Upgrading Automation Suite

Upgrade Automation Suite to newer versions on OpenShift cluster.

Automation Suite consists of multiple components. Both you as a customer and UiPath® share responsibility of these components. For details, refer to Responsibility matrix.

You are responsible for upgrading:

• Kubernetes infrastructure where Automation Suite is deployed (OpenShift)
• Components that you choose to bring as part of Automation Suite (e.g., Gatekeeper, FluentD, etc.)

UiPath® is responsible for upgrading:

• UiPath® services (e.g., Orchestrator)
• Components deployed as part of Automation Suite (e.g., ArgoCD)

Upgrading UiPath® services and components

Preparation

Note:

• If you upgrade to Automation Suite 2.2510, you need to bring a PostgreSQL database for AutomationSuite_Airflow and configure the connection string for it in input.json. For details, refer to Process Mining-specific configuration.
• If you upgarde from versions prior to 2.2510.0 using Studio Web, make sure to use the same storage class name as specified in storage_class_single_replica, to support RWX access mode.

For details, refer to Configuring input.json.

Additionally, review the following database maintenance guidance before starting the upgrade.

Important:

Very large Automation Suite database tables can cause database migration jobs to take much longer or fail to complete during the upgrade. Keeping database tables well-maintained reduces this risk.

We recommend archiving or purging data that is no longer needed from high-volume tables before starting the upgrade; for details, refer to Performing database maintenance.

To prepare for the upgrade, take the following steps:

1. Check the compatibility matrix to determine the supported versions for each available upgrade scenario. If you brought your own components, make sure the versions of your components are compatible with the version you plan to upgrade to. For details, refer to Compatibility matrix.
2. Download versions.json and uipathctl for the version you want to upgrade to, on your management machine. For download instructions, refer to Downloading the installation packages.
3. Generate the latest input.json file as follows:
   • Option A: To get the latest revision of your input.json file, run the following command:

     uipathctl manifest get-revision --namespace <uipath>
     

   • Option B: To list all the past input.json files and determine the one you want to choose, run the following command:

     uipathctl manifest list-revisions --namespace <uipath>
     

4. If you are using an offline setup with an external OCI-compliant registry, you must hydrate the registry with container images and Helm charts before upgrade. For details, refer to Hydrating the registry with the offline bundle.
5. If Process Mining is installed, and you want to use latest version of Airflow which needs PostgreSQL, you must add or update the sqlalchemy connection string template applicable for PostgreSQL in the input.json file before the upgrade: postgresql_connection_string_template_sqlalchemy_pyodbc.

   postgresql+psycopg2://<user>:<password>@<postgresql host>:<postgresql port>/<airflow db name>
   

6. If you upgrade to Automation Suite 2.2510.0 or later from previous Automation Suite 2024.10 versions and have Studio Web enabled, you must also enable Solutions. For details, refer to Enabling or disabling Solutions. Make sure you also review the additional hardware requirements for Solutions. For details, refer to Capacity Planning.

Execution

To perform an upgrade of UiPath® services and component, take the following steps:

1. Confirm that your cluster is healthy:

   uipathctl health check --namespace <uipath> --versions versions.json
   

2. Put the cluster in maintenance mode to guarantee a consistent backup:

   uipathctl cluster maintenance enable --namespace <uipath>
   

   Important:

   This operation causes downtime, and your business automation is suspended while maintenance mode is enabled.

3. Verify that the cluster is in maintenance mode:

   uipathctl cluster maintenance is-enabled --namespace <uipath>
   

4. Back up the cluster and the SQL database, then check that the backup completed successfully. Create a backup before upgrading your Kubernetes infrastructure as well.

   If you simultaneously meet the following requirements, make sure to copy the value of global.userInputs.identity.krb5KeytabSecret to global.kerberosAuthConfig.userKeytab:

   • you configured the Active Directory integration using username and password
   • you have Windows authentication enabled
   • you do not use SQL integrated authentication

5. Disable the maintenance mode:

   uipathctl cluster maintenance disable
   

   Note:

   You must disable maintenance mode before upgrade. The Automation Suite upgrade process does not support having maintenance mode enabled.

6. Perform the upgrade of UiPath® services and components:

   uipathctl cluster upgrade input.json --versions versions.json
   

   Important:

   This operation causes downtime, and your business automation is suspended during the upgrade process. It is important that you perform the upgrade only during your maintenance window.

7. Check that the cluster is healthy after the upgrade:

   uipathctl health check --namespace <uipath> --versions versions.json
   

   Note:

   If you upgraded to Automation Suite 2.2510 or higher, you can uninstall Dapr and Cert Manager, if you previously installed these add-ons for Process Mining or Task Mining. For details, refer to the and sections.

Upgrading Kubernetes infrastructure

Note:

Automation Suite supports upstream N-1 to N-3 versions of Kubernetes irrespective of the cloud provider. For instance, if upstream is 1.27, we support versions 1.26, 1.25, and 1.24. For supported versions, refer to the Compatibility matrix.

You are responsible for upgrading the Kubernetes infrastructure hosting Automation Suite. You should follow the standard practices of your company to upgrade Kubernetes infrastructure.

Performing post-upgrade operations

The following scenarios describe which post-upgrade operations are required for your environment:

• If you upgraded to Automation Suite 2.2510.0 or newer, you must immediately reactivate your existing licenses for each organization and host:

  • Online activation: Reactivate directly after upgrade.
  • Offline activation: Generate a new activation payload file from the Automation Suite instance, then upload it in Activation.

  Reusing old activation files is not allowed and will result in an invalid license. License reactivation must be performed using the Update License button. Do not manually deactivate and then reactivate the license, as doing so disables services.