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NPM 12.2 Upgrade Experience Feedback?

Anyone have any upgrade experiences for the general release?

We are looking to upgrade our entire SW suite in addition to NPM and would like to hear any feedback.

Also, is the RC code the same as the GR code?

Thanks in advance

Parents
  • We built out a new server to finally get off of 2008.   I was rather dreading this migration and update but it could not have been smoother.   I scheduled a 6 hour downtime window and we were back up and running in just over two ( and of course half of that time was waiting for the Website Optimization to complete emoticons_wink.png )    We migrated/updated  NPM, NCM, IPAM, SAM, WPM and NTA.   No issues.

  • Thanks. So you built a new box(s) and pointed to old DB?

    I’m doing in place. And support is giving me wildly conflicting upgrade plans since the PUA has the known bugs.

  • Interesting.  I'm a version back--NPM 12.0.1.  The PUA says it can't handle the upgrade to 12.2.  Some internal SW folks told me in a Thwack meeting today that I had to download another set of app installers to get the job done.  Then Support told me to just use the PUA to get to 12.1, then use the NEW PUA to go to 12.2.

    Sadly I'm dealing with Server 2008 issues, so until I get the new VM licensing for 2012 resolved, I'm on hold for 12.2.

  • Yes, built out a new server and brought it up using the name/ip of our older server.   Installed software and updated all in one step using our old DB.   As worried as I was about this one it turned out to be the smoothest SW upgrade I have ever done.
    Roughly followed this upgrade doc

  • I brought a server on NPM 12.0.1, SAM 6.3.0, NCM 7.5.1, UDT 3.2.4, and SRM 6.3.0 directly to the current releases with the new installer without any issues.  There is no need to take an interim step of going to 12.1.  One word of warning, the installer will check for incompatibilities with existing modules and will refuse to proceed if any are found.  In this case, the client had installed a version of the Patch Manager Orion module that was not compatible with their other existing modules and the new installer wouldn't proceed with it installed.  Once the PM module was uninstalled, the upgrade went through without issue.

  • That's very encouraging, blsanner​ 

    My Product Upgrade Advisor says it doesn't handle NPM 12.2-only 12.1.  I think this might have been why it was suggested I upgrade from 12.01. to 12.1--that perhaps the PUA could handle going from 12.1 to 12.2, but not from 12.0.1 to 12.2.

    Was this new installer something you had to download separately?

  • No, if you look at the downloads for NPM 12.2, it's an all in one installer.  They have both an online one, which is real small (~11 MB), and an offline one which is over 2 GB.  This installer will install/upgrade all Orion modules at once, which means only one run through of the Configuration Wizard.  I looked at the extracted installers while it was running and it included the last 2 - 3 versions of each module, apparently in case an interim upgrade was needed.  Note that was for the offline installer which is what I had to use because the client's servers didn't have Internet access.  The online installer will download whatever installers it needs.

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  • No, if you look at the downloads for NPM 12.2, it's an all in one installer.  They have both an online one, which is real small (~11 MB), and an offline one which is over 2 GB.  This installer will install/upgrade all Orion modules at once, which means only one run through of the Configuration Wizard.  I looked at the extracted installers while it was running and it included the last 2 - 3 versions of each module, apparently in case an interim upgrade was needed.  Note that was for the offline installer which is what I had to use because the client's servers didn't have Internet access.  The online installer will download whatever installers it needs.

Children
  • That's exactly what I was waiting for in NPM 12.2.  I participated in a UX session about this before 12.2 was released, and today I was confused by the conflicting reports about how to actually upgrade.

    Thank you for this reassuring news.

  • Richard, would you be interested in participating in a dev assisted upgrade? I know you were in our UX session, while we were brainstorming about it, so I'm curious of your feedback with the real thing emoticons_happy.png Of course after you're not on 2008 emoticons_happy.png

  • Yes, please!

    I'm hoping I might be able to get our SysAdmins to prioritize providing a 2012 environment for two of my pollers the week of September 25, but I can't promise they'll do so.  Once they do, I'd love to reach out to you for assistance.

  • Fantastic! I'll send you an interest form to fill out in a DM, and then I'll wait for your bat signal.

  • Survey complete.  Now the timing's in the hands of my System Admins in charge of the 2012 VM environment.

  • @Serena--What's that up in the sky?

    pastedImage_0.png

    It's the BAT SIGNAL!

    I'm ready to upgrade NPM, NCM, and NTA with your team's oversight.

  • "......would you be interested in participating in a dev assisted upgrade?"

    Hello Serena,

    Is this offer open to anyone? We are running 12.0.1 on 2008 and plan on installing a fresh copy of NPM 12.2 on a new VM 2016. The support I was offered was in the form of links to guides and helpful tips, I had already reviewed. I haven't worked in SolarWinds much or enough to feel comfortable and I am new to networking covering for people who decided to leave our company. I received awesome assistance the first time I submitted a call ticket for another issue, this time is definitely different. We have a big organization and I don't feel comfortable doing to this major task without professional support and guidance. Our most important concern is backing up and restoring the old data so we don't have to start from scratch.

    Thank you for being so helpful,

    Christina

  • Serena watched "over my shoulder" as I upgraded from 12.0.1 to 12.2, and she and her team were there to answer my questions and keep me from wasting time or becoming stuck or heading down a dark path.

    In retrospect, I'd have been able to make it on my own--in at least two days instead of the couple of hours it took with their assistance.

    Certainly, the new upgrade advisor and path are a LOT better than previous versions, and if you've got the 2012 servers ready to load with the new versions of SW products, you'll have success.  But having Serena at your elbow to watch what you're doing, so she and her team can learn from your thoughts and actions, will be a very positive experience.  She kept me moving forward when I had questions that would have taken a lot of time to research, and her folks were extremely helpful in letting me provide my own actions, and then helping me improve on them.