Community


Updating portable viewer from 6.10 to 7.x and other bits of info neede

Links used in this discussion
cosmos, User (Posts: 78)
Mar 16, 2021 5:37:05 am EDT
Hello,

1) is the procedure outlined in https://www.remoteutilities.com/support/docs/updating-remote-utilities/#Updating_Portable_Viewer still valid?

2) we had deployed the 6.10 host using group policy. Now we want to deploy the newer hosts, without while keeping the existing configuration. What should I select during the MSI creation wizard to accomplish this task?

3) Finally, we are thinking of first deploying the new hosts and relay server (I presume that on the relay, the new version will keep the configured users and settings). In the coming weeks we will update the portable viewer software of our teleworkers. Is that ok, or do you expect this rollout to be problematic due to incompatibilities?

Thanks in advance for all info provided.
Conrad Sallian, Support (Posts: 3061)
Mar 16, 2021 7:30:10 am EDT
Hi Cosmos,

1) Yes, of course.

2) In Step 4 of the configurator you select "Skip settings configuration". This will keep your current Host settings intact and only update the program files.

As always, we recommend that you never update all your Hosts at once, especially when a custom installer is involved. Instead, tread carefully and test the update on a few hosts then proceed updating clearly defined groups to ensure that everything is under control.

3)  

I presume that on the relay, the new version will keep the configured users and settings

Yes, but before you start RU server installation create a backup of your existing RU Server data files and registry entry just in case. See this KB article, the section "Where does RU Server keep its data and settings?".  

In the coming weeks we will update the portable viewer software of our teleworkers. Is that ok, or do you expect this rollout to be problematic due to incompatibilities?

If you could wait just a couple of days you can download and use/deploy version 7.0.0.2. This version will have some annoying bugs found in the 7.0.0.0/7.0.0.1 fixed.
cosmos, User (Posts: 78)
Mar 16, 2021 8:16:28 am EDT
Thank you for your most informative post.

You've covered my questions, but I think I did not phrase my question (3) correctly. What I wanted to ask is whether 6.10.x portable viewers can work ok with the new relay and the new hosts. If they could, I could postpone viewer upgrades till I'm finished with all the host upgrades on my net.
Conrad Sallian, Support (Posts: 3061)
Mar 16, 2021 8:29:19 am EDT
Hi Cosmos,

What I wanted to ask is whether 6.10.x portable viewers can work ok with the new relay and the new hosts. If they could, I could postpone viewer upgrades till I'm finished with all the host upgrades on my net.

This is not recommended. We advise that you first update your Viewers and Server, and only then - the Hosts. That is the Hosts must be updated the last of all.

Hope that helps.
cosmos, User (Posts: 78)
Mar 16, 2021 9:03:29 am EDT
Thanks again. I'll wait for the newer viewer to appear then, before proceeding!
cosmos, User (Posts: 78)
Mar 30, 2021 3:16:28 am EDT
Conrad hello again,

I've deployed the new relay and also some test 7.0.0.3 viewers. I'm running some problems with the latter one, so I want to do some limited testing utilizing the 7.0.0.3 host on certain systems.

In order to keep my 6.10 settings on the existing hosts (especially whether internet-id is enabled or not and, if it is enabled, to keep the same Remote ID) I've created an MSI using the online configurator on which I've basically skipped settings creation.

It seems to work great, albeit one small quirk. I see that the newest host supports the Greek language as well (I'll open a different thread for some notes on that one) which is great! However, since the new MSI uses the old settings, the host is run in English.

Which would be an easy way to alter the language and set it to Greek? I could generate a new MSI, but there are a lot of settings not shared between my hosts, so I'd have to perform a search, categorize clients and generate a different MSI for each category. And the MSI wizard does not allow me to modify only a single property.

Is language something that can be changed easily in registry? If it was I could easily run a GPO.

Or modify the MSI via Orca?

Any ideas would be helpful here.
Pauline, Support (Posts: 2876)
Mar 30, 2021 11:31:56 am EDT
Hello,

Thank you for your message.

In order to keep my 6.10 settings on the existing hosts (especially whether internet-id is enabled or not and, if it is enabled, to keep the same Remote ID) I've created an MSI using the online configurator on which I've basically skipped settings creation.

You want to update some of your current 6.10 Hosts to the latest 7.0.0.3 version but keep all of their previous settings except for the preferred language, correct? In this case, when configuring the MSI package, on Step 4 - Host settings configuration select the Pre-configure radio-button and enable the General and network settings checkbox - this will invoke the Host Settings window where you can navigate to the Language tab and select Greek language. This way any remote Host you update using this MSI package keeps its previous settings - only the version and Host language are updated.

I see that the newest host supports the Greek language as well (I'll open a different thread for some notes on that one) which is great! However, since the new MSI uses the old settings, the host is run in English.

In case if you configure your MSI package using version 7.0.0.3 of Viewer, then in the Host Settings you should be able to select the Greek language for Host as described above. In this case, Host is updated to the latest version 7.0.0.3 and is switched to Greek language, all other settings stays intact, so you can apply this MSI package to any group of your remote Hosts.

And the MSI wizard does not allow me to modify only a single property.

Could you please let me know what happens if you try to modify only language during the configuration process? I've just tried creating a standard MSI package with the only setting that switches Host to the Greek language and was able to update my Host settings successfully. Perhaps, you're configuring a One-Click installer or do you receive any error messages in this case?

Hope that helps.
cosmos, User (Posts: 78)
Mar 30, 2021 1:17:41 pm EDT
Thank you for your helpful comments. I'll try your advice and get back to you.
Pauline, Support (Posts: 2876)
Mar 30, 2021 1:27:33 pm EDT
Hello,

Of course, we're happy to help! Please feel free to let us know if you have more questions or if you need our further assistance.

Thank you.
cosmos, User (Posts: 78)
Mar 31, 2021 5:47:41 am EDT
I tried your advice and created a new MSI using the online configurator. I skipped the settings regarding setting an internet id and in the next step I selected to change only the settings that include the language. I only selected Greek there and I did not sel ect any other setting.

On a Windows 10 system with a 6.10 host and internet-id enabled I opened an admin cmd prompt and ran the installer using
msiexec /i RUT.7.0.0.3.msi /qn
. I wanted to simulate installation via a GPO. I saw that the host icon disappeared fr om the tray. Additionally, under add/remove programs RU host 7.0.0.3 was listed.

I rebooted, but the RU icon did not come up. Checking at the services, there is no "Remote Utilities - Host" service listed. Trying to "Start host" from programs does nothing.

Ideas?

* Website time zone: America/New_York (UTC -5)