chart-repositories) (e.g., rancher-stable):
+
+    ```
+    helm repo search rancher-<CHART_REPO>/rancher --versions
+    ```
+
+If your installation is not on the latest patch version of the current minor release, you must upgrade to that version before proceeding to the next minor version.
+:::
+
 ### Helm Version
 
 :::important