<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: PRTG Status—Auto-Update

Whenever a new version of the software is available from the Paessler website PRTG will download the setup file automatically if a direct internet connection is available. The administrator will then receive a ToDo ticket with instructions to initiate the update installation.

For customers using a Freeware or Trial Edition, automatic software updates are available at any time. Customers using a Commercial Edition need to have an active maintenance contract so updates are available.

Status

Note: This documentation refers to the PRTG System Administrator user accessing the Ajax interface on a master node. For other user accounts, interfaces, or nodes, not all of the options might be available as described. When using a cluster installation, failover nodes are read-only by default.

To view the auto-update page of your PRTG installation, select Setup | Software Auto-Update from main menu. On the Status tab you can download and perform updates.

Using Auto-Update

If there is a new version available, you will see detailed information about the available version. Please read these notes carefully! A summary of current and past release notes is given underneath update section; for detailed release notes, click on the button PRTG Release Notes and Version History which will redirect you to the corresponding page on paessler.com.

In order to install an available version, click the Install Update [version number] button. You will be asked to confirm installation and license—and that's it!

Automatic Software Update Page

Automatic Software Update Page

Manually Install an Interim Update

Not all available updates from Paessler will be pushed to all customers, but they are still available from the website. Sometimes Paessler support may ask you to update to the latest version.

In this case please click the Check For Latest Update and Download button. PRTG will then connect to the Paessler servers and download the setup file, regardless of the status of the update-check. Then Install Update [version number]. Note: In order to use this function, a direct internet connection is necessary on the computer running the PRTG core server.

Select Other Release Channel

PRTG is available in three different release channels. For details about continuous rollout and release channels, please see the blog article in the More section below.

In order to change the release channel you receive updates from, please open the auto-update Settings tab by clicking on the Select Other Release Channel button and change the settings in the Release Channel section.

Log

Click on the Log tab to show log information regarding the update status of PRTG, newest first. In the table list appearing, you can filter the items by using the respective options. For more information, please see Logs section.

Settings

Click on the Settings tab to configure the Software Auto-Update.

Software Auto-Update

When a New Version is Available

Define how PRTG will react to available software updates. Choose between:

  • Automatically download and install the latest version: Any new PRTG version will be downloaded and installed automatically as soon as your installation detects that there is a newer version available (a check is performed once per day). Note: Without prior notice, installation will restart the PRTG Windows services and may also include a server restart.
  • Automatically download the latest version and alert the admin: Any new PRTG version will be downloaded automatically as soon as your installation detects that there is a newer version available (a check is performed once per day). After successful download, PRTG will create a ToDo message for the administrator.
  • Alert the admin only: When PRTG detects that there is a newer version available, it will not download updates automatically, but create a ToDo message only. You can still download updates manually on the Auto Update page.

Installation Time

If you have select the automatic installation option above, choose the desired time for updates from the drop-down menu.

Release Channel

PRTG updates are delivered in different release channels. You can choose between maximum stability, or most early access to new features. Please choose between:

  • Stable: Updated about once per month (most conservative option, recommended): These are our best tested versions. Choose this channel for live environments you have to depend on!
  • Preview: Updated about once per week: Versions in this channel are already thoroughly tested in our labs, but may still contain limitations in certain monitoring configurations. Choose this channel if you are willing to take a little risk for the benefit of getting new features and bug fixes a little earlier.
  • Canary: Updated daily (testing only, should not be used on live systems): Updated every night. Use with CAUTION! Software versions in this channel are not tested yet, might contain severe bugs, and are provided for testing purposes only. We strongly recommend to not use those versions in live environments you have to depend on!

For more information about the different release channels, please see the blog article linked in the More section below.

Click on the Save button to store your settings. If you change tabs or use the main menu, all changes to the settings will be lost!

Notes

There are a few things we ask you to consider regarding automatic software updates:

  • In order for auto-update to work the machine running the PRTG core server needs direct internet access. If a proxy connection is needed, please configure it in the System Administration—Core & Probes settings. For details about the update servers, see More section below.
  • During installation the core server may be restarted without notice.
  • Existing remote probes will be updated automatically, causing short downtimes in monitoring of remote locations. In rare cases a manual update of remote probes is required after you update the core server. In these cases you will be notified in the device tree, and monitoring of remote locations will be interrupted until you perform the manual update on the system(s) running the remote probe(s).
  • In a cluster installation the update needs to be installed on one node only. The new version will then be deployed to all other cluster nodes automatically (causing a short downtime for the monitoring on the cluster nodes, one after another).
  • If you run several individual PRTG core servers that are not in a cluster, for example, in combination with the Enterprise Console, an update has to be initiated and confirmed for each single core server.
  • You can disable automatic downloading in the Auto-Update settings. Updates will then only be downloaded on request, when you click on the Check For Latest Update and Download button.
     

More

Knowledge Base: Which servers does PRTG connect to for Software Auto-Update and for Activation?

Knowledge Base: Which information does PRTG send back to Paessler?

Paessler Blog: Version 12 of PRTG will introduce "Continuous Rollout"

 

 

Setup—Topics

Others

There are some settings that you have to make in the PRTG Administration Tool, available as native Windows application. For more details, please see sections:

Keywords: Automatic Software Update