Documentation forSecurity Event Manager

Upgrade the virtual appliances

During this process, the upgrade script disconnects the SEM virtual appliance from all SEM agents and consoles.

  1. Prepare the upgrade media.
    1. Download the Upgrade Package for SEM Virtual ZIP file from the SolarWinds Customer Portal.
    2. Unzip the file.
    3. Open the SolarWinds Security Event Manager 2020.2.1 Upgrade folder.
    4. Copy the Upgrade folder to a shared network folder (this applies to any SMB share functionality in CMC).

  2. Connect to the SEM virtual appliance using the virtual console (vSphere or Hyper-V Manager) or an SSH client (such as PuTTY).

    If you are using an SSH client, use port 22 or 32022, and then log in with your CMC user credentials.

  3. Access the CMC prompt.

    In vSphere, arrow down to Advanced Configuration, and then press Enter.

    In PuTTY, log in using your CMC credentials.

  4. At the cmc> prompt, enter upgrade.

  5. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the SEM appliance upgrade.

During the upgrade, SEM may require a reboot.

Troubleshoot errors during the appliance upgrade

If you encounter errors during the appliance upgrade, review the error message information below before you contact Customer Support.

Error Message Resolution
An error occurred during the upgrade. Attempt to upgrade again. If the second attempt fails, pull debugging information and open a Customer Support ticket.
You must upgrade to 6.4 before upgrading to 2020.2.1. See Upgrading from prior versions for the appropriate upgrade procedure.

Prepare and share information with Customer Support

Use the debug command on your SEM virtual appliance to pull log files from the appliance to share with Customer Support. These files contain debugging information used by Customer Support to troubleshoot your issue.

Pull debugging information from your SEM virtual appliance

  1. Connect to your SEM virtual appliance using the vSphere console view or an SSH client (such as PuTTY).

    If you are using an SSH client, log in to your SEM virtual appliance using your CMC credentials.

  2. At the cmc> prompt, enter manager, and then press Enter.
  3. At the cmc::manager prompt, enter debug, and then press Enter.
  4. Follow the prompts on your screen to generate the files.
  5. Verify that the script generated the .tgz file.

  6. Use Samba to share the .tgz file with Customer Support.

    This file does not contain alert data or other data from your SEM database.

  7. Enter exit to return to the cmc> prompt.
  8. Enter exit to log out of your SEM virtual appliance.