Planning your upgrade
A successful upgrade requires some planning. Before you can upgrade, you must know your upgrade path, that is, you need to know which version you currently have and which version you want to upgrade to. You also need to collect other information about your deployment, the details of which are covered in this guide.
Planning your upgrade path
Not all versions have a direct upgrade path to the latest or newer versions of Qlik Sense.
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If your deployment is running Qlik Sense Enterprise on Windows 3.1 SR1 or earlier, you must upgrade to June 2017 before upgrading to a later version.
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If your deployment is running Qlik Sense Enterprise on Windows 3.1 SR2 or later, you can upgrade directly to a newer version.
Considerations about older versions
Some Qlik Sense Enterprise on Windows versions introduced significant changes. The table below lists major changes you should consider when upgrading.
| Versions | Considerations |
|---|---|
| Qlik Sense 3.1 SR1 and earlier | Must upgrade to June 2017 before upgrading to later versions. |
| Qlik Sense June 2017 and later | Support only the shared persistence model. |
| Qlik Sense September 2017 and later | Do not support configuring centralized logging through the installer. |
| Qlik Sense November 2017 and later | Do not support soft delete records. |
| Qlik Sense February 2021 and later | Support only .NET framework 4.8 or higher. |
Considerations about multi-node deployments
A single note site is simpler to upgrade than a multi-node site. If you have more than one node in a site, you must upgrade each node separately.
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Each node in a multi-node site must run the same version of Qlik Sense.
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You should upgrade the central node first.
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All nodes should be offline when you upgrade.
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Use the same login account for the upgrade as you did with the original installation. If you use a different login account, the node will not find the certificates on the node.
Considerations about logging
If you are upgrading from Qlik Sense June 2017 or earlier to a newer version, the Qlik Sense installer provides the option to configure centralized logging. However, if you are upgrading from Qlik Sense September 2017 or later, there is no option to configure centralized logging during the upgrade. In this case, centralized logging is configured only if it was set up on your existing deployment. If your deployment does not have centralized logging and your are upgrading from Qlik Sense September 2017 or later, the Qlik Logging Service is installed but without a database.
You can configure centralized logging after upgrading by following these instructions: How to set up the Qlik Sense Logging Service.
Considerations about custom configurations
If your current deployment includes custom configuration files, they will be overwritten during the upgrade process. Before upgrading, you should back up any custom configuration files and restore them after the upgrade.
Here are the most common configuration files and their default locations:
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%ProgramFiles%\Qlik\Sense\Repository\Repository.exe.config
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%ProgramFiles%\Qlik\Sense\Proxy\Proxy.exe.config
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%ProgramFiles%\Qlik\Sense\Scheduler\Scheduler.exe.config
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%ProgramFiles%\Qlik\Sense\ServiceDispatcher\services.conf
Considerations about your apps
When you upgrade Qlik Sense, all existing apps need to be migrated to ensure compatibility between the versions. An app with an engine version later than 12.0 is migrated on the fly when you open it in the hub. On the apps overview page in the QMC, you can see which apps, if any, require manual migration. Apps that require a manual migration are listed in the Version column and labeled Migration needed. Use the Migrate button to perform manual migration.
Consideration about your Qlik Sense Repository Database
In earlier versions of Qlik Sense, the Qlik Sense Repository Database used PostgreSQL version 9.6, which no longer is supported. Starting at Qlik Sense Enterprise on Windows May 2021, the bundled PostgreSQL has been upgraded to version 12.5. However, PostgreSQL 12.5 will only be deployed during a fresh installation of Qlik Sense Enterprise on Windows May 2021 and above. If you are upgrading Qlik Sense Enterprise on Windows from an earlier version that uses PostgreSQL version 9.6, the version will remain on 9.6, even if it is no longer supported.
The easiest way to upgrade to PostgreSQL 12.5 is to use the Qlik PostgreSQL Installer, which upgrades the database from 9.6 to 12.5 – if the database has been installed by Qlik Sense. Other versions of PostgreSQL need to be installed manually. For information about upgrading PostgreSQL, see: Qlik Sense May 2021 - Upgrade bundled PostgreSQL to 12.5 version and Upgrading Qlik Sense Repository Database from PostgreSQL 9.6 to 12.5 - New tool available.
If you have PostgreSQL 12.5 installed locally when you upgrade Qlik Sense, the database will still be used after an upgrade. For other versions of the database, the installed version will continue to be used after an upgrade. All your data and settings are migrated to the new version. However, if you have custom configurations for your PostgreSQL installation they must be recreated after the upgrade.
Here are some other important things to note regarding your Qlik Sense Repository Database upgrade:
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The version of PostgreSQL that is included in the Qlik Sense June 2017 or later does not include pgAdmin tools. For information about manually installing the PostgreSQL database, see Installing and configuring PostgreSQL.
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The Qlik Sense installer cannot use SSL encryption for establishing a connection to PostgreSQL. When SSL encryption is enabled, the installer does not recognize any already installed PostgreSQL databases, as a result, the installation cannot be completed. You should temporarily disable SSL during installation or upgrade.