Plan your upgrade

Read the Release Notes

Carefully review the Release Notes for your current and target versions. Release notes summarize all new, extended, and deprecated features as well as known issues and bug fixes. Release Notes for all supported versions are available here: MOVEit Transfer.

In-place upgrade or migrate

One of the first decisions you need to make is the type of upgrade required. The chosen upgrade scenario depends on the details of your existing installation, the current and target version of the MOVEit Transfer software, and the complexity of any system-specific configurations.

An in-place upgrade applies new features and improvements to the existing server instance of MOVEit Transfer.

A migration upgrade introduces new features and improvements or other technologies while migrating all data and configurations of an existing deployment to a new MOVEit Transfer instance.

The migration workflow described in this section applies to upgrading MOVEit to a newer version. However, these steps can also be used to upgrade hardware or operating systems while retaining the same MOVEit version.

An in-place upgrade might feel like a simple and straightforward option, and if your current installation is not highly customized, an in-place upgrade is the best way to proceed. However, if your installation is older than the currently supported versions or is particularly complex, a migration upgrade provides a stable back-up until you complete post-installation testing on the upgraded version. A migration upgrade can provide continuity of operations on the current server to minimize downtime. When the migration is complete, you have a clean system.

Perform a test environment upgrade

If the resources are available, you should consider testing the upgrade on a separate server or virtual machine. If your chosen upgrade scenario is migration upgrade, this test implementation will become your new production environment. In an in-place upgrade scenario, this test environment provides a back-up solution.

Testing the upgrade procedure in a non-production environment is an effective way to help ensure a smooth deployment for your users.

Upgrade paths

Use the Upgrade Path table in the Release Notes to determine the most efficient upgrade path from your current version to the target version. Review the Release Notes for the current and target versions, and all versions between to ensure a smooth upgrade.

Upgrades of versions older than currently supported or systems with complex configurations might require additional upgrade support. If you are upgrading from an unsupported version, please contact Progress Support or your account executive to discuss a professional services engagement.

System requirements

System requirements are regularly updated and might have changed since your last MOVEit Transfer installation. Updates can include new requirements such as operating system platform, minimum CPU and memory (RAM), disk storage, database, and security settings.

Important Note: Review the new system requirements to ensure that your system meets the minimum requirements for the target version you will upgrade to. System requirements are detailed in the Release Notes.

Database considerations

During the upgrade, you might need a database account with higher-level permissions than the database account that MOVEit normally runs with. Refer to the User credentials section below for more information.

The time required to update the database will be affected by the size of stored data, and it can also depend on the nature of the schema changes required between your current and target versions.

To avoid errors, ensure that the free space on the server/drive is three times the size of the current database. Consult your database administrator regarding timeouts that may be imposed by the database on completing update processes, if necessary.

While changing your database schema in any way with new tables or indexes is not recommended, if you have done this, and you want to maintain those changes, you must make a special selection during the upgrade. For instructions on how the MOVEit Transfer installer handles database customizations, see the topic titled Installing MOVEit Transfer.

User credentials

• A Windows administrator account to perform the upgrade.
• The MOVEit Transfer service account. (Typically, this is different than the Windows administrator account).
• Database accounts
  • For in-place upgrades, you will need a database account with permission to modify the database schema for the MOVEit database. In MS SQL, this is usually an account with ‘DBO’permissions. For MySQL, the default ‘root’ account will work.

  • For migration upgrades, you will need a database account that can create databases. For MS SQL, this is usually an sa-like account. For MySQL, the default ‘root’ account will work

  • In addition, you will need the credentials for the database user with credentials for the existing MOVEit DB.

  • To see which user credentials your MOVEit server is currently using, use the MOVEit Transfer Config Utility’s Database tab.

• A database account with schema upgrade permissions.
• The MOVEit Transfer system administrator account.
• Org admin or user accounts you will test after the upgrade.

Network/Firewall/Security

When migrating to a new server, it is important to understand the existing server's configuration in the areas of network, firewalls, and security, and to ensure that a new server will be substantially similar so that functionality (including user access) that relies on network resources will continue to function correctly. For more information, see the Firewall Configuration section of the MOVEit Transfer Administrator Guide

If anti-virus software is configured on your existing server, ensure that the same configuration settings are applied to the new server.

You may need to temporarily disable your anti-virus software during an upgrade.

Multi-node considerations

If you have a multi-node configuration using MOVEit Transfer High Availability Web Farms or other failover technology, please note that the upgrade will be more complex, and we have provided specific instructions for these cases.

An important thing to note is that you will have downtime for your MOVEit system. There is no way to use the multi-node capabilities of the product to perform a zero-downtime upgrade. See the web farm section of this upgrade guide (in-place upgrade, migration upgrade) for more details.

License and installer

Before you upgrade, ensure that your license is valid for the version to which you want to upgrade. You can download the installer and see your licensing information on the Progress Customer Portal. If using Product Activation, the activation code is embedded in the installer file which will allow seamless activation of the product. If activating by way of a license file, you must get that file from the customer portal before your upgrade.

Regardless of which method you choose, you should have the full activation code for your product. This code is located in the same area of the portal that as the installer, under Additional Licensing Information.

A MOVEit activation code is made up of your 15 character serial number and an extra eight characters. For example: 1A2B3C4D5E6F7G8H9J1K2L3.

Support

Before you upgrade, contact Progress if you are unsure of the support level that was purchased with your product. Standard support can only offer help during your regional business hours. Extended support calls related to upgrade or migration can provide some help and troubleshooting after-hours, subject to limitations. For more information about what is covered by standard and extended support, see Scope of Support.

Back up your existing system and have a rollback plan

Have a backup strategy you can feel confident in. In the case of an upgrade that fails, ensure that you can restore your environment or switch your environment to a last-known good state.

If your infrastructure supports it, take a snapshot of the operating system and database just before beginning an upgrade. If you are using MySQL, taking a snapshot of your operating system will also include the database.

For more information, see the MOVEit Transfer topic titled Backup/Restore Utility.

Plan for an outage

Even Web Farm and High Availability configurations will require a period of system downtime during upgrade. You should plan to notify your users of this downtime and choose a time period when traffic to the MOVEit system is typically (historically) lowest. (You can look at transfer metrics using Reports for a better understanding of low traffic periods).

Develop a use case test plan

MOVEit enables users to meet many Managed File Transfer use cases. Before you begin an upgrade, it is best practice to assemble a test plan that you will follow before and after the upgrade to test and confirm that critical functions (upload, download, user creation and so on) work as expected.

The use case test plan can also help in planning and estimating the actual effort that is required to upgrade the application, as well as tracking the tests and their results.

For more information on what you should consider to test, see the topic titled Test Plan Considerations.

Professional Services

Some customers have complex and/or large environments that may require special planning and the help of our Professional Services team. Please contact your account executive if you would like to discuss this option.

Training and education requirements

Progress offers technical training and education services designed for individuals and companies to acquire, maintain, and optimize their IT skills. To view a full list and details of the available on-demand and instructor-led training, consulting, outsourcing options, see Consulting, Training and Development Built Around You.