FileWave Server Upgrades

Hosted server upgrades are coordinated through FileWave communication with hosted customers. If your server is hosted by FileWave, start with Your Hosted FileWave Server Has Been Upgraded - What Are Your Next Steps?.

For on-premise servers, use Upgrading your On-Premise FileWave Server as the detailed upgrade guide. This page is a quick planning checklist so the high-level sequence is easy to find.

Upgrade planning checklist

1. Review the target release notes, Known Issues, and the FileWave Official Version Support Statement before choosing the upgrade path.
2. Use the FileWave Downloads pages to prepare only what the target release actually requires. For macOS servers, download the FileWave Server installer. For Debian servers, use the one-line upgrade command on the download page, or download the .deb packages if you prefer. FileWave Central auto-upgrades on login in FileWave 16.3.1 and later, so a separate Central download is not normally needed. In FileWave 16.4.0 and later, macOS and Windows clients can also auto-upgrade instead of requiring separate client installer downloads.
3. Run the server upgrade from the appropriate server-side asset: copy the macOS FileWave Server installer to the server, or run the Debian upgrade script/package workflow from the server. Copy Central or client installers only when your target version and rollout workflow still require a manual application or client upgrade.
4. Before locking devices, confirm they are not already locked for another reason. Lock the devices that should pause content changes during the maintenance window, then run an Update Model.
5. Run a current FileWave Server backup. If the server is a virtual machine, also take a VM snapshot using the guidance in the full upgrade article; avoid a live snapshot while FileWave services are actively writing data.
6. Upgrade the FileWave Server first, following the instructions for the target version's download page and the detailed upgrade guide. Include any required server OS updates in the maintenance plan.
7. Log in with FileWave Central, allow Central to auto-upgrade if prompted, connect to the upgraded server, and verify that the health indicator and a Model Update are successful.
8. Unlock one or two test devices, confirm they check in and behave as expected, then either continue testing or unlock the remaining devices that should resume normal management.

When the maintenance window is complete, only unlock devices that were locked for the upgrade. Devices that were intentionally locked beforehand should remain locked.