Host Upgrade

This document provides the steps to upgrade the Host for your Virtual Appliance. These steps are general directions and not specific to any hypervisor.

Minimum System Requirements

Resource usage may increase depending on configured features and user count. Use the recommendations below when creating your Virtual Appliance, but continue to monitor the CPU and RAM utilization and allocate additional resources as needed.

• Four 3.5-4.0 GHz processors. Add two 3.5 GHz processors for each additional 15,000 users.
• 16 GB RAM for up to 15,000 users.
  • Add 2 CPUs / 8GB RAM for each additional 15,000 users.
  • Add a minimum of 2 CPUs and 4GB RAM if using the Internal Service Client.
  • Add 2 CPUs and 4GB RAM per 500 CPA / Simple Badge Release installations.
• 80GB free hard disk space for the host disk.
• There should be 50GB of free hard disk space on the persistent storage disk (add 4GB for every 100 printers).
• NT LAN Manager (NTLM) v2 must connect to the Virtual Appliance's appliance-storage shared folder.

Backup the Virtual Appliance

Before upgrading the Virtual Appliance, it is crucial to back up the database. Failure to do so can result in irreversible data loss. For more information on comprehensive backup guidelines, reference Host Backup Best Practices.

Host Build 1.0.757 and Earlier

For customers on Host build 1.0.757 and earlier and using the Virtual Appliance internal MySQL server, you are required to run the following query on the server before upgrading.

SET PERSIST innodb_fast_shutdown=0;

Host Upgrade

1. Create New Virtual Appliance

1. Download the latest host upgrade file for your hypervisor. Access the files from the Host tab of the Release Notes.
2. Gracefully shut down the Virtual Appliance Guest operating system (OS).
3. Run a backup of the Virtual Machine.

4. In the hypervisor console, make a clone of the persistent storage disk containing your Virtual Appliance data.

   This is generally the second disk created when spinning up the Virtual Appliance.

   1. DO NOT delete the disk from storage.
   2. Note the name so you can attach the clone to the new host.
   3. Alternatively, you may detach the disk from the virtual machine (if it does not contain snapshots) and attach it to the new virtual machine, but we don't recommend this method.
5. Using the file downloaded in Step 1, create a new Virtual Appliance that meets the minimum requirements above, but do not boot it up.
6. Attach the cloned disk to the new Virtual Appliance.
   1. If you detached the persistent storage disk rather than cloning it, attach it to the new Virtual Appliance.
7. Start the Virtual Appliance Guest OS.

2. Configure Network Settings

When upgrading the Host version, previous network settings do not carry over. The Virtual Appliance starts as a DHCP client, requiring configuration of TCP / IP settings via DHCP Reservation. Alternatively, you can use the steps below to configure a static IP and adjust the private IP range used by the Virtual Appliance services to avoid conflict with existing subnets in the environment.

1. In the hypervisor, open the Web Console to access the Virtual Appliance Linux terminal interface.

2. Log in to the terminal using the network user credentials supplied in the terminal banner.

   

3. Enter Y to change the network settings.
4. Enter Y to change the network mode.

5. Enter the TCP / IP settings.

   The image below is just an example. Ensure you use the settings specific to your network.

   

6. If the existing address pool does not conflict with any subnets in the environment, enter N. Otherwise, enter Y to set a different address range.

   

7. Configure the address range. If you need to adjust IP addresses, be sure to read and understand the network range options presented. Any range used must have a netmask < 20.

   

8. Press any key to exit.
9. In a web browser, navigate to http://Your_Virtual_Appliance_IP:8080, adjusting Your_Virtual_Appliance_IP with the actual IP Address.

10. Complete the web setup wizard ensuring that you select the option to keep settings — Do not format the drive.

    Document and save the Shared Storage password. It is only available during the web portion of the new Host configuration steps.

    

Once the setup is finished, you can now log into your upgraded Virtual Appliance.