VMware App Volumes – Upgrade Manager to v. 2206

Release date: August 31st 2022

Welcome to my VMware App Volumes series. In this session I will describe the steps I took to upgrade my App Volumes Managers. My initial installation of VMware App Volumes was done with v. 2.14. I have since upgraded several times. In this session I will upgrade to v. 2206, which was released on July 19th 2022, version 4.7.0.64. According to VMware’s official documentation, this should be done as step 5 in the supported update sequence, as shown below.

Before I do the upgrade of my App Volumes manager, I shut down the VM and take a snapshot. I also make sure to do a database backup of the App Volumes database and backup the nginx config file and certificates I created using OpenSSL, as described here: VMware App Volumes – Replace App Volumes Manager self-signed certificate with Domain CA signed certificate

Furthermore, I check out the release notes from VMware posted here: VMware App Volumes 4, version 2206 and check out the upgrade compability vs. App Volumes, here: VMware Product Interoperability Matrices.

Once done, I start out by downloading the installation media from VMware Customer Connect and open the ISO-file.

Before I launch the upgrade, I verify the installed version and note down the database and server name defined in the system ODBC source svmanager

From the «Installation» folder I launch the setup.msi file

The App Volumes 2206 (4.7.0) Installation Wizard launches, Next…

I accept the license terms, Next…

In the App Volumes Install Screen, I select “Install App Volumes Manager“, Install…

This selection launches the App Volumes Manager Installation Wizard, Next…

Install…

OK to reboot afterwards (two times)…

When the App Volumes Installation Wizard finishes, Finish…

After the upgrade is complete, I verify the installed version and reboot the server.

Once the server has rebooted, and the App Volumes service is running, I verify that I can access the App Volumes Manager web console and that the certificate is correct. If everything works as planned afterwards, I delete the snapshot I created beforehand. This completes the manual upgrade of the VMware App Volumes Manager.

In environments with more than one App Volumes Manager, I would recommend reviewing VMware’s guidelines for Rolling Upgrades, available here: Considerations for Performing Rolling Upgrades Keeping this in mind, I can now proceed with doing an unattended upgrade of my second App Volumes Manager by following the documentation from VMware here: Install App Volumes Manager Silently Before I begin this unattended upgrade, I shut down the vm and take a snapshot. I log in on the server with a user that has local administrator permissions, and copy the App Volumes Manager.msi-file to a temp folder. This can also be done remotely by script, which I will cover the next time an upgrade is required.

I proceed with the upgrade by running the following command in an administrative cmd prompt:

msiexec /i "App Volumes Manager.msi" /qb /l* UpgradeAppVol.log

Once the installation is done, I can verify in the UpgradeAppVol.log that the upgrade was successful

As with the manual upgrade above, I restart the server and verify my certificate and other settings. Finally I verify my running versions in VMware App Volumes Manager

To finish off, I remove the snapshot I created before I started this unattended upgrade. I can now proceed with updating the App Volumes Agent, posted here: VMware App Volumes – Upgrade Agent to v. 2206

VMware App Volumes Product Page

VMware App Volumes planning, deployment etc.

Disclaimer: Every tips/tricks/posting I have published here, is tried and tested in different it-solutions. It is not guaranteed to work everywhere, but is meant as a tip for other users out there. Remember, Google is your friend and don’t be afraid to steal with pride! Feel free to comment below as needed.