Follow these instructions to upgrade a MOVEit Automation Failover pair while also migrating to new servers.

Prerequisites

Before you upgrade MOVEit Automation:
  • Carefully review the Release Notes for your current and target versions. Release Notes for all supported versions are available here: MOVEit Automation.
  • Review the Plan your upgrade topic.
  • Download the MOVEit Automation installer package and activation code. For information about how to locate and download the license file, see Download license file.
  • You should be confident in your backup strategy, and that you can restore your current environment with a recent set of data in a timely fashion.
  • You will experience downtime during the upgrade process. Consider the impact of the outage and your operational schedule.
  • If you have migrated your database platform, ensure that your new SQL Server or Azure SQL instance is fully configured and tested before proceeding.

To upgrade a MOVEit Automation Failover pair while also migrating to new servers

To upgrade a MOVEit Automation failover environment while migrating to new servers, you must first install new primary and secondary node servers. After migrating the existing primary node and all data to the new primary node, you will re-create the failover pair using the new secondary node. You do not need to migrate the old secondary node.
  1. Install and configure the new primary node.
    1. Install the new version of MOVEit Automation on the new primary node. For more information about installing, see Install MOVEit Automation.
    2. If you have a production TLS certificate for your existing Web Admin server, be sure to use it during the install of the new Web Admin.
    3. If your existing server uses MS SQL, have the installer create a new database on the existing MS SQL server or a new one. If using the existing database server, create a new database with a temporary name. You will point to the existing database later in the upgrade process, if necessary.
    4. If your existing server uses MySQL, allow the installer to create a new database as normal.
    5. Using the Web Admin command menu, stop the task scheduler service.
    6. To avoid tasks running before the upgrade is complete select the Start with scheduler disabled check box on the MOVEit Automation Config Utility General tab. This allows you to test your server in a controlled environment.
  2. Install and configure the new secondary node.
    1. Follow the primary node procedure in Step 1 (above).

      Make sure to select the Start with scheduler disabled check box on the MOVEit Automation Config Utility General tab.

  3. Back up the current primary node.

    To ensure that state files required by tasks to function correctly are accurate, you should plan to restore data immediately after backup. Delays between backup and restore may result in a loss of data.

    1. Create a temporary directory on a network share that is accessible by both the existing and new nodes. Save your backup data here to help move it to the new node.
    2. Using the Web Admin command menu, stop the task scheduler service.
    3. If you use SSL/TLS certs in Automation, create a task on your existing server that runs the Certs Backup built-in script. The task should have no source and a process that runs the Certs Backup built-in script. Configure the process to Run this once after all downloads. Specify a destination and run the task manually. This will back up any certificates in the Windows Certificate Store that MOVEit needs. This should create two files: CertsOtherPeople.pb7 and CertsPersonal.pfx. Copy these files to the network share.
    4. Using the Web Admin command menu, export the MOVEit Automation configuration to the network share.
    5. Copy critical MOVEit files and folders to the network share. Be sure to keep items in sub-directories as appropriate.

      Note: Up to and including MOVEit Automation 2024.1, writable files were located at \Program Files\MOVEit\MOVEitAutomation\.... Writable files for MOVEit Automation 2025 and later, are located at \ProgramData\MOVEit\MOVEitAutomation\.... For example, if you are upgrading from 2024.1 or earlier, copy critical files from \Program Files\MOVEit\MOVEitAutomation\....

      • \ProgramData\MOVEit\MOVEitAutomation\michash.xml
      • If you are a licensed PGP user, copy the PGPPath directory to the network share.

        \ProgramData\MOVEit\MOVEitAutomation\PGPPath\*.*

      • Copy the StateFiles directory to the network share.

        \ProgramData\MOVEit\MOVEitAutomation\StateFiles\*.*

      • Export the following registry Item to a .reg file using the Windows Regedit utility and copy to the network share.

        HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\StandardNetworks\MOVEitCentral\KeyMat

    6. Back up your database using one of the following options:
      • If you use MySQL
        1. To back up the MOVEit Automation database, use the mysqldump.exe command located in the \mysql\bin directory.
          cmd /c "mysqldump -u root -p micstats > mysqlbackup.sql"

          You will be prompted for your mysql root password. The default MOVEit Automation database name is micstats, however yours may be different. Use the correct name for your environment. This creates a single text file that has the SQL commands necessary to recreate the micstats database, as well as populate it with all your data.

          Copy the resulting mysqlbackup.sql file to the network share

      • If you use MS SQL
        1. Backup your MS SQL database using MS SQL tools.

          Even if you plan on using the same database on your new server, we recommend this backup step so that you can rollback more easily, if necessary.

  4. Stop the MOVEit Automation service on the primary node using the Web Admin COMMANDS > Shut down service. Set the Startup Type to Disabled in Windows Services.
  5. Stop the MOVEit Automaton service on the secondary node using Windows Services. Set the Startup Type to Disabled. For more information, see MOVEit Automation service.
  6. Restore data to the new primary node.
    1. Import the registry file which held your existing server’s key material using the Windows Regedit utility.
    2. Copy the files from the network share to the same relative locations on the new server.

      Note: Up to and including MOVEit Automation 2024.1, writable files were located at \Program Files\MOVEit\MOVEitAutomation\.... Writable files for MOVEit Automation 2025 and later, are located at \ProgramData\MOVEit\MOVEitAutomation\.... For example, if you are upgrading to 2025 or later, copy critical files to \ProgramData\MOVEit\MOVEitAutomation\....

      • \ProgramData\MOVEit\MOVEitAutomation\michash.xml
      • If you are a licensed PGP user, copy the PGPPath directory from the network share.

        \ProgramData\MOVEit\MOVEitAutomation\PGPPath\*.*

      • Copy the StateFiles directory from the network share.

        \ProgramData\MOVEit\MOVEitAutomation\StateFiles\*.*

    3. Using Web Admin command menu, import the MOVEit Automation config file that was exported from the existing server.
    4. Restore your database using one of the following options:
      • If you use MySQL
        1. Copy the MySQL backup file you created to a temporary location on the new server and then restore it using the following MySQL command
          cmd /c "mysql -u root -p micstats < mysqlbackup.sql"
      • If you use MS SQL
        1. Use the MOVEit Automation config utility to point to the correct SQL database. If you plan to use the same database as your existing server, point to that. To point at a new database, restore the database backup that you made earlier using a new database name and point to that.
  7. Re-run the new installer as an administrator and choose repair mode. This will update the database to use the new schema.
  8. Restart the MOVEit Automation service.
  9. If you had backed up any SSL/TLS certs from your original server, use the new server to create a new task that to run the Certs Restore built-in script. Create a task with a source that points to the directory where the backed up certificates from the old server are saved. Configure a process to run the Certs Restore built-in script per file. Run this task manually.
  10. The MOVEit Automation service should now be running on the new server, using the configuration from the old server. Do a basic check of the server to confirm that hosts and tasks are in place.
  11. Ensure that your system meets the Assumptions and Requirements. This is essential to ensure a successful migration. In particular, the same tamper detection key must be entered on both nodes, or you can manually copy the HashKey registry value from Node 1 to Node 2, and each node must have a copy of its corresponding failover node's encryption key.
  12. To create the failover pair,
    1. Stop the MOVEit services on the new primary and secondary nodes.
    2. Using the MOVEit Automation config utility, set up each node for failover using the Failover tab.
      1. Primary node
        1. The node number must be 1
        2. Hostname/IP address of the secondary node
        3. A MOVEit admin username and password. The user must have access to both nodes.
      2. Secondary node
        1. The node number must be 2
        2. Hostname/IP address of the primary node
        3. A MOVEit admin username and password. The user must have access to both nodes.
    3. If you use MS SQL as your database, ensure that the registry on both the primary and secondary nodes is modified with the following key:
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Standard Networks\MOVEitCentral\Resil 
Add DWORD - SuppressDBRep = 1
  13. Restart the MOVEit Service on both nodes.
  14. On node 1, navigate to the Web Admin Commands menu and click Reset Tamper Detection.
  15. The scheduler should remain off until testing of the new system as outlined in the post-upgrade section is complete.

Post upgrade

After the upgrade procedure is complete, post-upgrade/migrate activities should be performed to verify that all data was migrated and to test the system to ensure that all functionality is working as expected.

What to do if something goes wrong

When an issue arises in a migration, upgrade, or other install processes, consulting the install logs is a good way to begin the troubleshooting process. You may find enough information in the logs to resolve your issue. If you need assistance from our technical support team, they will ask for your install logs.

For information about how to locate install or other log files, see Locate MOVEit log files.