How to upgrade the 5.4.3.106 AppAssure Core & apply the latest update (145174)

How to upgrade an AppAssure Core to 5.4.3.106 and apply the latest update patch without having to go through a core service restart and a repository check between the two applications.

The latest update patch can be downloaded directly from the AppAssure Support Portal using this link

Please note that the update MUST be installed after upgrading the Core to build 5.4.3.106.

The solution for a smooth upgrade is to keep the core service disabled at all times, both during the upgrade and the install of the update.

NOTE: Upgrading to the 5.4.3.106 Core build removes the core service and reinstalls it. Afterwards the installer attempts to start the core. Therefore, just disabling the core service for the duration of the maintenance operation is not enough.

You can achieve the goal of keeping the core service stopped at all times, by entering a command in an elevated powershell console. The result is that the core service will be forcebly disabled every 2 seconds for the duration of the execution on a continous loop. For the period where the core service does not exist during the the upgrade process, the operation will be just skipped.

Please note that all the following Powershell commands are performed at an elevated Powershell Console:

suspend-replication -outgoing #repeat for all target cores

* Make sure that no active jobs are present on the core; wait for the current jobs to complete or cancel them manually. Please note that it is NOT good practice to cancel running Rollups. 

(The result shows if any active jobs are running)

* Run the following powershell command in an elevated powershell console to keep the core service disabled for the duration of the update operation:

for(;;){start-sleep 2; set-service appassurecore -startuptype disabled -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue; write-host "*" -NoNewline}

Note: This command will run continously, showing a "*" for each iteration.

stop-service appassurecore

* Perform the upgrade by running the newer 5.4.3.106 Core installer. (Please make sure that the installation file is unblocked in the General tab of the properties of the installer.)

* It does not matter if you leave checked the "restart service" check box as the core service is disabled via PowerShell.

* Enable the Core service. To do this from an elevated PowerShell console, please run:

Note: There is a space between "=" and "delayed-auto"

* Wait for the core service to start and for the repository check to complete.

* Resume snapshots, replication (if present) and VM exports (if present). To do this from an elevated powershell console, please run:

* The upgrade operation is completed.