Version upgrades

Version upgrades#

Version upgrades may include additional functionality, performance enhancements, and/or other improvements over previous versions. Fixes for certain types of issues will also be included in these updates.

Upgrading to v20.0.0#

The Replicator v20.0.0 upgrade includes an OS update and requires a Replicator 19.1.1 server with at least 2 CPU cores and 8 GB of RAM. If you are running an older version, follow this guide to upgrade your appliance to v19.1.1.

For assistance or clarifications, contact Plixer Technical Support.

Important notes#

  • The upgrade will take about one hour to complete.

  • Due to an increase in minimum specs, older VMs with 2 GB of RAM should be provisioned with 4 GB RAM before the upgrade.

  • The upgrade requires a minimum of 16 GB free space on root (/). There may be older logs (sudo rm /var/log/messages-*) that can be deleted to free up space.

Upgrade process#

The process of upgrading a v19.1.1 Replicator appliance to v20.0.0 involves the following steps:

  • Downloading and running the Replicator v20.0.0 installation script (replicator-install.run)

  • Verifying that the v19.1.1 data has been successfully migrated after v20.0.0 is installed

Pre-upgrade preparation#

  • [Hardware appliances] Create a backup of the current Replicator appliance using the backup interactive mode command (under /home/replicator/backups) and store it on an external system/drive.

  • [Virtual appliances] Backup the current Replicator install by taking a VM snapshot.

  • Confirm the current password for the replicator SSH user (run passwd replicator)

  • Verify that root login is disabled by running:

    sudo sed -i 's/^#PermitRootLogin.*/PermitRootLogin no/g' /etc/ssh/sshd_config

  • Confirm that the Replicator server has access to https://files.plixer.com. This check can be performed by downloading the upgrade checksum file using the following command:

    curl -O https://files.plixer.com/plixer-repo/scrutinizer/19.7.0/replicator-install.run.sha256

    For Replicator servers that do not have internet access, download the file from the REPO_HOST_IP for the offline yum/dnf repository instead.

Upgrading the server#

Once all preparation steps have been completed, follow these steps to upgrade the appliance:

View instructions

```{important} In high-availability configurations, make sure to complete the upgrade for the primary appliance first.


1. SSH to the Replicator 19.1.1 server to be upgraded as the `replicator` user:

    ```changeToBlack
    ssh replicator@REPLICATOR_IP
    ```

2. Start a new tmux session  (to maintain the upgrade session if the SSH connection is lost):

    ```changeToBlack
    tmux new -s upgrade
    ```

3. Verify that the current working directory is correct (`replicator`):

   ```changeToBlack
   cd /home/replicator/

  1. Download the Replicator 20.0.0 upgrade script and its checksum file:

    curl -O https://files.plixer.com/plixer-repo/scrutinizer/19.7.0/replicator-install.run
curl -O https://files.plixer.com/plixer-repo/scrutinizer/19.7.0/replicator-install.run.sha256

    ```{note} If the v19.1.1 server does not have Internet access, use the REPO_HOST_IP for the offline yum/dnf repository in place of files.plixer.com.

  2. Verify the checksum:

    sha256sum -c replicator-install.run.sha256

  3. Set the correct permissions for the installer:

    chmod 755 replicator-install.run

  4. Run the installer as the replicator user:

    ./replicator-install.run

    For offline upgrades, use:

    REPO_HOST=REPO_HOST_IP ./replicator-install.run -- -k

  5. After the installation script finishes running, reboot the appliance:

    sudo shutdown -r now

After the reboot, the Replicator appliance will be on v20.0.0.

Offline upgrades to v20.0.0#

To upgrade a Replicator 19.1.1 server that is unable to access the default yum/dnf repository on https://files.plixer.com/plixer-repo/scrutinizer/19.7.0, an offline repository will need to be set up on the local network. The local repository can be hosted on a Scrutinizer server or another host on network.

To set up the offline repository on a Scrutinizer server (with IP address REPO_HOST_IP), follow these steps:

View instructions

  1. Deploy a new Scrutinizer VM and assign the IP address REPO_HOST_IP to it.

  2. Download the offline repo package and checksum file on a host with Internet access:

    curl -O https://files.plixer.com/plixer-repo/scrutinizer/19.7.0_offline.tgz
curl -O https://files.plixer.com/plixer-repo/scrutinizer/19.7.0_offline.tgz.sha256

  3. Start an SSH session with the Scrutinizer server as the plixer user:

    ssh plixer@REPO_HOST_IP

  4. Verify that /var/db/big has at least 84 GB of free disk space:

    df -h --output='avail' /var/db/big

  5. Create a new directory for the offline installation files and set the correct permissions to give the plixer user access to it:

    sudo mkdir -p /var/db/big/offline
sudo chown plixer:plixer /var/db/big/offline

  6. On the Internet-connected host, copy the offline bundle and checksum file downloaded in step 1 to the repo host:

    scp 19.7.0_offline.tgz* plixer@REPO_HOST_IP:/var/db/big/offline/

  7. On the Scrutinizer server, validate the checksum:

    (cd /var/db/big/offline/ ; sha256sum -c 19.7.0_offline.tgz.sha256)

  8. Extract the repository:

    tar -zxvf /var/db/big/offline/19.7.0_offline.tgz -C /var/db/big/offline

  9. Create a link to the offline repository in a directory accessible to the web server:

    sudo -u webapp ln -sf /var/db/big/offline/plixer-repo /home/webapp/html/

  10. Export the repo host’s IP address:

    export REPO_HOST=REPO_HOST_IP

Once the offline repository has been set up, follow these steps to proceed with the upgrade.

Profile migrations#

Profile configuration data from previous Replicator versions (pre-v20.0.0) can be migrated to Replicator 20.0.0+ instances using the configuration migration tool included with standalone deployments.

Note

Profile data is automatically migrated when a Replicator deployment is upgraded from v19.1.1 to v20.0.0.

Migration to a standalone Replicator instance#

The following instructions cover profile data migration from a pre-v20.0.0 deployment to a standalone Replicator instance.

View guide

Requirements

  • Migration source - pre-v20.0.0 Replicator appliance

  • Configuration/destination host - Fully deployed and licensed standalone Replicator 20.0.0 deployment; must have the same IP address as the migration source

  • Migration utility (Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh) - Found in /home/plixer/scrutinizer/files/ on the configuration host; can also be downloaded from files.plixer.com.

Migration procedure

  1. Apply the correct permissions for the utility on the configuration host:

    chmod 755 /home/plixer/scrutinizer/files/Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh

  2. Copy Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh to the migration source.

  3. Use the utility to create a backup of the profile data on the source (BACKUP_NAME.tar.gz):

    ./Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh backup <BACKUP_NAME>

  4. Verify the contents of the backup file:

    tar -vztf <name-of-backup>.tar.gz
ls -l /home/replicator/v19_backup

    The files should have the same size and not be empty.

  5. Copy the backup file to the configuration host, and then shut down the source host.

  6. Navigate to Admin > Resources > Replicators on the configuration host and verify that the Local Replicator instance has the same IP address as the migration source.

  7. Restore the backup file on the configuration host:

    ./Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh restore <BACKUP_NAME.tar.gz>

  8. Navigate to the Replicator UI on the configuration host and verify that the profile data was successfully restored.

After the migration has been completed, the Replicator service should be updated with the new profile configuration data and start replication within one minute.

Migration to a headless Replicator instance#

The following instructions cover profile data migration from a pre-v20.0.0 deployment to a headless Replicator instance.

View guide

Requirements

  • Migration source - pre-v20.0.0 Replicator appliance

  • Destination host - Must be registered and deployed with the same IP address as the migration source after the latter has been backed up and shut down

  • Configuration host - Fully deployed and licensed standalone Replicator 20.0.0 deployment with at least an evaluation license; license must support at least two instances (configuration host and destination headless instance)

  • Migration utility (Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh) - Found in /home/plixer/scrutinizer/files/ on the configuration host; can also be downloaded from files.plixer.com.

Migration procedure

  1. Apply the correct permissions for the utility on the configuration host:

    chmod 755 /home/plixer/scrutinizer/files/Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh

  2. Copy Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh to the migration source.

  3. Use the utility to create a backup of the profile data on the source (BACKUP_NAME.tar.gz):

    ./Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh backup <BACKUP_NAME>

  4. Verify the contents of the backup file:

    tar -vztf <name-of-backup>.tar.gz
ls -l /home/replicator/v19_backup

    The files should have the same size and not be empty.

  5. Copy the backup file to the configuration host, and then shut down the source host.

  6. Navigate to Admin > Resources > Replicators on the configuration host and register the destination host.

  7. Deploy the destination host appliance and assign it the same IP address previously used by the source host.

  8. Navigate to Admin > Resources > Replicators again and verify that the destination Replicator instance has self-registered and has the correct IP address.

  9. Restore the backup file on the configuration host:

    ./Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh restore <BACKUP_NAME.tar.gz>

  10. Navigate to the Replicator UI on the configuration host and verify that the restored profile data was correctly associated with the destination Replicator instance.

After the migration has been completed, the Replicator service should be updated with the new profile configuration data and start replication within one minute.

Hint

Profile data from multiple pre-v20.0.0 Replicator instances can be migrated to new Replicator 20.0.0 headless instances by repeating the steps above and deploying each destination host with an IP address matching a source.

Upgrading to v19.1.1#

View guide

Because the Replicator v19.1.1 upgrade includes an OS update, v19.0.1 is required for the upgrade. If you are running an older version, follow this guide to upgrade your appliance to v19.0.1.

For assistance or clarifications, contact Plixer Technical Support.

Important notes

  • The upgrade will take at least one hour to complete.

  • If the Replicator appliance is able to access files.plixer.com, the REPO_HOST variable should be set to files.plixer.com for the steps outlined below. For offline upgrades, the IP address of the offline repo should be used instead.

  • Due to an increase in minimum specs, older VMs with 2 GB of RAM should be provisioned with 4 GB RAM before the upgrade.

  • The upgrade requires a minimum of 16 GB free space on root (/). There may be older logs (sudo rm /var/log/messages-*) that can be deleted to free up space.

Upgrade process

The process of upgrading a v19.0.1 Replicator appliance to v19.1.1 involves the following steps:

  • Backing up the v19.0.1 database and server-specific files using the backup interactive mode command

  • Downloading the operating system upgrade script, olmigrate.run, and running it a total of four times (with a reboot between runs)

  • Downloading and running the Replicator v19.1.1 installation script (replicator-install.run)

  • Verifying that the v19.0.1 data has been successfully migrated after v19.1.1 is installed

Pre-upgrade preparation

  • [Hardware appliances] Create a backup of the current Replicator appliance using the backup interactive mode command (under /home/replicator/backups) and store it on an external system/drive.

  • [Virtual appliances] Backup the current Replicator install by taking a VM snapshot.

  • Confirm the current password for the replicator SSH user (run passwd replicator)

  • Verify that root login is disabled by running:

    sudo sed -i 's/^#PermitRootLogin.*/PermitRootLogin no/g' /etc/ssh/sshd_config

  • [Offline upgrades] If the Replicator appliance does not have access to files.plixer.com, set up an offline repository for this upgrade.

Upgrading the server#

Once all preparation steps have been completed, follow these steps to upgrade the appliance:

View instructions

Important

  • For offline upgrades, REPO_HOST should point to the IP address of the offline repo instead of files.plixer.com.

  • In high-availability configurations, complete the upgrade for the secondary appliance before the primary.

  • To verify the current progress of the OS upgrade at any time:

    cat /etc/motd

    or check versions between runs (NAME= and VERSION= lines):

    cat /etc/os-release

  1. SSH to the v19.0.1 appliance to be upgraded as the replicator user.

  2. Verify that the current working directory is correct (replicator):

    cd /home/replicator/

  3. Download the OS upgrade script and its checksum file:

    REPO_HOST=files.plixer.com
curl -k -o olmigrate.run https://$REPO_HOST/plixer-repo/replicator/19.1.1/olmigrate.run
curl -k -o olmigrate.run.sha256 https://$REPO_HOST/plixer-repo/replicator/19.1.1/olmigrate.run.sha256

  4. Validate the integrity of olmigrate.run:

    cat olmigrate.run.sha256 
sha256sum olmigrate.run

  5. Set the correct permissions for the OS upgrade script:

    chmod a+x olmigrate.run

  6. Run the olmigrate.run script a total of four times:

    REPO_HOST=files.plixer.com ./olmigrate.run -- -k

    Important

    Reboots between runs of the OS upgrade script (olmigrate.run) can take a long time. Before trying to reconnect to the appliance, start a PING to the Replicator IP address and wait for it to become available again. Do NOT manually reboot the server.

  7. After the fourth olmigrate.run run (there will be no reboot), change directories to /tmp for the installation of Replicator v19.1.1:

    cd /tmp/

  8. Download the Replicator v19.1.1 installation script and its checksum file:

    REPO_HOST=files.plixer.com 
curl -k -o replicator-install.run https://$REPO_HOST/plixer-repo/replicator/19.1.1/replicator-install.run
curl -k -o replicator-install.run.sha256 https://$REPO_HOST/plixer-repo/replicator/19.1.1/replicator-install.run.sha256

  9. Validate the integrity of replicator-install.run:

    cat replicator-install.run.sha256
sha256sum replicator-install.run

  10. Update permissions for the replicator-install.run script:

chmod a+x replicator-install.run

  1. Run replicator-install.run to install Replicator v19.1.1:

REPO_HOST=files.plixer.com ./replicator-install.run -- -k

  1. After the installation script finishes running, reboot the appliance:

sudo shutdown -r now

  1. After the reboot, SSH to the appliance again to reset the password for the admin UI user:

manage --cli
password webui

After completing the above steps, the Replicator appliance will be on v19.1.1.

Offline upgrades to v19.1.1#

The following instructions for setting up an offline repo are intended for upgrading to Replicator v19.1.1 only:

View instructions

  1. Deploy a new Scrutinizer v19.5.0 VM and assign an IP address to it.

  2. SSH to the VM as the plixer user:

    ssh plixer@SCRUTINIZER_VM_IP

  3. Create the offline repo directory and assign it the correct permissions:

    sudo mkdir /var/db/big/offline 
sudo chown plixer:plixer /var/db/big/offline

  4. Download the offline tar file for Replicator 19.1.1 and its checksum file:

    curl -o /var/db/big/offline/19.1.1_offline.tgz https://files.plixer.com/plixer-repo/replicator/19.1.1_offline.tgz
curl -o /var/db/big/offline/19.1.1_offline.tgz.sha256 https://files.plixer.com/plixer-repo/replicator/19.1.1_offline.tgz.sha256

  5. Validate the integrity of 19.1.1_offline.tgz:

    cat /var/db/big/offline/19.1.1_offline.tgz.sha256
sha256sum /var/db/big/offline/19.1.1_offline.tgz

  6. Extract the offline tar file:

    cd /var/db/big/offline 
tar xvf 19.1.1_offline.tgz

  7. Create a symlink in the html directory to the offline repo:

    ln -s /var/db/big/offline/plixer-repo /home/plixer/scrutinizer/html/plixer-repo

After the offline repo has been set up, the VM’s IP address should be used in place of files.plixer.com for REPO_HOST in the upgrade instructions.

Upgrading to v19.0.1#

View guide

To upgrade to Replicator v19.0.1, v18.14 or higher is required.

Hint

For clarifications or assistance with upgrading, contact Plixer Technical Support.

Upgrade requirements

  • v18.14 or higher installed

  • CentOS 7 (OS)

  • An active Internet connection

Upgrade instructions

Before performing an upgrade (or any other system change), it is highly recommended to use the backup interactive mode command to back up the Replicator database.

Hint

Backups are stored in /home/replicator/backups. To restore from a backup file, use the restore command.

Important

When upgrading Replicator appliances in HA configurations, the fail-over appliance should be upgraded before the primary to minimize downtime.

The following instructions cover the upgrade process for both primary and fail-over appliances in HA configurations:

View instructions

  1. SSH to the appliance as the replicator user and start a new tmux session:

    tmux new -s upgrade

  2. Download the installer/upgrade script:

    cd /tmp
curl -o replicator-install.run https://files.plixer.com/plixer-repo/replicator/19.0.1/replicator-install.run

  3. Download the checksum file and validate the integrity of the replicator-install.run file:

    curl -o replicator-checksums.txt https://files.plixer.com/plixer-repo/replicator/19.0.1/replicator-checksums.txt
cat replicator-checksums.txt
sha256sum replicator-install.run

  4. Set the correct permissions for the installer:

    chmod 755 replicator-install.run

  5. Run replicator-install.run:

    ./replicator-install.run

After the upgrade is complete, the appliance will automatically reboot. To verify that the upgrade was successful, launch interactive mode and check the version number when the tool loads.

Note

After upgrading a fail-over appliance in an HA deployment, use the role test secondary interactive mode command to verify the current HA configuration before proceeding to upgrade the primary appliance.

Upgrading to v18.14#

View guide

To upgrade to Replicator v18.14 from v18.5 or higher, follow the steps described below.

Hint

For clarifications or assistance with upgrading, contact Plixer Technical Support.

Upgrade requirements

  • v18.5 or higher installed

  • An active Internet connection

Upgrade instructions

Before performing an upgrade (or any other system change), it is highly recommended to use the backup interactive mode command to back up the Replicator database.

View instructions

  1. SSH to the appliance as the replicator user and start a new tmux session:

    tmux new -s upgrade

  2. Download the upgrade script:

    cd /home/replicator/files
curl -k -o upgrade_18.14.sh https://files.plixer.com/downloads/replicator/18/upgrade_18.14.sh

  3. Set the correct permissions for the upgrade script:

    chmod 755 upgrade_18.14.sh

  4. Run upgrade_18.14.sh:

    ./upgrade_18.14.sh

After the upgrade is complete, the appliance will automatically reboot. To verify that the upgrade was successful, launch interactive mode and check the version number when the tool loads.

Contents