Upgrade best practices

Read about upgrade requirements (see Upgrade requirements) including backup of the SQL Server databases before you start the actual upgrade.

Device drivers are now split into two device packs: the regular device pack with newer drivers and a legacy device pack with older drivers. The regular device pack is always automatically installed with an update or upgrade. If you have older cameras that use device drivers from the legacy device pack, and you do not have a legacy device pack installed already, the system does not automatically install the legacy device pack.

If your system has older cameras, Milestone recommends that you check if the cameras use drivers from the legacy device pack on this page (https://www.milestonesys.com/community/business-partner-tools/device-packs/). To check if you have the legacy pack installed already, look in the XProtect system folders. If you need to download the legacy device pack, go to download page (https://www.milestonesys.com/downloads/).

If your system is a Single Computer system, you can install the new software on top of the existing installation.

In a Milestone Interconnect or Milestone Federated Architecture system, you must start upgrading the central site and afterward the remote sites.

In a distributed system, perform the upgrade in this order:

  1. Upgrade the management server with the Custom option in the installer (see Install your system - Custom option).
    1. On the wizard page where you choose components, all management server components are preselected.
    2. Specify SQL Server and database. Decide whether to keep the SQL Server database that you are already using and to keep the existing data in the database.

      When you start the installation, you lose the failover recording server functionality (see Failover recording server (explained)).

      If you enable encryption on the management server, the recording servers are offline until they are upgraded, and you have enabled encryption to the management server (see Secure communication (explained)).

  2. Upgrade failover recording servers. From your management server's download web page (controlled by the Download Manager), install Recording Server.

    If you plan to enable encryption on the failover recording servers and you want to retain the failover functionality, upgrade the failover recording server without encryption and enable it after you have upgraded the recording servers.

    At this point the failover server functionality works again.

  3. If you plan to enable encryption from the recording servers or failover recording servers to the clients and it is important that the clients can retrieve data during the upgrade, upgrade all clients and services that retrieve data streams from the recording servers before you upgrade the recording servers. These clients and services are:
    • XProtect Smart Client
    • Management Client
    • Management Server
    • XProtect Mobile server
    • XProtect Event Server
    • DLNA Server Manager
    • Milestone Open Network Bridge
    • Sites that retrieve data streams from the recording server through Milestone Interconnect
    • Some MIP SDK third-party integrations
  4. Upgrade the recording servers. You can install recording servers using the installation wizard (see Install a recording server through Download Manager) or silently (see Install a recording server silently). The advantage of a silent install is that you can do it remotely.

    5. If you enable encryption and the selected server authentication certificate is not trusted on all relevant computers running, they lose connection. For more information, see Secure communication (explained).

Continue these steps for the other sites in your system.