Parallel Upgrade of N-able N-central

Last Modified

Wed Jun 12 12:31 GMT 2025

Description

  • Using a second VM to upgrade N-able N-central to minimize downtime.
  • This article assumes basic familiarity with the N-able N-central upgrade process.
  • For more general details regarding installation and upgrades, please see the install guide for your version.

Environment

  • N-able N-central
  • Supported Virtualization Environment

Solution

Parallel Upgrade Process

  • NOTE: This process reduces N-able N-central downtime, but will leave a gap in export data to Report Manager or custom data export.

  • This gap is generally going to be from the time the last exports finish (step 1 below) until the final cut-over.

It is strongly recommended to open an N-central support case beforehand which can be used to track the licensing changes.

  1. Turn off Exports to Report Manager.

    • Simply disabling the Report Manager Maintenance Service and Report Manager Maintenance Watchdog Service will do this, but allow current export to complete.

    • An alternative would be to shut down the Report Manager server itself, or otherwise prevent communication between Report Manager and N-able N-central.

  2. Take a Full Backup of N-central

    • The backup may not be able to start immediately if an export is in progress.

  3. Create a new VM with the appropriate disk, CPU, and memory specifications.

  4. Download your N-central version ISO and install it on the new server

  5. Restore your Full Backup to the new VM instance. Making sure to select "Disable All Outbound Communication"

    • If your backup is greater than 4GB you will need to have it available via FTP server, or contact support.

  6. Contact N-central support through Phone or Chat to activate your new server against a temporary license

  7. Review new N-able N-central VM for any issues after restore completes.

  8. Move onto upgrade pre-checks of new instance (if applicable for known issues).

  9. Check that all devices are set to "Never" upgrade,

    1. Administration > Defaults > Agent & Probe Settings,

    2. Upgrades tab

    3. Set both Agents and Probes to Never

    4. Check the propagate box for both

    5. Save

  10. Upload the upgrade NSP file and click Install.

  11. Wait for the upgrade to finish (Success/Failure email).

  12. Change IP Address/Hostname of old VM or modify firewall settings (as required).

    • Having both VMs point to the same IP/FQDN externally will cause complications.

    • Restricting this can be done in any manner that suits the environment, but the original VM should be removed from activity before the new VM is switched over.

  13. Change IP Address/Hostname of new VM or modify firewall settings (as required).

    • Firewall Reboot may be required in some environments due to network change.

  14. Run post-upgrade checks and ensure that agents/probes are checking in.

  15. Shut down original VM.

  16. Contact N-central support again through Phone or Chat to activate the new server against your permanent license

  17. Re-enable outbound communication.

  18. Test notification and PSA functionality and validate SMTP/Mail Relay settings.

  19. Turn Report Manager back on.

    • Please monitor emails over the coming days after the upgrade to ensure no export problems occur.

    • If they do please contact support.