Upgrading Multiple Boosters
What
The Booster upgrade feature gives FileWave administrators a centralized way to upgrade multiple Boosters from within FileWave.
When/Why
Having to ssh or remote control each Booster to download and run the installer takes too much time. Starting with FileWave 14.4, the "Boosters" and "Booster Details" tabs provide manual upgrade actions for Boosters that have an applicable upgrade available. Starting with FileWave 16.3.0, compatible outdated Boosters can also be automatically scheduled for upgrade after a FileWave Server upgrade. By default, that automatic Booster upgrade is scheduled one week later, the delay is configurable in Preferences, and administrators can unschedule it if needed. If the delay is set to 0 days, compatible Boosters try to upgrade right away after the FileWave Server upgrade. That automatic attempt happens once per Booster, and if it fails, an administrator needs to intervene to complete or re-trigger the upgrade. Some of the criteria to determine if there is an applicable upgrade are:
- Booster has to be at least 14.4
- The operating system version has to be supported by the target version
- The booster has to be running in order to trigger an upgrade
- The version number of the target version has to be higher than the currently installed version (i.e you cannot use this feature to reinstall/downgrade to a specific version)
This article discusses manually scheduling upgrades for multiple Boosters. In FileWave 16.3.0 and later, it also complements the automatic post-Server-upgrade scheduling workflow when you want to start upgrades immediately or control the selection yourself.
How
It is also possible to schedule multiple Boosters for upgrade at once. In this case, one Booster will be upgraded after another in alphabetical order. In FileWave 16.3.0 and later, compatible outdated Boosters may already be scheduled automatically after a Server upgrade. The simplest way to start that process immediately, or to manually schedule multiple Boosters yourself, is to use the "Upgrade All Boosters" button in the toolbar of the Boosters section of the native console:
It automatically schedules all selected Boosters to upgrade. Alternatively, you can select multiple Boosters and use the context menu or toolbar button to upgrade them.
In FileWave 16.3.0 and later, the automatic post-Server-upgrade Booster schedule is controlled in FileWave Central -> Preferences -> General. The default delay is 7 days after upgrading the server, and administrators can adjust that delay to fit their environment. A value of 0 days means compatible Boosters will try to upgrade immediately after the FileWave Server upgrade. That automatic attempt is made once per Booster. If a Booster fails during that immediate run, you need to intervene manually to complete or re-trigger the upgrade.
To track the progress of upgrading multiple boosters, you can use the new Booster Upgrade status field mentioned earlier. You can also use the new check box Upgrade available which allows you to filter out boosters that have no upgrade available. This check box is displayed in both the Boosters and Booster Details tabs:
With this new functionality, the process to upgrade Boosters should be greatly simplified, especially for larger environments.