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Upgrade Contrast

Contrast releases patches and upgrades as part of the embedded on-premises installer file, which you can download from the Contrast Hub.

The installer intelligently determines that a previous version of Contrast exists on a given system. You can choose to run the updater portion of the process, or run an installation in a separate location. If a previous installation exists, you must configure a parallel installation to run on separate ports.

Before you begin

Back up thecacerts file in the $CONTRAST_INSTALLATION/jre/lib/security directory.

The upgrade process overwrites this file which can result in login issues. These certificates are used for LDAP integrations.

Steps

  1. Create a MySQL backup and store the backup file on a separate file system or drive to avoid any issues with restoration. The installer attempts to create a database backup as part of the upgrade process, but to be safe, do this manually. Also, back up all configuration files located at $CONTRAST_HOME/data/conf.

  2. Be sure the Contrast application is running when you start the installation process. Agents will continue to send vulnerability and library messages during this time. When the application initiates a shutdown on its own, the agents defer sending messages until it can reach the application.

  3. The upgrade process is nearly identical to the original process to install the Contrast application; however, you will be asked to choose to update an existing installation or perform a new installation. You should choose to update an existing installation.

  4. The upgrade will initially perform a database backup. Depending on the size of your database, this process can take a few seconds to a few minutes. During this operation, the application should be accessible to agents and end users.

  5. The update then deploys a new file system under the installation directory. This primarily consists of deploying the Contrast.war file directory to the $CONTRAST_HOME/webapps directory. The application won't be accessible while the file system is updated.

  6. Once a successful file system update is complete, the application starts up. While the application is starting up, you can follow along in the log files (migration.log and contrast.log, specifically). Log entries are written for both file system and database updates in a sequential manner.

    Note

    Configuration files and database components aren't updated until the initial startup step.

  7. The first indicator of a successful update is that you can access the Contrast application by either logging in to the Contrast web interface or using an API request.

    Tip

    In the user menu you will see a link to the Release News for the version you are using.

  8. Review the contents of the migration.log immediately after the upgrade. This log will reveal any issues experienced as part of the update process.

Note

In the minutes after the upgrade, deployed agents might attempt to update to the latest agent version. These agents won't reflect their own update until each has restarted and established contact with the Contrast application.

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