Upgrading or rolling back Desktop Client

Preparing for upgrading or rolling back

Before performing an upgrade or rollback, validate system compatibility and resource availability. Ensure all configuration files and environment variables are backed up, and confirm version dependencies.

Review the product release notes.
Review the release notes for the versions that were released since your current version. In particular, the Breaking Changes section highlights changes that might require you to adjust your workflow, configuration, or usage.
Confirm your Aspera service account.
The Aspera service account is created when you install the software on your computer, and you need to provide this account information during the upgrade. By default, the username for the Aspera service account is svcAspera; however, this is not mandatory, and you can choose a different user to run the services.

To identify which user is designated as your Aspera service account:
1. Open the Services management console by typing Services in the Search box on the taskbar.
2. Keep the credentials of the service account associated with the Aspera services, such as IBM Aspera Run Service, and record the username.
  If you don't have the Aspera service account password or want to change the designated Aspera service account, follow the instructions in Managing the Aspera service account.
Creating the back up.
CAUTION: To rollback, use a backup that was created when the system was running the target version, rather than restoring a database from the newer version.
1. Back up configuration and settings files.
  These files are found in the etc and var folders. Their location depends on the version of your previous installation and the operating system.
  - Configuration files and the shared remote hosts:
    - C:\Program Files\Aspera\Client\etc\
  - Individual user's remote hosts and Hot Folders configuration:
    - C:\Program Files\Aspera\Client\var\
    - %APPDATA%\Aspera\Client
    To determine the current user's AppData path, in a command prompt window run:
```
echo %APPDATA%
```
2. Back up the Redis database.
  To back up the Redis database, copy the contents of the following folder to a secure location:
```
C:\Program Files\Aspera\Client\var\appendonlydir
```
  The folder contains the following files:
  - appendonly.aof.1.base.aof
  - appendonly.aof.manifest
  To ensure data redundancy and strengthen disaster recovery, periodically create and store an additional copy of these files on a separate machine.
3. If you modified the startup scripts, back up the modified files. These files are overwritten during an upgrade and you will need to copy your modifications into the new files after the upgrade process.

Upgrading

Important: Active transfers are automatically stopped during the upgrade. No manual action is required.

Although the installer runs your upgrade automatically, you must complete the tasks that are in the Preparing for upgrading or rolling back section before you proceed. If you do not follow these steps, you might get installation errors or losing your former configuration settings.

Verify the current version of Desktop Client.
To view the current product and version, click Tools > License in the GUI or run the following ascp or ascp4 command:
```
> ascp -A 
```
Download the latest version of Desktop Client from Fix Central.
Run the installer.
The installer automatically checks for an older version of the product on your machine. If an older version is found, the installer automatically removes it before you install the new version.

On a Windows system, the installer displays a message when an older version of the product is detected:
Save your configuration settings and database files that you previously backed up back into the correct location on your machine.
Validate that all the configuration parameters work after the upgrade.

Rolling back

Complete the tasks in the Preparing for upgrading or rolling back section before you proceed. If you skip these steps, you might encounter installation errors or lose your previous configuration settings.

CAUTION: Back up the aspera.conf file from your current product version. You might need it for the previous product version that you are going to install. Validate that all the configuration parameters that are in aspera.conf work after the revert is complete.

Verify the current version of Desktop Client.
To view the current product and version, click Tools > License in the GUI or run the following ascp command:
```
> ascp -A
```
Uninstall the application. For more information, see Uninstalling.
Delete the var and etc directories from your machine.
Run a clean installation of the older version. For more information, see installing Installing Desktop Client.
When the installation is complete, save your configuration settings and database files that you previously backed up back into the correct location on your machine.
For Redis, restore the appendonly.aof file by running the following command:
```
> type appendonly.aof | "C:\Program Files\Aspera\Client\bin\asredis.exe" -p 31415 --pipe
```
Validate that all the configuration parameters work after you reverted the product to an earlier version.