File Director upgrades

Whether applying a patch or deploying a new base image, customers are strongly recommended to take an appliance configuration snapshot from the Admin Console prior to the upgrade in case they need to restore this following the upgrade. Refer to Apply a File Director patch.

In this section:

2024.3 upgrade path

The table summarizes the various upgrade paths for File Director 2024.3.

Your current version

Upgrade step(s) required
2024.1

Apply 2024.3 patch
2023.3 or earlier

  • Deploy 2024.1 base image

  • Apply 2024.3 patch

You must deploy a new base image when upgrading from an older release. This allows you to benefit from improvements to the VM such as the updated network adapter and VM hardware levels. In addition, this enables you to run the two installations side-by-side to perform testing before moving users to the upgraded release.

Your current version Method / Option Upgrade step(s) required
2021.1 - 2021.3

a) Apply patch

 Apply 2021.3 patch
2020.3 - 2019.3 a) Apply patch Apply 2021.1 patch Apply 2021.3 patch
b) Base image Deploy 2021.1 base image Apply 2021.3 patch  
2019.1 a) Apply patch Apply 2019.3 patch Apply 2021.1 patch Apply 2021.3 patch
b) Base image Deploy 2021.1 base image Apply 2021.3 patch  
2018.3 or earlier a) Apply patch Apply 2019.1 patch Apply 2019.3 patch Apply 2021.1 patch Apply 2021.3 patch
b) Base image Deploy 2021.1 base image Apply 2021.3 patch  

Example upgrade path:

  • If your current appliance version is File Director 2019.1 the recommended upgrade method is option b) Base image. The required upgrade steps are:
    1. Deploy 2021.1 base image.
    2. Apply 2021.3 patch.
  • If you are unable to deploy the base image, thealternative upgrade method is option a) Apply patch. The required upgrade steps are:
    1. Apply 2019.3 patch.
    2. Apply 2021.1 patch.
    3. Apply 2021.3 patch

    Note, you can only directly upgrade your File Director appliance(s) to 2021.3 from version 2021.1 and above. Refer to the Release-specific information below.

Best practice

For practical guidance on how to apply a patch to your standalone appliance or cluster, refer to Apply a File Director patch.

In-place upgrade

In-place upgrades are the most straightforward and ensure that all File Director appliances are of the same version. When using in-place updates, your system will remain offline during part of the upgrade. See Apply a File Director patch for further information.

In-place upgrades are only available for patch upgrades.

Side-by-side upgrade

If you want to evaluate or test a major version upgrade before applying it to your production environment you may want to perform a side-by-side upgrade. This approach allows you to maintain continuity and keep your existing File Director appliance(s) running while creating a new set of appliances using the newer version. This approach requires additional infrastructure and resources.

To ensure that your clients continue to synchronize with configured map points after the upgrade:

  1. Back up your current appliance configuration (see Backup and restore).

  2. Restore the configuration to your new appliance or cluster.

If you do not restore the configuration on your new installation, each client will perform full conflict resolution. Under these conditions, the client attempts to download the server copy of every file in order to recreate the local metadata. If you have a large number of files and users, this can dramatically increase the load on your network.

Release-specific information

MacOS Exclusion Rules Enhancements

Exclusion rules for macOS have been expanded to include size as well as AND/OR functions. Syntax has also been slightly in that spaces around operators are ignored.

For further information, see Mac Exclusions.

Improved Setting of Log Levels

The log level can now be set by running the Defaults tool from the Terminal and utilizing User Defaults.

The AdminConfig.sh contains examples.

File Director Native Information

The File Director app is not universal, which means it runs natively on both Intel and Apple Silicon (M1) Macs.

 

The 2021.1 patch file applies only to File Director 2019.3 and above.

File Director 2021.1 included a new base image and administrators are advised to deploy the new image and apply the patch only if the recommended approach of deploying the base image is not possible.

Removal of SQL dependency

The 2021.1 release of File Director delivered many important changes that simplify both infrastructure requirements and appliance configuration.

A key feature of File Director 2021.1 is that it removed the requirement for an external SQL database.

On upgrade, from a pre-2021.1 release to 2021.1 (or later) there are no additional steps required to benefit from removal of this dependency, the transition is seamless with no impact to clustering or client connectivity. Following upgrade, all SQL software is removed from your appliance (including the SQL driver), and the tab within the web admin user interface.

VMware - additional configuration

The following section applies only to VMware deployments, it does not apply to Hyper-V. The recommended virtual hardware level for VMware is version 14 or later.

The base image for File Director 2021.1 includes the VMXNET3 network adapter for virtual machines. This adapter supports a 10 GB network capability. Installing the new base image will automatically update the required VM configuration file to enable the increased capacity.

If you upgrade to 2021.1 by applying the patch, you will need to manually update the network adapter from E1000 to VMXNET3 in order to take advantage of the 10 GB NIC.

Change network adapter to VMXNET3

If you upgrade to 2021.1 by installing the patch the network adapter must be updated to take advantage of the 10 GB NIC. The change can be made via the VMWare user interface or manually in the configuration file:

  • After applying the patch, locate and open the VMware configuration file (.vmx)

  • In the ethernet0.virtualDev field enter: vmxnet3

    In previous releases of File Director (2020.3 and earlier), the value required was E1000.

As of File Director 2020.2, by default the server will accept only TLS1.3 and TLS.1.2 secure connections. Refer to Advanced configuration help.

Note that when upgrading to 2019.3 the database settings will be wiped as the new schema is applied. It is vital that a configuration snapshot is downloaded before upgrading. This configuration snapshot can then be restored post-upgrade.

Note that when upgrading to 2019.3 the database settings will be wiped as the new schema is applied. It is vital that a configuration snapshot is downloaded before upgrading. This configuration snapshot can then be restored post-upgrade.

Technical Previews

Upgrade to File Director from any technical preview installation is not supported.

Related topics

Applying a File Director patch

Backup and restore