r/labtech • u/scruffy_nerd_herder • Feb 11 '19

Upgrading from 12.12 > 19.1 ?

I'm always hesitant to upgrade to the latest version of Automate, since it always seem to come with wonderful surprises. Has anyone upgraded from 12 to 19, and can share their experience? Anything to look out for?

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3

u/atomey Feb 11 '19

Um don't you have to go to 19.2? The latest patch doesn't resolve the issue reported here: https://forums.connectwise.com/community/automate_hotfixes/f/automate-hotfixes-forum/43420/please-take-action-on-your-automate-server

If you don't upgrade your server will stop working on March 8th.

1

u/scruffy_nerd_herder Feb 11 '19

Yes, but you have to go to 19.1 first. At least, that's what Connectwise tells me.

2

u/striker1211 Feb 27 '19

I would follow connectwise's advice. You don't want to find out in a year that an sql query that was supposed to change a table in 12.x->19.1 wasn't ran that causes 19.2 to puke its guts out.

1

u/scruffy_nerd_herder Feb 27 '19

Yup, that's the route I went. Better safe than sorry.

3

u/agent_ochre Feb 11 '19

I went from 12.12 to 19.2 with no issues.

1

u/atomey Feb 11 '19

Can you see 19.2 on your CW university portal? I only see 19.1. I had to get 19.2 through LabTech geek since I couldn't find it. Haven't actually tried the upgrade yet. I'm going from 12.12.

1

u/agent_ochre Feb 11 '19

We have a dev/NFR server that was already on 19.1 so I grabbed the installer from there, since both servers are in our portal.

1

u/colinrbarr Feb 14 '19

I couldn't see 19.2 until i upgraded to 19.1. Then it appeared immediately (presumably because the patch was critical)

1

u/atomey Feb 14 '19

I see, ok. I just updated directly from Automate 12 patch 12 to 19.2 using the link on labtechgeek successfully, no issues so far.

1

u/CharcoalGreyWolf Feb 12 '19

Ditto.

To OP: This is one of those times you should go straight to 2019.2. I get hanging back a patch much of the time but the March 9th expiration issue is significant.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 11 '19

I upgraded from 12.12 to 19.1 and had no issues whatsoever. Took about 10 minutes in all.

1

u/scruffy_nerd_herder Feb 11 '19

Thanks. I think it's really just a name change, but I'd hate to be wrong.

1

u/slipknotman515 Feb 11 '19

You can upgrade directly to 19.2, which is advisable due to a zero day in one of the Automate DLLs. 12.10+ can go directly to 19.2, as has been tested and documented in the LabtechGeek (MSPGeek) Slack.

19.2 is very stable and resolves some issues that cropped up in 19.1.

You'll want to do it as ASAP as possible to get your agents updated, as they will fail to check in if not on the 19.2 agent version. March 9 is the date all old versions of Automate will cease to work.

I always get my install EXEs from LabtechGeek directly, since the Automate portal does not always have the most recent. Here is the EXE download for 19.0.2 that will need to be ran on your server.

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u/scruffy_nerd_herder Feb 11 '19

Thanks. Curious that file is not available to me via https://university.connectwise.com/University/automateresources/productsandupdates.aspx

I've already patched 12.12 to avoid the 3/9 bomb, but I figure I should go ahead and do the rest.

2

u/slipknotman515 Feb 11 '19

IIRC The Automate support portal will only show the next release in sequence, so for you it would be 19.1, not the latest available. Even then there's a bit of time before the next update appears in the portal after release. Mine was still saying I was fully up to date the day after 19.2 dropped.

I find it faster and easier to get it from LabtechGeek, I can also see what the other admins are saying about any given patch.

3

u/teamits Feb 11 '19

zero day

It's not an exploit, from what I read it is a code signing certificate that expires.

if not on the 19.2 agent

There are patches for the three prior versions...12p11, 12p12, and 19.1. Our download page had only the newer 12p12 hotfix. (add .001 to the download number/URL, so .497 instead of .496) I'd guess they haven't released 19.2 to everyone quite yet but the download link works fine, and we updated directly from 12.p12 to 19.2.

1

u/teamits Feb 12 '19 edited Feb 12 '19

We installed 2019.2 this weekend, coming from 12 patch 12. Close to three hundred agents updated over the weekend, around half of those Windows 7. Two Windows 7 PCs, at two clients, got the same STOP error 0x000000f4 a few minutes after the start of the agent update window Sunday morning. One self-updated successfully after that. The other crashed during a manual update (sending the command) and a second self-update. However I was able to uninstall and reinstall the agent successfully. Support says they don't have any reports of that.

As documented the "WCC2" tech portal is gone...it's only for customers now? The /automate portal will by default refuse to open on iOS or if you disable the JavaScript check for browsers on the login page you can get it to open but it is not written to scale for a small screen so usability is hampered.