KACE Systems Management Appliance 12.1 Common Documents - Release Notes

Product licensing

Product licensing

If you currently have a KACE Systems Management Appliance product license, no additional license is required.

If you are using KACE Systems Management Appliance for the first time, see the appliance setup guide for product licensing details. Go to More resources to view the appropriate guide.

NOTE: Product licenses for version 12.1 can be used only on KACE Systems Management Appliance running version 12.1 or later. Version 12.1 licenses cannot be used on appliances running earlier versions of the appliance, such as 11.0.

Installation instructions

Installation instructions

You can apply this version using an advertised update or by manually uploading and applying an update file. For instructions, see the following topics:

NOTE: To ensure accuracy of software discovery and install counts for devices running particular software, beginning in the KACE Systems Management Appliance 7.0 release, the software catalog re-installs with every upgrade.

Prepare for the update

Prepare for the update

An issue in the UEFI BIOS booting can be triggered during an upgrade. To prevent it, you must ensure that legacy BIOS booting is enabled. A power-down of the appliance prior to making a switch is required. Also, for ESX-based virtual machines, ensure that the hardware version is 13 or later.

Prior to applying the appliance upgrade, you must ensure that your browser's cache is clean and that port 52231 is available from your browser to the appliance. Users working from home may need to have their corporate firewall configured to allow port 52231 communications.

The minimum version required for installing KACE Systems Management Appliance 12.1 is 12.0. If your appliance is running an earlier version, you must update to the listed version before proceeding with the installation.

To check the appliance version number, log in to the Administrator Console and click Need Help. In the help panel that appears, at the bottom, click the circled 'i' button.

The minimum version required for upgrading the KACE Agent is 11.0. We recommend that you always use the same version of the agent and the KACE Systems Management Appliance.

Starting in version 12.0 of the appliance, earlier KACE Agent versions, such as 11.1, must be signed specifically for your appliance version. For example, if you are using KACE Agent 11.1 with the 12.1 version of the appliance, you must obtain and install the KACE Agent 11.1 KBIN file that is signed with the 12.1 appliance key. You can download signed KACE Agent KBIN files from the KACE Systems Management Appliance Software Downloads page.

NOTE: The KACE Agent RPM package can be installed on managed SUSE Linux devices only when the libxslt-tools package is installed before the agent package.

Back up your database and files and save your backups to a location outside the KACE Systems Management Appliance server for future reference. For instructions on backing up your database and files, see the Administrator Guide, https://support.quest.com/technical-documents/kace-systems-management-appliance/12.1-common-documents/administrator-guide/.

For appliances initially installed prior to version 7.0 that have not been re-imaged (physical appliances) or reinstalled (virtual), Quest Software strongly recommends exporting, re-creating (an image, or a virtual machine installation from an OVF file), and re-importing the database before upgrading to version 12.1. For complete information, visit https://support.quest.com/kace-systems-management-appliance/kb/111810/how-to-re-image-the-k1000-appliance.

If your appliance version is many versions behind, the following article contains useful upgrade-related tips: https://support.quest.com/kace-systems-management-appliance/kb/155574/upgrading-a-kace-systems-management-appliance-that-is-multiple-versions-behind-upgrade-path-6-x-to-10-0-.

There are many reasons why you should re-image the appliance. The new disk layout, for example, offers better compatibility with version 12.1. It also features better security and performance.

To determine if your system would benefit from such an upgrade, you can use a KBIN file to determine the exact age of your appliance and its disk layout. To download the KBIN, visit https://support.quest.com/kace-systems-management-appliance/kb/210267/how-to-run-the-kace-systems-management-appliance-configuration-report.

Prior to any .kbin upgrade, port 52231 must be available so that the KACE Upgrade Console page is accessible. If the upgrade is initiated without making this port available, you will not be able to monitor upgrade progress. Quest KACE highly recommends allowing traffic to the appliance through port 52231 from a trusted system and monitoring the upgrade from the Upgrade Console. Without access to the Upgrade Console, the upgrade redirects to an inaccessible page which appears in the browser as a timeout. This may lead someone to believe that the upgrade has crashed the system, causing them to reboot the box when, in fact, the upgrade is still in progress. If unsure about the progress of the upgrade, contact KACE Support and do not reboot the appliance.

Update the KACE Systems Management Appliance server using an advertised update

Update the KACE Systems Management Appliance server using an advertised update

You can update the KACE Systems Management Appliance server using an update that is advertised on the Dashboard page or on the Appliance Updates page of the Administrator Console.

CAUTION: Never manually reboot the KACE Systems Management Appliance server during an update.

IMPORTANT: During the first ten minutes, some browsers might appear to freeze while the update is being unpacked and verified. Do not navigate away from the page, refresh the page, or click any browser buttons on the page during this time because these actions interrupt the process. After the update is unpacked and verified, the Logs page appears. Do not manually reboot the appliance at any time during the update process.