Before upgrading to your Carbon Black App Control server, you must ensure that your existing server is at a supported version/patch level. Please refer to the Supported Upgrade Paths section in the Release Notes for this release.

Important:

You must backup the App Control database before running an upgrade. Some database upgrade failures are non-recoverable. Be sure you have a backup no more than one day old.

Dialogs during the upgrade process will warn you if your database backup is not recent (or its status cannot be determined). Proceeding in these cases is not recommended.

In addition to backing up your server, you should consider the following requirements and recommendations before performing an upgrade:

  • Changing the App Control Server name at upgrade is not recommended, especially if you use your own distribution methods to upgrade App Control Agents. Consider using a CNAME for the server to avoid having to change the name.
  • App Control Server upgrades must be run as the App Control Server service user account that was configured during server installation. You can determine the name of this account by opening the Windows Task Manager and clicking the Services button in the bottom right corner. The name in the Log On As field next to the server must be used (either by login or runas ) to install the upgrade.
  • If you are upgrading the server on a system that is protected by a App Control Agent, disable tamper App Control on that agent prior to installing the upgrade. The upgrade installation program normally warns you if a App Control rule or third-party software is blocking access to a folder or registry location that the server installer must access to complete the upgrade. However, the best practice is to disable tamper App Control in advance in case the blocking condition is not identified. In this case, be certain to re-enable tamper App Control as soon as the server upgrade is completed.
  • If you are running AppLocker on the system where the App Control Server will be installed, either temporarily disable AppLocker or be sure it uses only default rules.