Upgrading Bomgar Software Quick Guide
Please visit the Product Change Log to get the details of each release of Bomgar remote support software.
Upgrade Considerations
If you use the Bomgar API, please see Supplement: Before Upgrading from Previous Bomgar Versions. Changes previously completed in the API may potentially impact your use of the Bomgar API.
If you have two Bomgar Appliances in a failover configuration, please refer to Upgrading Two Bomgar Appliances in Failover Configuration
Upgrade Preparation
- Prior to upgrading, always create a backup of your settings and configuration from /login > Management > Software Management.
- For major software releases, customers with current maintenance contracts are placed into a rollout schedule. Once your upgrade is ready, Bomgar will alert you via email to begin this upgrade procedure.
- Installation usually takes between 15 minutes to an hour. However, if you are storing a large amount of data on your appliance (e.g., support session recordings), the installation could take significantly longer.
- Bomgar recommends performing upgrades during scheduled maintenance windows. Your Bomgar site will be temporarily unavailable during the upgrade. All logged in representatives and active sessions will be terminated.
- Bomgar also recommends testing the update in a controlled environment prior to deploying into production. Testing can best be performed when you have two appliances in a failover relationship and when you update asynchronously (see Verify and Test).
- If you have two appliances set up in a failover configuration, consider whether you want to update synchronously or asynchronously.
- With synchronous updating, the primary appliance is updated first and maintains its role as primary. This method does involve some downtime; it is recommended for simple deployments and scenarios that will not suffer from being offline during the update.
- With asynchronous updating, the backup appliance is updated first and then assumes the role of primary. This method has minimal downtime; it is recommended 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 failover to the backup appliance.
- Your installed representative consoles will need to be upgraded after the site upgrades. Typically, this occurs automatically the next time representatives run the representative console. Representative consoles previously deployed on locked-down computers using MSI may need to be re-deployed once the upgrade is complete.
- After an upgrade, deployed Jump Clients will automatically update. If large numbers of Jump Clients attempt to update simultaneously, they may flood the appliance, severely crippling performance both on the appliance and the network, depending on the available bandwidth and hardware. To regulate the amount of bandwidth and resources consumed by Jump Client updates, go to /login > Configuration > Jump Clients and set the Maximum Number of Concurrent Jump Client Upgrades.
- If your Bomgar Appliance is out of date, multiple release versions may need to be installed to reach the current version. In this case, Bomgar recommends allowing at least 24 hours between updates to allow Jump Clients to upgrade. Passive Jump Clients may take longer than this depending on how long their host systems remain offline. Once a Jump Client appears as online in the representative console or the /login > Status > Information page, it has updated successfully. If too many release versions are installed back-to-back without first allowing Jump Clients to upgrade, Jump Clients may require manual redeployment.
- After an upgrade, Bomgar Buttons will update automatically upon being used for the first time subsequent to an upgrade.
- After an upgrade, deployed Jumpoints should automatically update.
- Bomgar Connection Agents will not automatically update after the site upgrades. Any deployed Connection Agents will need to be re-installed manually. Any security providers using Connection Agents will probably fail to function until their Connection Agents have been re-installed.
- Bomgar Integration Clients will not automatically update after the site upgrades. Integration Clients will need to be re-installed manually. Integration Client installers are available from the Downloads page of help.bomgar.com.
Automatic Updates
In most cases, Bomgar customers can download and install updates with no assistance from Bomgar support. To see if an upgrade is available, log in to your Bomgar Appliance (/appliance). Under Support > Updates, click on Check for updates.
If a software upgrade is available, it will appear under Available Updates. Once you select Install This Update, the appliance will download and automatically install the new version of the Bomgar software.
Note: Some packages may be grayed out and require another package to be installed first. Select Install This Update on the available package to enable the dependent one.
If automatic updates fail when expected to work, please review the Check for Updates troubleshooting FAQ at www.bomgar.com/help/SolutionFAQ.aspx?id=377.
Manual Updates
If you are unable to use automatic updates (for example, if your Bomgar Appliance exists on a restricted network), you may perform manual updates.
Log into your Bomgar Appliance via the /appliance interface and navigate to Support > Updates. Starting with Base 3.3.2, click the Appliance Download Key link to generate a unique appliance key; prior to Base 3.3.2, you must contact Bomgar Support to request this key. From a non-restricted system, submit this key to Bomgar's update server at update.bomgar.com. Download any available updates to a removable storage device and then transfer those updates to a system from which you can manage your appliance.
From Support > Updates, browse to the file from the Manual Installation section and then click the Update Software button to complete the installation. The appliance will install the new version of the Bomgar software.
Note: Please be prepared to install software updates directly after download. Once an update has been downloaded, it will no longer appear in your list of available updates. Should you need to re-download a software update, contact Bomgar support.
Download Bomgar Upgrade Guide.pdf
Questions about upgrading?
Please check our user documentation on the Self Service Center.
