Upgrade standalone FW from R81 to R82 failed

[Andy1977]

Our client has a standalone SMS + Security Gateway setup at R81 JHF Take 87 and would like to upgrade to R82. We deployed a VM in our lab and installed a standalone FW and update to JHF Take 87 to simulate the upgrade process.

• Checked the supported upgrade path https://sc1.checkpoint.com/documents/R82/WebAdminGuides/EN/CP_R82_RN/Content/Topics-RN/Supported-Upg...

• Deployment agent is updated to the latest version https://support.checkpoint.com/results/sk/sk92449
• Upgrade tool is also updated to the latest version and export verification is succeeded
• Checked upgrade to R82 is allowed

However, the upgrade failed at last step and show error message: "Failed to install AutoUpdater Zero packages", then it rollback to old version. A screen was attach for reference,

We tried different upgrade path, but all failed at R82 upgrade the last step:

• R81 with JHF Take 87 > R82 (Fail)
• R81 > R81.20 (Success) > R82 (Fail)
• R81 JHF Take 87 > R81.20 (Success) > R81.20 with JHF Take 119 (Success) > R82 (Fail)

Does anyone see the same error message and know anyway to fix this?

[Tal_Paz-Fridman]

Can you please run the command da_cli collect_logs 

Send me the file to [email protected] and I will send to relevant R&D owner for examination. 

[Andy1977 · Accepted solution]

The basic R82 image that CPUSE downloaded is R82 Take 777. According to sk164258, we found the aligned R82 version is R81 JHF Take 99.

 https://support.checkpoint.com/results/sk/sk164258

We upgraded the R81 JHF Take 87 to JHF Take 99. Then the upgrade R81 JHF Take 99 to R82 Take 777 works fine.

So at the end, we need to follow a upgrade path:

R81 JHF Take 87 > R81 JHF Take 99 > R82 Take 777 > Apply R82 latest JHF.

[Tal_Paz-Fridman]

Thanks

I will see if we can add a check for this so that it will give a clear validation

[the_rock]

Good to know! Just curious though, did you make sure verification showed green when running it before the upgrade?

[Andy1977]

Yes, checked verification showed green before upgrade.

I roll back snapshot and checked the logs for upgrade fail at message "Failed to install AutoUpdater Zero Packages", I saw following error message:

[2025-12-15 - 18:33:26][21835 21835]:------ Updating Products: ------
[2025-12-15 - 18:37:09][21835 21835]:
***************** About to execute external tool *****************
Full command: /opt/AutoUpdater/latest/bin/AutoUpdaterCriticalPackagesInstaller.sh -u
Description: Install critical packages
Log: /opt/CPInstLog/install_critical.log
[2025-12-15 - 18:37:09][21835 21835]:
Execution summary:
Return code: 1
Output:
***************** External tool execution completed *****************
[2025-12-15 - 18:37:10][21835 21835]:/opt/AutoUpdater/latest/bin/autoupdatercli get_status json command summary:
Return code = 1
Output = {
"message" : "Error: Not enough arguments for - - ID of the installation is missing."
}

It looks like after upgrade, the process called AutoUpdater at the end but the command failed to execute and the whole upgrade was rolled back. No idea why this happens.

[the_rock]

I find that super peculiar, specially considering the fact verification succeeded. Anywho, glad it all worked out at the end.