N-central Troubleshooting
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
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NOTE: This process reduces N-able N-central downtime, but will leave a gap in export data to Report Manager or custom data export.
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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.
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Turn off Exports to Report Manager.
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Simply disabling the Report Manager Maintenance Service and Report Manager Maintenance Watchdog Service will do this, but allow current export to complete.
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An alternative would be to shut down the Report Manager server itself, or otherwise prevent communication between Report Manager and N-able N-central.
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Take a Full Backup of N-central
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The backup may not be able to start immediately if an export is in progress.
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Create a new VM with the appropriate disk, CPU, and memory specifications.
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Download your N-central version ISO and install it on the new server
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Restore your Full Backup to the new VM instance. Making sure to select "Disable All Outbound Communication"
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If your backup is greater than 4GB you will need to have it available via FTP server, or contact support.
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Contact N-central support through Phone or Chat to activate your new server against a temporary license
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Review new N-able N-central VM for any issues after restore completes.
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Move onto upgrade pre-checks of new instance (if applicable for known issues).
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Check that all devices are set to "Never" upgrade,
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Administration > Defaults > Agent & Probe Settings,
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Upgrades tab
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Set both Agents and Probes to Never
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Check the propagate box for both
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Save
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Upload the upgrade NSP file and click Install.
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Wait for the upgrade to finish (Success/Failure email).
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Change IP Address/Hostname of old VM or modify firewall settings (as required).
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Having both VMs point to the same IP/FQDN externally will cause complications.
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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.
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Change IP Address/Hostname of new VM or modify firewall settings (as required).
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Firewall Reboot may be required in some environments due to network change.
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Run post-upgrade checks and ensure that agents/probes are checking in.
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Shut down original VM.
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Contact N-central support again through Phone or Chat to activate the new server against your permanent license
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Re-enable outbound communication.
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Test notification and PSA functionality and validate SMTP/Mail Relay settings.
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Turn Report Manager back on.
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Please monitor emails over the coming days after the upgrade to ensure no export problems occur.
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If they do please contact support.
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