In this week’s blog we’re looking at a scenario where a previous Passwordstate Administrator has left and you’re now in the driving seat. One of the first tasks you’ve been given by your “overlords” is to find out how far behind your install is and plan what needs to be upgraded.
Being new to Passwordstate, and never having been involved in the upgrade process before, you’re probably thinking “It’s time to find a new job”. But there’s no need to panic! Before you start taking drastic steps like planning to move on, let’s work through a high level process aimed at giving you the information you need. This includes;
- What version am I running?
- What is the latest version available?
- How do I find what options are installed?
- Where do you obtain instructions on the upgrade process?
- Are there any dependencies?
- Where do I get the source files from?
Once you’ve covered off on the above, you’ll be ready to make informed decisions on what needs to be upgraded, when, and apply the upgrades to all required components.
What Version AM I Running & What Is Available?
First things first. We’re going to assume you’ve been setup as a Passwordstate Security Administrator and granted access to most of the Roles/Features listed on the left side of the screen below. When you navigate to Administration->Passwordstate Administration you’ll see the About information relating to your core Passwordstate instance,
Note, even through you are shown the Password Reset Portal and Remote Site Locations API Build Numbers, this does not mean you are licensed for these modules or that they are installed. To check if you have these installed or if they need to be upgraded is covered later in this blog.
Next, you’ll navigate to the Click Studios website https://www.clickstudios.com.au and under Download->Change Log – V9 you’ll find details on the latest build of Passwordstate. While Click Studios recommends always being on the latest build of Passwordstate we do recognize that you’ve got other tasks and duties to perform. We encourage all customers to review the details associated with each build and, in accordance with internal risk and change management practices, decide when to upgrade.
Note: Each Build incorporates all previous updates and fixes for that Major Version, i.e., Version 8 or V9. While the image above is focused on V9 you can also confirm the details for Version 8 under Download->Change Log – V8.
Once you’ve decided that you do want to plan out the upgrade you can download the appropriate CSIP (Common Software Installation Process) package from our website located here https://www.clickstudios.com.au/passwordstate-checksums.aspx. On this page you’ll always find two packages, show by the Red Circles 1 & 2,
Red Circle 1 – or the top entry will always show the latest build of Passwordstate for the current Major Version. In our example this is the latest build (at the time of this blog) for V9. Red Circle 2 will always show the last build available for the previous Major Version of Passwordstate, in this case, Version 8. Underneath the two is the link to the Upgrade Instructions.
Don’t forget, check the downloaded package’s checksum with the published checksum value shown on the page. The values published and the checksum of the download package change with every new build.
How Do I Find What Options Are Installed?
To start with we’d recommend looking at what options you are licensed to run. You can check these details by navigating to Administration->License Information as per the image below,
The two core license types are Client Access Licenses and Annual Support (although a very small number customers may not have Annual Support). The optional modules of High Availability, Password Reset Portal and Remote Site Locations will only have entries under Registration Name, Expires, License Count and Registration Key if you have either a valid or Trial license applied.
Once you’ll established what license options you’ve got you can also confirm if and where the AppServer, Browser Based Gateway and/or Self Destruct Website are installed.
For the AppServer, navigate to Administration->Authorized Web Servers. From here you’ll see the NetBIOS names for your Primary, High Availability and AppServer webservers. If you need to obtain the IP address for any NetBIOS names you can use the nbtstat (NetBIOS over TCP/IP) command.
To confirm if you have the Self Destruct Push Pull website installed externally from the core website (its default installation) navigate to Administration->System Settings->self destruct messages->Self Destruct Settings and check for an entry under Separate Site URL,
Again, if you need to obtain the IP address for the supplied URL you can perform a DNS lookup of that URL by using the nslookup command. Lastly, to confirm if you’ve installed the Browser Based Gateway on a separate server navigate to Administration->Remote Session Management->Browser Base Gateway Settings,
And under Configure Remote Session Gateway->Gateway URL you’ll see the URL of the server where it’s installed. Again, you can use the nslookup command to locate your IP address.
Where Do You Obtain Instructions and Check Dependencies?
This part is really easy. You have three options available for accessing the Upgrade Instructions. These are;
- Accessed from our website documentation page https://www.clickstudios.com.au/documentation/
- Accessed from the website Checksums page https://www.clickstudios.com.au/passwordstate-checksums.aspx (the link is the same as that used for the documentation page above)
- Documentation is included in the CSIP Package you download. Once extracted, the PDF is located in Passwordstate\Upgrade Instructions. This is simply a local copy of the same Upgrade Instructions available from our website.
And lastly, regardless of how you’ve accessed the Upgrade Instructions, the Upgrade Dependency Matrix, covering all modules is located in Section 12 of the document,
Where Do I Get The Source Files From?
The only location you should ever obtain your source files from is https://www.clickstudios.com.au/passwordstate-checksums.aspx. Never obtain Passwordstate source files from a 3rd Party Systems Integrator, Authorized Reseller or other person etc.
When downloading from the Checksums page you will be downloading from the Click Studios Content Delivery Network. This is a geographically distributed group of servers that provide fast delivery of our CSIP packages.
Each build of Passwordstate includes the latest source files for all modules. These are located in the Install path of your Passwordstate webserver under \inetpub\Passwordstate\downloads.
By following the high level processes in this blog you can,
- Identify your current installed version of Passwordstate,
- Confirm what you’re licensed for, have installed, and where,
- Find the latest build available and the changes it contains,
- Understand what components require updates, and,
- Obtain the latest source files and instructions.
From there you can plan out the upgrade(s), submit change requests and seek the approvals to move forward.
If you’d like to share your feedback please send it through to support@clickstudios.com.au.