This section provides general guidelines for supported direct upgrade paths in syslog-ng Store Box (SSB).
For more information about possible upgrade scenarios, and their recommended upgrade paths for upgrading from LTS or Feature releases to LTS or Feature releases, see Possible upgrade path scenarios, and their recommended upgrade paths.
For more information about specific upgrade paths to the current release of SSB (version 7.0.4 LTS), see Upgrade paths to the current version of SSB.
General guidelines for direct upgrade paths
The following general guidelines apply for direct upgrade paths in SSB at all times:
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Maintenance version prerequisites
Before you upgrade from any LTS or Feature release version, always make sure that the release you are using has the latest available maintenance version installed. Otherwise, always upgrade directly to the latest available maintenance version of the release version you are using.
Examples: meeting maintenance version prerequisites before upgrading
The following examples illustrate two different upgrade scenarios when you can not upgrade directly and have to meet the maintenance requirements first.
Feature release version
If your SSB appliance is at feature version 4.9.0, we need to do a direct upgrade to 4.9.1 (that is, to the latest available 4 F9 maintenance version) before upgrading forward.
LTS version
If your SSB appliance is at 5.0.1, we need to do a direct upgrade to version 5.0.4 (that is, to the latest available 5 LTS maintenance version) before upgrading forward.
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Supported direct upgrade scenarios
Direct upgrade scenarios are only available to the next LTS releases (or the preceding versions).
Example: direct upgrade
For example, from version 5.0.4, you can jump directly to versions 5.1.0, 5.2.0, ..., 6.0.1.
However, it is not possible to do a single-step, direct upgrade to a version that is larger than the next LTS release (for example, from version 5.1.0 to version 6.5.0).
NOTE: While it is not possible to do a single-step upgrade (for example, directly upgrading from version 5.1.0 to version 6.5.0), you can upgrade from version 5.1.0 to version 6.5.0 in two steps, by first upgrading to the latest available maintenance version of 6 LTS, and then further upgrading to version 6.5.0.
NOTE: Starting from version 7.0.1 LTS, syslog-ng Store Box (SSB) supports the SSB 4000 appliance. However, the usual upgrade path to the newest feature version is supported only if the feature version to which you want to upgrade also supports the SSB 4000 appliance. Because of this, for example, you cannot upgrade from version 7.0.1 LTS to version 7.2F.
The following examples illustrate possible upgrade scenarios, and their recommended upgrade paths for upgrading from LTS or Feature releases to LTS or Feature releases:
Example for |
From |
To |
Recommended (optimal) upgrade path |
LTS to next LTS upgrade |
5.0.0 |
6.0.1 |
5.0.0 to 5.0.4, then to 6.0.1 |
Complex upgrade, with several upgrade steps |
4.9.0 |
6.5.0 |
4.9.0 to 4.9.1, then to 5.0.4, then to 6.0.1, then to 6.5.0 |
Direct, single-step upgrade |
6.1.0 |
6.5.0 |
6.1.0 to 6.5.0 |
From older releases, upgrade to 6 LTS first. For details, see How to upgrade to syslog-ng Store Box 5 LTS.
For more information about specific upgrade paths to the current release of SSB (version 7.0.4 LTS), see Upgrade paths to the current version of SSB.
For more information about guidelines for supported direct upgrade paths in SSB, see Guidelines and support for direct upgrade paths in SSB.
This section contains detailed information about the possible upgrade paths to the current version of syslog-ng Store Box (SSB). The most recent SSB version is 7.0.4 LTS.
For more information about the versioning system in SSB, see Version numbering in SSB.
For more information about guidelines for supported direct upgrade paths in SSB, see Guidelines and support for direct upgrade paths in SSB.
Upgrade paths to the current version of SSB (version 7.0.4 LTS)
Upgrading to SSB version 6.5 is tested and supported using the following upgrade path scenarios:
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The latest SSB 6 LTS maintenance version (for example, 6.0.x) to version SSB 6.5
NOTE: Always upgrade to the latest available maintenance version of SSB 6 LTS before upgrading to SSB version 6.5.
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The latest maintenance versions of the previous, not yet discontinued, feature releases to version SSB 6.5
The following list applies to all configurations:
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The firmware of your SSB appliance is not tainted (that is, none of its files were modified locally). If the firmware is tainted, a warning is displayed on the Basic Settings > System > Version details page.
Upgrading is not supported if the firmware is tainted. If your firmware is tainted, contact our Support Team.
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You have backed up your configuration and your data.
For more information on creating configuration and data backups, see Data and configuration backups.
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For added safety, you have also exported the current configuration of SSB.
For detailed instructions, refer to Exporting the configuration of SSB.
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You have a valid support portal account.
To download the required firmware file and the new license file, you need a valid support portal account. To create an account, navigate to the support portal and follow the instructions on screen (you will need to enter your product's asset number, which is the license number or serial number you have been provided previously).
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You have downloaded the new 7.0.4 LTS license file from support portal. As license files are specific to each long term release, upgrading to SSB 7.0.4 LTS removes any earlier license.
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You have downloaded the latest SSB firmware file from the Downloads page.
For a details about the firmware file, see Firmware in SSB.
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You have read the Release Notes (changelog) of the firmware(s) before updating. The Release Notes might include additional instructions specific to the firmware version.
The Release Notes are available on the syslog-ng Store Box Documentation page.
If you have a high availability cluster:
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CAUTION: Before upgrading to SSB version 7.0.4 LTS in High Availability (HA) mode, ensure that the nodes have already been restarted since the last upgrade. Otherwise, you have to restart the nodes before upgrading SSB to version 7.0.4 LTS. |
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You have IPMI access to the slave node. You can find detailed information on using the IPMI interface in the following documents:
For syslog-ng Store Box (SSB) Appliance 3000, 3500 and 4000, see Knowledge Base Article Latest IPMI firmware for Syslog-ng Store Box 3000/3500/4000 and One Identity Safeguard for Privileged Sessions 3000/3500/4000 appliances.
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You have verified on the Basic Settings > High Availability page that the HA status is not degraded.
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If you have a high availability cluster with geoclustering enabled: Perform the firmware upload steps an hour before the actual upgrade. Geoclustering can introduce delays in the synchronization between the primary and the secondary node, and the secondary node might not be able to sync the new firmware from the primary node on time.
If you are upgrading SSB in a virtual environment:
During the upgrade, SSB displays information about the progress of the upgrade and any possible problems to the console, which you can monitor with IPMI (ILOM) or console access.
We recommend that you test the upgrade process in a non-production (virtual) environment first.
Upgrading SSB requires a reboot. We strongly suggest that you perform the upgrade on the production appliance during maintenance hours only, to avoid any potential data loss.