Upgrading to App Portal 2021 R2

When upgrading an existing version of App Portal to App Portal 2021 R2, it is very important that you review the following information before you begin the upgrade.

Supported Upgrade Versions
Planning Your Upgrade
Upgrade Notes

Supported Upgrade Versions

You can only upgrade to App Portal / App Broker 2021 R2 from the following previous versions:

App Portal 2021 R1
App Portal 2020 R1
App Portal 2019 R1
App Portal 2018 R1
App Portal 2017 R2

To upgrade from one of these supported versions to App Portal 2021 R2, use the App Portal 2021 R2 installer, which can be downloaded from the Flexera Software Product and License Center.

Planning Your Upgrade

When performing your upgrade to App Portal / App Broker 2021 R2, it is recommended that you include the following steps in your upgrade process:

Review the Release Notes—Thoroughly review this document, the App Portal 2021 R2 Release Notes.
Backup your database—Prior to upgrading, you need to back up your existing App Portal database. It will not be backed up automatically by the installer. even if you are performing a “fresh” install on an existing database.
Backup user interface customizations—If you have customized your App Portal user interface, back up this directory of files before performing the upgrade:

[AppPortalInstallationDirectory]\Web\App_Themes\Flexera

Upgrade and test in a lab environment—Before rolling out the App Portal upgrade in production, first upgrade App Portal in a lab environment using a clone or subset of your production data and test it thoroughly to make sure it still operates as per your requirements.
Production rollout—When you are ready to roll out the App Portal upgrade to your production environment, it is recommended that you include the following steps:
a. Backup your existing App Portal database.
b. Take a snapshot of the App Portal server, if possible.
c. Provide downtime notice to your end users.
d. Schedule your service window to allow for adequate testing post-production upgrade.
e. Test your recovery model.

Upgrade Notes

Note the following regarding upgrading from earlier versions of App Portal:

Upgrading the App Portal Web Service—Upgrading the existing App Portal instance will not upgrade the existing App Portal Web Services application. You need to manually run the AppPortalWebServiceSetup_2021_R2.exe installer on your System Center Configuration Manager machine.
App Portal logo not being displayed after upgrade—If you have a problem loading the App Portal logo (which is the default logo provided by App Portal) after upgrading, then you need to manually change the following AppSetting entry in the WD_AppSettings table from “CompanyLogoURL” to “/esd/Images/ap-logo.jpg”. However, if you are going to be using a custom logo, there is no need to perform this step.
My Apps scheduled tasks now run under Service Account—Starting with App Portal 2017, the My Apps-related scheduled tasks (App Portal - Process Computers for My Apps Alerts and App Portal - Send out My Apps Email Notifications) will run under the Service Account instead of the System Account. However, if you are upgrading from a previous version, you need to manually change the account that those scheduled tasks will run under; the App Portal installer will not makes these changes.
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1—You should make sure that Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1 is installed prior to upgrading an existing installation of App Portal. Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1 is not bundled with the installer.