Upgrade R77.20 to R80.10

[Jesus_Cano]

Hi,

I have a checkpoint scenario:

1) MGMT: Virtual Machine in Vcenter 5.5

2) Cluster Gateways active/passive in open servers.

Basically, i would like to know the procedure to upgrade all.

1) Upgrading MGMT.

   1.1) Run upgrade verifier

   1.2) Run migrate export

2) In the gateways? clean installation?? any .tar.gz with upgrade packet?

[G_W_Albrecht]

You have to decide if you will need a fresh install (e.g. good for very old SMS) or just do an InPlace Upgrade. Consult the R80.10 Release Notes for the available options. For the needed software and procedure see:

Tip of the week: Support Center's Upgrade Wizard

[Jesus_Cano]

SO what is the recommendation from Checkpoint. From R77.20 to R80.10? clean installacion in SMS or InPlace upgrade?

[G_W_Albrecht]

There is no recommended way if you do not have much information about the installation. Also, every customer has his own needs and boundary conditions. Usually, SMS database is migrated into a new installation and GWs get an InPlace-Update.

[_Val_]

There is no "the only correct way to upgrade" with Check Point. Depending on your needs, skills and desires, both in-place upgrade and advanced upgrade are viable options

[Jesus_Cano]

So please, tell me what i have to keep in mind for these "needs".

I always had heard that in a big jump "SMS upgrade legacy". and for gateways "clean installation"

[G_W_Albrecht]

Clean installation for GWs is the best choice when it has only few interfaces and config is not complicated. On SMS, fresh install, 1stTimeWizard and migrate import is preferable, only caveat is changes in .def files that have to be made again.

But it all depens - if a long maintenance window is possible you have many choices, if the GW has to work for 24 hours during upgrade the situation is more demanding  !

[_Val_]

With limited expertise, I would advise "smart" upgrade in place. Clone your SMS VM, put it on a different network to avoid IP conflict with the production environment and perform upgrade in place. Play with the newly upgraded VM a bit, open SmartConsole, make sure you understand what you see, and then just swap "old" and "new" VMs. 

Mind, in this case, logs did not exist yet, will no magically appear on the new machine and will be lost. If you absolutely need them, perform a second upgrade in place after lab tests on your R77.x SMS. In this case, you will have some pause in security administration.

For the GWs, it is all a function of complexity and time at hands. Upgrade in place or re-install (I recommend doing it with Blink, look it up), outcome and amount of efforts to invest are comparable.