Upgrade multiple appliances
Two appliances in failover configuration
There are two alternatives for upgrading in a failover environment: synchronous upgrade and asynchronous upgrade.
Synchronous updates of two B Series Appliances in a failover relationship
With synchronous updating, the primary B Series Appliance is updated first and maintains its role as primary. This method does involve some downtime; we recommend synchronous updates for simple deployments and scenarios that will not suffer from being offline during the update.
- Benefit: No failover event.
- Drawback: Longer production site downtime.
Asynchronous updates of two B Series Appliances in a failover relationship
With asynchronous updating, the backup B Series Appliance is updated first and then assumes the role of primary. This method has minimal downtime; we recommend asynchronous updates for larger deployments and scenarios that rely on maintaining solid uptime. Some complexity is involved, as the network may have to be modified in order to fail over to the backup B Series Appliance.
- Benefit: Minimal production down time.
- Drawback: Requires failover activity.
Considerations
- Select the failover upgrade alternative that best fits your downtime and continuity needs.
- Schedule two separate maintenance windows in which to complete the upgrade.
- Expect the upgrade process to take the same amount of time on both B Series Appliances.
- Plan an interim period between the two maintenance windows adequate enough to confirm the new software version in your production environment but brief enough to minimize the exposure of temporarily not having a failover configuration.
Synchronous updates
With synchronous updating, the primary B Series Appliance is updated first and maintains its role as primary. This method does involve some downtime; we recommend synchronous updates for simple deployments and scenarios that will not suffer from being offline during the update.
In these instructions, Appliance A is the primary B Series Appliance (i.e., the B Series Appliance to which the primary hostname resolves), while Appliance B is the backup B Series Appliance.
You will need to schedule two separate maintenance windows in which to complete the upgrade. The upgrade will take the same amount of time on both appliances. Plan an interim period between the two maintenance windows adequate enough to confirm the new software version in your production environment, but brief enough to minimize the exposure of temporarily not having a failover configuration.
Back up and sync
- Back up appliance A.
- Go to /login > Management > Failover, click Sync Now, and wait for synchronization to complete.
- Once synchronization has finished, click Break Failover Relationship.
Update Appliance A
Update Appliance A using either the automatic or the manual update method.
Automatic
In most cases, BeyondTrust customers can download and install updates with no assistance from BeyondTrust Technical Support. To see if an upgrade is available, go to /appliance > Updates.
Click Check for updates.
If a software update is available, it will appear under Available Updates.
Click Install This Update.
The B Series Appliance will download and automatically install the new version of the BeyondTrust software.
Note
BeyondTrust software updates often depend on one or more Base Software updates. Install the available Base Software updates to enable the dependent BeyondTrust updates. Then download a backup and immediately install the BeyondTrust software updates before doing anything else, such as failing over or installing updates on another B Series Appliance.
Note
If automatic updates fail when expected to work, contact BeyondTrust Technical Support.
Manual
If you are unable to use automatic updates (e.g., if your B Series Appliance exists on a restricted network), you may perform manual updates.
Go to /appliance > Updates.
- Click Appliance Download Key link to generate a unique B Series Appliance key.
- From a non-restricted system, submit this key to BeyondTrust's update server.
- Download any available updates to a removable storage device and then transfer those updates to a system from which you can manage your B Series Appliance.
From the Updates page, browse to the file from the Manual Installation section and click Update Software to complete the installation. The B Series Appliance installs the new version of the BeyondTrust software.
Note
Be prepared to install software updates directly after download. Once an update has been downloaded, it no longer appears in your list of available updates. Should you need to redownload an update, contact BeyondTrust Technical Support.
Verify and test
After completing the upgrade process, verify the update completed successfully and that your software is working as expected. Your installed representative consoles will need to be upgraded after the site upgrades. Typically, this occurs automatically the next time the representative runs the representative console. To check the software build that a console is running, log in to the console and then click Help > About. Also be sure that you can make a connection to a remote computer via a session.
Note
Representative consoles previously deployed on locked-down computers using MSI may need to be redeployed once the upgrade is complete. If the extractable representative console or extractable Jump Client feature has been enabled for your site by BeyondTrust Technical Support, then you can download an MSI installer to update representative consoles or Jump Clients prior to upgrading the B Series Appliance. To do this, check for the new update either manually or automatically. Click the Rep Console Installers or Jump Client Installers link to download the MSI for distribution. Updated clients will not come online until their B Series Appliance is updated. It is not necessary to uninstall the original client prior to deploying the new one, as the new one should automatically replace the original installation. It is a best practice, however, to keep a copy of the old MSI to remove the outdated installations after the B Series Appliance is updated should this removal prove necessary. The new MSI is unable to do so.
Update Appliance B
Update Appliance B using either the automatic or the manual update method as defined above. Then verify and test that the update completed successfully.
Reestablish failover relationship
From Appliance A, go to /login > Management > Failover.
Note
To configure a valid connection, both B Series Appliances must have identical Inter-Appliance keys. Please see the /login > Management > Security page to verify the key for each B Series Appliance.
Reestablish the failover relationship with the backup B Series Appliance, using Appliance B as the backup and keeping Appliance A as the primary.
Establishing the relationship between the two B Series Appliances occurs on the Failover page of the B Series Appliance intended to be the primary B Series Appliance. The addresses that are entered here establish the relationship and allow either B Series Appliance to connect to each other at any time. The New Backup Site Connection Details tell the primary B Series Appliance how to connect to the B Series Appliance that will become the backup B Series Appliance. The Reverse Connection Details to this Primary Site are given to the backup B Series Appliance and tell it how to connect back to this primary B Series Appliance. You must use a valid hostname or IP address and TLS port number for these fields. When all of these fields are set, click the Establish Relationship button to attempt to establish the relationship.
Note
BeyondTrust recommends using the unique IP address of each B Series Appliance when configuring these settings.
Once the relationship has been established, extraneous tabs are removed from the backup site. It takes about 60 seconds for the first data synchronization to initiate, but you may also click the Sync Now button to force synchronization and pull the most current information from the primary B Series Appliance into the memory of the backup B Series Appliance. Synchronization itself may take anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours, depending on the amount of data that needs to be synchronized. The Failover page will list the last date and time of data synchronization when synchronization is completed.
Failover synchronization syncs all user accounts, all /login configuration settings, files in the file store, logs, and recordings. All of this information which exists on the backup B Series Appliance will be overwritten by that which resides on the primary B Series Appliance.
If the primary B Series Appliance is the primary node in an Atlas cluster, the backup B Series Appliance will automatically become the new backup primary node in this cluster.
Asynchronous updates
With asynchronous updating, the backup B Series Appliance is updated first and then assumes the role of primary. This method has minimal downtime; we recommend asynchronous updates for larger deployments and scenarios that rely on maintaining solid uptime. Some complexity is involved, as the network may have to be modified in order to fail over to the backup B Series Appliance.
In these instructions, Appliance A is the primary B Series Appliance (i.e., the B Series Appliance to which the primary hostname resolves), while Appliance B is the backup B Series Appliance.
You will need to schedule two separate maintenance windows in which to complete the upgrade. The upgrade will take the same amount of time on both appliances. Plan an interim period between the two maintenance windows adequate enough to confirm the new software version in your production environment, but brief enough to minimize the exposure of temporarily not having a failover configuration.
Back up and sync
- Backup appliance A.
- Go to /login > Management > Failover, click Sync Now, and wait for synchronization to complete.
- Once synchronization has finished, click Break Failover Relationship.
Update Appliance B
Update Appliance B using either the automatic or the manual update method.
Automatic
In most cases, BeyondTrust customers can download and install updates with no assistance from BeyondTrust Technical Support. To see if an upgrade is available, go to /appliance > Updates.
Click Check for updates.
If a software update is available, it will appear under Available Updates.
Click Install This Update.
The B Series Appliance will download and automatically install the new version of the BeyondTrust software.
Note
BeyondTrust software updates often depend on one or more Base Software updates. Install the available Base Software updates to enable the dependent BeyondTrust updates. Then download a backup and immediately install the BeyondTrust software updates before doing anything else, such as failing over or installing updates on another B Series Appliance.
Note
If automatic updates fail when expected to work, contact BeyondTrust Technical Support.
Manual
If you are unable to use automatic updates (e.g., if your B Series Appliance exists on a restricted network), you may perform manual updates.
Go to /appliance > Updates.
- Click Appliance Download Key link to generate a unique B Series Appliance key.
- From a non-restricted system, submit this key to BeyondTrust's update server.
- Download any available updates to a removable storage device and then transfer those updates to a system from which you can manage your B Series Appliance.
From the Updates page, browse to the file from the Manual Installation section and click Update Software to complete the installation. The B Series Appliance installs the new version of the BeyondTrust software.
Note
Be prepared to install software updates directly after download. Once an update has been downloaded, it no longer appears in your list of available updates. Should you need to redownload an update, contact BeyondTrust Technical Support.
Verify and test
After completing the upgrade process, verify that the update completed successfully and that your software is working as expected.
On a minimum of two local machines that can access Appliance B, edit the hosts file so that your site hostname resolves to the IP address of Appliance B.
Note
For more information on hosts file, please see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_(file).
On one computer, run the representative console. Your installed representative consoles will need to be upgraded after the site upgrades. Typically, this occurs automatically the next time the representative runs the representative console. To check the software build that a console is running, log in to the console and then click Help > About. Also be sure that you can make a connection to a remote computer via a session.
Note
Representative consoles previously deployed on locked-down computers using MSI may need to be redeployed once the upgrade is complete. If the extractable representative console or extractable Jump Client feature has been enabled for your site by BeyondTrust Technical Support, then you can download an MSI installer to update representative consoles or Jump Clients prior to upgrading the B Series Appliance. To do this, check for the new update either manually or automatically. Click the Rep Console Installers or Jump Client Installers link to download the MSI for distribution. Updated clients will not come online until their B Series Appliance is updated. It is not necessary to uninstall the original client prior to deploying the new one, as the new one should automatically replace the original installation. It is a best practice, however, to keep a copy of the old MSI to remove the outdated installations after the B Series Appliance is updated should this removal prove necessary. The new MSI is unable to do so.
Make Appliance B the primary B Series Appliance
Set Appliance B to the primary role following the steps previously determined in your failover plan: shared IP switch, DNS swing, or NAT swing.
Note
If you are using the BeyondTrust Integration Client and have configured it based on IP address rather than hostname, be sure to verify that it can extract data from Appliance B after redefining Appliance B as the primary B Series Appliance.
Note
Data from Secure Remote Access sessions completed on either B Series Appliance while failover is not enabled will automatically sync once the failover relationship has been reestablished.
Shared IP switch
On Appliance A, go to /appliance > Networking > IP Configuration.
Click on the shared IP address to edit it, and uncheck the Enabled box. Then click Save Changes.
Immediately, go to /appliance > Networking > IP Configuration on Appliance B. It is helpful to have this page already open in a separate browser tab.
Click on the shared IP address to edit it, and check the Enabled box. Then click Save Changes.
As soon as the switch is made, you can resume normal activity. All requests to your site will be served by Appliance B.
DNS swing
Access the DNS controller and locate the DNS entry for your BeyondTrust site. Edit the entry to point to the IP address for Appliance B. Once the DNS entry has propagated, you can resume normal activity. All requests to your site will be served by Appliance B.
NAT swing
Access the NAT controller and locate the NAT entry for your BeyondTrust site. Edit the entry to point to the IP address for Appliance B. As soon as the change is made, you can resume normal activity. All requests to your site will be served by Appliance B.
Update Appliance A
Note
Each customer environment is different, and while BeyondTrust does test each feature, we cannot test each and every scenario a customer may encounter. Please confirm that the BeyondTrust software is working in your environment before updating Appliance A.
Update Appliance A using either the automatic or the manual update method as defined above. Then verify and test that the update completed successfully.
Reestablish failover relationship
From Appliance B, go to /login > Management > Failover.
Note
To configure a valid connection, both B Series Appliances must have identical Inter-Appliance keys. Please see the /login > Management > Security page to verify the key for each B Series Appliance.
Reestablish the failover relationship with the backup B Series Appliance, using Appliance A as the backup and Appliance B as the primary.
Establishing the relationship between the two B Series Appliances occurs on the Failover page of the B Series Appliance intended to be the primary B Series Appliance. The addresses that are entered here establish the relationship and allow either B Series Appliance to connect to each other at any time. The New Backup Site Connection Details tell the primary B Series Appliance how to connect to the B Series Appliance that will become the backup B Series Appliance. The Reverse Connection Details to this Primary Site are given to the backup B Series Appliance and tell it how to connect back to this primary B Series Appliance. You must use a valid hostname or IP address and TLS port number for these fields. When all of these fields are set, click the Establish Relationship button to attempt to establish the relationship.
Note
BeyondTrust recommends using the unique IP address of each B Series Appliance when configuring these settings.
Once the relationship has been established, extraneous tabs are removed from the backup site. It takes about 60 seconds for the first data synchronization to initiate, but you may also click the Sync Now button to force synchronization and pull the most current information from the primary B Series Appliance into the memory of the backup B Series Appliance. Synchronization itself may take anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours, depending on the amount of data that needs to be synchronized. The Failover page will list the last date and time of data synchronization when synchronization is completed.
Failover synchronization syncs all user accounts, all /login configuration settings, files in the file store, logs, and recordings. All of this information which exists on the backup B Series Appliance will be overwritten by that which resides on the primary B Series Appliance.
If the primary B Series Appliance is the primary node in an Atlas cluster, the backup B Series Appliance will automatically become the new backup primary node in this cluster.
Multiple appliances in an Atlas cluster
Upgrading BeyondTrust Atlas clusters is more involved than upgrading failover pairs or individual B Series Appliances. The following section explains how to properly upgrade Atlas clusters.
Note
For more information on how to set up and configure Atlas, please see the Atlas cluster user guide.
With failover configured
These steps assume that there are two primary nodes operating in a failover configuration. These are referred to as Appliance A (the primary node in the failover pair) and Appliance B (the backup primary node). If failover is not configured and there is no backup primary node, skip to the section Without failover configured.
Note
The failover process does cause downtime. Please plan accordingly.
Preparation
- On Appliance A, go to /appliance > Updates > Updates: Manual Installation.
- Click the Appliance Download Key link to generate a unique B Series Appliance key. From a non-restricted system, submit this key to BeyondTrust's update server. Download any available updates to a removable storage device and then transfer those updates to a system from which you can manage your B Series Appliance.
- Download the available updates, but do not install them.
- Click the Distribute to Cluster button to push the package to all other nodes.
Note
This does not install any new software but only prepares for it to be installed.
- For Appliance A, go to /login > Management > Cluster.
- Identify half of the traffic nodes to be temporarily disable per geographical region.
- On the identified nodes, uncheck Accepting New Client Connections. These are referred to as the offline traffic nodes.
- On each offline traffic node, go to /login > Status > Information.
- Looking at the Connected Clients table, wait for all active customer client and representative console connections to end. This waiting period prevents the interruption of existing sessions.
Upgrade the backup
- On Appliance B, go to /appliance > Updates.
- Click the Install button to upgrade the software to the latest version, making sure to install updates in the appropriate sequence.
Important
Base software updates are typically installed before licensing software updates. If the order is unclear, contact Support at beyondtrust.com/support before installing any updates. The B Series Appliance automatically reboots as part of the Base software update process.
Important
Updating the software automatically causes Appliance B to mark all traffic nodes as not accepting new client connections in the cluster configuration.
Important
Do not make changes to the configuration of Appliance A during this upgrade. Any such changes will be overwritten upon the first data-sync after the upgrade.
- Repeat the upgrade process above for each of the offline traffic nodes. Once done, Appliance A and half of the traffic nodes should be on the old version of BeyondTrust. Appliance B and the other half of the traffic nodes should be on the new version.
Put the new primary into production
Note
This failover process does cause downtime. Please plan accordingly.
- For Appliance A, go to /login > Management > Failover.
- Check Become backup even if the peer site cannot be contacted.
- Click the Become Backup button.
Note
This process causes the backup B Series Appliance to take the primary role in the failover pair.
- If necessary, swing DNS and/or NAT to Appliance B. If shared IP failover is configured, neither DNS or NAT settings need be changed; instead, the shared IP address auto-deactivates on Appliance A.
- Switch to Appliance B and for that appliance go to /login > Management > Failover.
- Click Become Primary.
- Uncheck the Enable Backup Operations checkbox.
Bring upgraded traffic nodes back online
- For Appliance B, go to /login > Management > Cluster.
- For each traffic node which has been upgraded, check the Accepting New Client Connections checkbox.
- In the Cluster :: Status section, click Sync Now.
Upgrade the rest of the deployment
- On each traffic node which has not yet been upgraded, go to /appliance > Updates.
- Click Install to upgrade to the new version, making sure to install updates in the appropriate sequence. Wait for the updates to finish installing.
- Switch to Appliance B and for that appliance go to /login > Management > Cluster.
- For each traffic node upgraded in the previous step, check Accepting New Client Connections.
Upgrade Appliance A
- On Appliance A, go to /appliance > Updates.
- Click Install to upgrade to the new version, making sure to install updates in the appropriate sequence.
Restore the cluster configuration
- For Appliance A, go to /login > Management > Failover.
- Check Enable Backup Operations.
- Switch to Appliance B and for that appliance go to /login > Management > Cluster.
- In the Cluster :: Status section, click Sync Now.
Without failover configured
Preparation
- On Appliance A, go to /appliance > Updates > Updates: Manual Installation.
- Click the Appliance Download Key link to generate a unique B Series Appliance key. From a non-restricted system, submit this key to BeyondTrust's update server. Download any available updates to a removable storage device and then transfer those updates to a system from which you can manage your B Series Appliance.
- Download the available updates, but do not install them.
- Click the Distribute to Cluster button to push the package to all other nodes.
Note
Distribute to Cluster is only shown for B Series Appliances that are part of an Atlas Cluster.
Note
This does not install any new software but only prepares for it to be installed.
- Go to /login > Management > Cluster.
- Identify half of the traffic nodes to be temporarily disable per geographical region.
- On the identified nodes, uncheck Accepting New Client Connections. These are referred to as the offline traffic nodes.
- On each offline traffic node, go to /login > Status > Information.
- Looking at the Connected Clients table, wait for all active customer client and representative console connections to end. This waiting period prevents the interruption of existing sessions.
Upgrade the offline nodes
- On each offline traffic node, go to /appliance > Updates.
- Click the Install button to upgrade the software to the latest version, making sure to install updates in the appropriate sequence.
Important
Base software updates are typically installed before licensing software updates. If the order is unclear, contact beyondtrust.com/support before installing any updates. The B Series Appliance automatically reboots as part of the Base software update process.
Upgrade the primary node
- On the primary node, go to /appliance > Updates.
- Click the Install button to upgrade the software to the latest version, making sure to install updates in the appropriate sequence. Updating the software automatically causes the primary node to mark all traffic nodes as not accepting new client connections in the cluster configuration.
Bring upgraded traffic nodes back online
- On the primary node, go to /login > Management > Cluster.
- For each traffic node which has been upgraded, check the Accepting New Client Connections checkbox.
- In the Status section, click Sync Now.
Upgrade the rest of the deployment
- On each traffic node which has not yet been upgraded, go to /appliance > Updates.
- Click Install to upgrade to the new version, making sure to install updates in the appropriate sequence. Wait for the updates to finish installing.
Restore the cluster configuration
- Switch to the primary node and go to /login > Management > Cluster.
- For each traffic node upgraded in the previous step, check Accepting New Client Connections.
- In the Status section, click Sync Now.
Updated 5 days ago