When Will SmartConsole Support In-Place Updates?

[Mart_Pirita]

Hi,

I have used CheckPoint since 2005 and I'm now pretty sure, that CheckPoint hates SmartConsole users, as in year 2019 it's impossible to upgrade CheckPoint SmartConsole, without uninstalling old CheckPoint SmartConsole. And in year 2019 this uninstalling does not give any option to save settings and fingerprints, like for example Juniper -s Pulse does.
Uninstalling CheckPoint console removes all settings and fingerprints but of course it does not remove installation folder C:\Program Files (x86)\CheckPoint\SmartConsole\R80.10 and later on new installer then gives error - "The installation directory provided is not empty and might contain previous installation files. To proceed with the installation, please clean this directory or select an empty folder".

Really? In year 2019 I must do it manually? What do you CP guys smoke? Investigated this a bit and it finally turned out, that folder C:\Program Files (x86)\CheckPoint\SmartConsole\R80.10 contained one empty folder "PROGRAM". After manually removing C:\Program Files (x86)\CheckPoint\SmartConsole\R80.10 folder, installer was happy.

But I'm not happy, as the console thinks I'm using it first time, so I must add all settings, again. Accept all servers fingerprints, again. Close the boring popup notifications, again. Etc. And as CheckPoint keeps constantly upgrade SmartConsole, I must deal with this installer issue quite often.
 
Conclusion - in year 2019 we are paying huge money to CheckPoint and in return we're getting lousy product and for comparision freeware tools can create better windows installer packages with better logic, but CheckPoint can't or won't.

[JozkoMrkvicka]

Yep, we recently started to deploy dedicated W10 VM only for SmartConsole purposes.

I have 12 GB of RAM atm but once I need new ntb I will be limited to only 10 GB  IT company

But still...

[G_W_Albrecht]

You have to be able to open three different versions of SmartDashboard, but having it open at the same time is not a good idea - i would rather change my way of working  !

[Tomer_Noy]

The minimum requirements for running SmartConsole is 4GB, not 8GB. This is officially documented in our admin guides.

It's also worth noting that this is the minimum for the PC / VM and in most scenarios the SmartConsole application itself will consume much less than 4GB. Running multiple instances (even differing versions) should consume much less than 4GB x running instances.

It is true that R80.x modern SmartConsole consumes more memory than the older R77.x SmartDashboard. This is largely due to newer libraries that give us enhanced capabilities and UI controls. Also, memory consumption may vary according to the server's DB, how much activity is happening and your usage patterns.

[Jessica_Han]

I just went through the same pain and could not agree more. I haven't seen this kind of error for a while for upgrade or installation. Shouldn't the new installer has the "uninstall" feature automatically? 

[Duane_Toler]

OO! Can I upvote OP a few dozen times? Because, yes, this is extremely annoying when having to uninstall and re-install something new for the next Endpoint Security server update every time.  +1 again.

[Garrett_DirSec]

portion of your concerns have been frequently discussed over past months with our local CP engineer contacts.  

examples for SmartConsole:

1. should absolutely do "in -place" upgrade that doesnt' require the tedious uninstall (and often receive msg reboot).
2. the client should "check for updates" -- alert about update and provide link to release notes.
3. the ideal update would be deltas only (ie.  don't download a 500MB file to install update).

Notes:

• current ability to install multiple different versions on same endpoint must remain and mandatory (at least from standpoint of reseller support multiple customers with different versions).
• saving config should be either (a) automagic, or (b) provide PROMPT to save config to separate file before uninstall operation (assuming the in-place upgrade never happens).

[PhoneBoy]

I'd like to take a moment to remind folks we do have community guidelines that should be followed: https://community.checkpoint.com/community/about-checkmates/blog/2019/01/26/checkmates-community-gui... 

While the criticisms about SmartConsole are valid, the way in which they were expressed are not consistent with our guidelines.

Please be mindful of this in the future.

[Garrett_DirSec]

Hey Dameon Welch-Abernathy

I acknowledge that original post may have violated community guidelines for some folks.    Of course the post could have been constructed as more constructive feedback and "how can we make this better".

However, the meat of the comment was absolutely 100% on point and I suggest CP R&D needs a way to capture feedback beyond the tedious and lengthy cycle burning exercise of having regional CP engineering construct business case why some R&D event should happen. 

The frustration is tangible in original post.  I completely understand and sympathize how a industry professional tasked with maintaining and operating CP platform could arrive at this point.  

Maybe is would be appropriate to have equivalent of "air your dirty laundry" section of community where people can post things - without worrying about being politically correct or offending the whining masses?

I suggest it should be priority #1 for CP R&D to capture and understand things that are making product agonizingly painful about using their product.     this could be specific use-case with Smartconsole, a bad tier-1 experience with support, or fact usercenter has maintenance windows in middle of North America business day (haha).

my 0.02. -GA

[PhoneBoy]

Part of the reason this community exists is for us to gather (and share) feedback on issues like this.

I am also well aware of the frustration this particular issue causes

That said, antagonism doesn't really add much to the conversation.

[Garrett_DirSec]

Hey Dameon - I suggest most of the antagonism was the response original poster received.  this is fundamentally wrong and magnifies an issue that CP will have moving forward to make products better (ie.  people worrying about being the tone or PC level of dialog rather than content).  

Hopefully, things will be more constructive as a whole going forward.   thx

[PhoneBoy]

It's the first time in two years I've had to trot out the Community Guidelines in response to a post.

[Jerry]

dat definitely mean something Dameon ...

but you're 100% right - it was quite rough thread. hopefuly some ppl relize that this isn't a way to motivate Vendor to "do something".

E.O.T.

Best

Jerry

[Tomer_Sole]

Guys are you by chance attending CPX? We show the look and feel of the auto-updatable SmartConsole and we are looking for feedback about the user experience and the impact on the software requirements. 

[Vladimir]

I’ll see you in Vegas.

Vladimir

[Tomer_Sole]

Just FYI I will not be in Vegas but you can find Ron Izraeli‌ at the Technology Room. 

[Vladimir]

 sorry to hear that, but  will try to see Ron Izraeli there.

[Norbert_Bohusch]

Will check it out in Vienna 🙂

[Tomer_Sole]

I’m not attending Vienna either., my peers Alon Alapi‌ and Eran Habad‌ will be there. 

[Garrett_DirSec]

Hello Tomer -- this is great news and I look forward to tracking down Ron in tech room.   thanks for keeping us in the loop.  -GA

[PBC_Cyber]

One suggestion,  Can the release date be included on the about page or tied in to the build number somehow.  For troubleshooting it would be nice to know when the smartconsole was last updated/released without having to go dig through an SK or change log.

[Ron_Izraeli]

Thank you for the feedback.

We would try to see how to best fit it in the feature.

[Paul_Stephenson]

Another suggestion along this line. Have the build number increase the version number?

My inventory tool reports all current installs of 80.10 console as version 6.5.1 as per add/remove but I know for a fact they are all different build numbers. Having 6.5.1.73 or 6.5.1.105 for example would really help in managing the versions in the field.

[Garrett_DirSec]

suggestion (that may- or may not correlate with Bryan's request on date stamp):  

I would prefer to have readily accessible link to release notes in ABOUT dialog (with link sending to specific build I'm running).

personally, I would like to see release notes BEFORE update occurs (example:  I'm onsite at customer and don't want 500MB installer to download over my Verizon hotspot).   We've all had situations where some type of software updates goes haywire and causes problems.  If I'm onsite at customer (for example), I really DO NOT want to chance problems with failed software update and/or Windows 10 problems.

Ideally, the SmartConsole updates should be classified as "critical", "important", "low" so I can immediately know whether I should care.

The auto-update mechanism should have preferences to turn OFF and/or present end-user with option to update before update occurs (complete with link to review release notes and why I should care... ).

Sincere thanks for posting the video.   great work.   -GA

[Eric_Oakeson]

I think the sweet spot would be to have it check upon launch, prompt you with "A new version is available, would you like to upgrade?", then just some yes/no buttons so that if you don't want it to upgrade you don't have to.

[JozkoMrkvicka]

Check Point started to post couple of videos on YouTube. Video quality is really bad, but the idea is very much welcome 🙂

Have a look what we can expect from future release of SmartConsole:

[Garrett_DirSec]

Hello @Tomer_Noy and @Ron_Izraeli -- I'm sure work is progressing on updatable Smartconsole.  I did, in fact, visit Ron @ CPX and see the updatable demo.   great work. 

While the updatable feature is not "sizzle", it will be greatly appreciated and address some ongoing customer grumbling (especially those new to CP ... "I have to do what..??").  

Can you provide a high level target for when this might be released -- example:   R81 in 2020 and/or R80.xx in 2019.

thanks in adv. -GA

[Tomer_Noy]

We plan to include this in the next R80.x version slated towards the end of 2019.

I would very much like to release it for existing versions, as another alternative download to the existing official version. That way customers can choose to try it without waiting for the next release. We are checking how & when we can make that happen.

Note that the above are plans and not official commitments.

[Chris_Hoff]

Hopping in here to see if there are any updates on the self-updating SmartConsole Client. Been a while...

[Garrett_DirSec]

I haven't seen anything on topic in months.    My fingers are crossed this will appear in R80.40 (currently in EA).