Phase 3: Upgrade

In the third phase of the upgrade process, you will perform the direct upgrade of your Data Archive server on the host computer. You can upgrade using the PI Server install kit, or through the command line.

Upgrade notes and considerations

• The PI Server install kit supports direct upgrades only for versions PI Server 2015 R2 and later, and only if the server is running the 64-bit version of the software. See Phase 2: Qualify before proceeding.

• Upgrade paths can also depend on your Windows OS version. Newer version of PI Server (2018 and 2024) do not support older operating systems (for example, Windows Server 2008 R2). If your OS is not supported, you may need to move to a newer OS before upgrading PI Server. See System Requirements for details.

• If your Data Archive is part of a collective, we recommend upgrading the secondary servers first before upgrading the primary server in the collective. This ensures synchronization records sent by a primary server are recognized by a secondary server. Additionally, upgrading the secondary server first presents an easier rollback path in the event of issues with your upgrade.

• If you want to move Data Archive as part of an upgrade, we recommend you first move Data Archive to a new server and then upgrade the version of Data Archive on the new server. For more information, see Move your Data Archive to a new computer.

• When upgrading a collective from Data Archive 2016 R2 or earlier to Data Archive 2017 or later, expect to lose collective sync and experience collective status errors until all members of the collective have completed the upgrade. For more detailed information, see the Knowledge Base article: Troubleshooting Collective Certificate Issues in PI Collectives 2017+.

• Starting with PI Server 2018 SP3 Patch 1, the setup kit configures all required PI Data Archive services to run with virtual service accounts by default. In addition, the setup kit ensures these virtual service accounts have proper access to key folder paths as part of the install process. For upgrades, the setup kit checks for any existing user-configured accounts associated with PI Data Archive services, and preserves these configurations during the upgrade process. Regardless of the configuration, users must ensure their accounts for these services have permission to access key folder paths, such as those for backup and archives. This is especially the case if changes are made after the installation or upgrade.

• Upgrade to .NET 4.8 Framework on the host machine before upgrading Data Archive.

1. Perform the following preliminary steps:

   1. Upgrade to .NET 4.8 Framework before disconnecting Data Archive from the network and Internet.

   2. Using Buffering Manager, ensure that buffering is set up and running for all interfaces.

   3. Disconnect the Data Archive from the network.

      This forces interfaces to begin buffering. Those buffers will ensure that no data is lost if problems occur during upgrade.

   4. Verify that the event queue is empty. See PI Data Archive monitoring and Verify the activity of the event queue.

   5. Perform a final backup of the PI Data Archive.

      See the Data Archive topic Launch backups with the piartool utility.

   6. Stop the Data Archive.

2. Download the install kit onto your host computer, and start the install wizard.

   The PI Server install wizard appears showing the Welcome window.

3. Click Next to continue with the upgrade.

   The Feature Selection window appears, highlighting the PI Server components initially selected for upgrade, based upon what PI software is detected on your host computer.

   

   Note: To add additional features, click the Individual Features tab and make your selections.

4. Click Next to continue with the upgrade.

   Note: Depending on which other PI software is installed on your host computer, you will see different setup windows appear during the upgrade process. For example, if PI AF server is installed, you will see the SQL Server Connection window.

5. Click Next to continue with the upgrade. Depending on which PI software you have on your host machine, other setup windows may open. Continue with the upgrade until you see the Summary window appears, listing all of the PI components and software to be upgraded.

6. In the Summary window, review the list of features to be upgraded.

7. Click Install to continue with the upgrade.

   The Installation Progress window appears and shows the progress of the upgrade.

8. Click Close to exit the setup.