Updating

When going from a working version of DeployR to an updated build, here's a checklist and troubleshooting guide for helping make your updates smooth.

TLDR

• Confirm Prerequisites are updated (DotNet, PowerShell, StifleR Server & Dashboard)

• Run the DeployR updater and follow prompts choosing defaults

• Launch DeployR Config Editor, click 'verify' then confirm DeployR service starts.

Update Process

Updating from a down-level version of DeployR has a few different steps, lets break it down.

• Confirm Prerequisites

  • DotNet and PowerShell are potentials for needing to be upgraded

  • StifleR Server / Dashboard

Pre Req Updates

DeployR is built on DotNet, and requires the runtimes installed. MS frequently updates these for bug fixes, new capabilities and to remediate a vulnerability. When this happens, DeployR is updated to require the new versions. It's recommended that you check your versions before upgrading. These are quick updates that only add a few minutes on to the update process.

StifleR is the 2Pint platform that DeployR lives on top of, so it's always best to make sure you're running the latest versions of StifleR Server and StifleR Dashboard before you update DeployR.

Installing the Updated DeployR

The update process is very simple and quick, as the setup MSI doesn't give you any options to change anything. You follow the installer, clicking next, install and finish. Then once the installer is complete, you'll launch the DeployR Config Tool and click verify which will double check your config to and start the DeployR service.

Launching Configuration Editor

For an update, there shouldn't be any reason to make any changes, however check the release notes, as new options might appear that your organization might want to take advantage of, but for now, simply click "Verify"

Once the "Service located" dialog opens, go ahead and click Yes, you will then see a red spinning wheel with "please wait"

And finally, "Success"

Post Update Checks

First time you launch the dashboard, you might have issues authenticating, often things are cached in the browser. Use Control+F5 to refresh and flush the cache for that page.

Often times as noted, DotNet or PowerShell was updated as well, which means your boot media will also need to be updated. After you've updated DeployR, when the service starts, it will pull down the latest DotNet Runtimes and PowerShell installers to use in its own processes. To ensure these get into your boot images, you will need to regenerate them in the Dashboard. In the Boot Images blade, go into the boot media that you use, then click "Regenerate image" in the upper right.

Troubleshooting

So you've updated, now you're getting errors... what to do? Event viewer is helpful. The most common issue I've seen is the DeployR service not starting, and it was caused by DotNet not getting upgraded.

DotNet error after upgrade

Here is what you'll see in the Event Logs if DeployR service isn't starting due to DotNet being downlevel:

OSD Issues

You'll see some odd issues after an update when DotNet or PowerShell requirements changed. The Boot media might no longer show the splash screen to start a task sequence, or the OSD process might end prematurely. We always recommend after any build update to regenerate your media to reduce potential issues.