Description:

Proposed title of this feature request:

Start upgrade pre-checks before the scheduled time for the upgrade.

What is the nature and description of the request?:

Several customers have reduced maintenance windows for upgrades, and any delay can cause issues with that schedule. The schedule is checked 1 time per hour in Hive (explained in this comment), which can also delay the start of the upgrade.

It will be helpful to start the upgrade pre-checks one hour in advance, letting customer know if there is any issue with time, and waiting to the "real" upgrade to start at the time scheduled by customers.
The pre-checks could be executed also when the upgrade is scheduled, to let customer know about potential issues just when the upgrade was scheduled.

The SL for the start should be changed with a text regarding the pre-checks start (and clarifying that it's not the upgrade).

Why does the customer need this? (List the business requirements here):

To avoid/minimize delays in the upgrades, as several customers have reduced maintenance windows for upgrades.

List any affected packages or components:

MUO
Upgrade