PRTG Manual: Update From Previous Versions
If you already have installed a previous software version, there are several things you should consider before updating to PRTG version 12.
Note: We recommend you always have a proper backup of your monitoring data and configuration. In most cases both will be maintained when upgrading. Anyway, we recommend a backup before upgrading. Please see More section below.
Update From Older 12.x Versions
If you have been running PRTG Network monitor with an earlier 12.x version number, simply install the latest version on top of the previous version. Your configuration will be kept. If you have configured PRTG as a cluster, you only have to install an update on any node server (master or failover). The new version will then be deployed to the cluster automatically. Note: We recommend you always have a proper backup of your monitoring data.
Update From PRTG Network Monitor 9
If you are using PRTG 9 now, your configuration will be kept when installing PRTG 12 in Standalone Mode or when installing a Master Node. There are only a few things you should consider.
- Discontinued Sensors: Existing instances of the following sensor types will stop working with PRTG V12 and must be replaced with their successor sensor types!
- VMware Host Server (SOAP)
- VMware Virtual Machine (SOAP)
- Xen Virtual Machine
If your configuration contains these sensor types, they will stop monitoring after upgrading to version 12. We recommend you pause them to keep their historic data. In order to continue monitoring, please add the sensors anew (e.g. using the auto-discovery). - Please install .NET 4.0: We strongly recommend installing .NET 4.0 on systems that run the core server (and the remote probes, if you use those). Otherwise the following features will not work: VMware auto-discovery and monitoring, Citrix XenServer auto-discovery and monitoring, SIP Options Ping Sensor, Windows Last Update Sensor.
- Changed Geo Maps Provider: When you update to PRTG 12 the provider for geographical maps will automatically be switched from Google Maps to MapQuest (using Open Street Map data).
- Windows 2000 Not Supported: Since PRTG 7 we do not officially support Windows 2000 systems any more. This means, PRTG cannot be installed on systems running Windows 2000, and you cannot officially monitor Windows 2000 systems (for example, via WMI). However, if you could successfully monitor your Windows 2000 systems with PRTG 9, this might actually not be possible any more with PRTG 12. Especially the WMI Service Sensor will show an error message when monitoring Windows 2000 systems under PRTG 12. For a work around, please see More section below.
Update From PRTG Network Monitor 7 or 8
If you are using PRTG 7 or 8 now, your configuration will be kept when installing PRTG 12 in Standalone Mode or when installing a Master Node. There are only a few things you should consider.
Note: If you're running PRTG 7 or 8 we recommend you first update to the latest PRTG 8 version as an intermediate step, in order to make sure all data is carried over correctly. Please contact technical support to obtain a download link for PRTG 8. In any case we recommend you always keep a proper backup of your configuration and monitoring data.
Updating from PRTG 7 or 8 to PRTG 12
- Packet Sniffer (Content) sensors are not supported any more. Existing sensors of this type will automatically be switched to Packet Sniffer (Header) sensors after the update. As a benefit, you can now also sniff IPv6 traffic.
- Internet Explorer 8 is no longer supported for access to the PRTG Ajax web interface.
- You may experience a slow Enterprise Console (former 'Windows GUI') due to different reasons. For detailed information, please see the knowledge base article linked in the More section below.
- When installing a failover node on top of an existing stand-alone PRTG 7, 8, 9, or 12 installation, the configuration cannot be kept and is written to a backup folder. Then, the new cluster configuration is received from the master node of the cluster. As all nodes work with the same configuration, a failover node's old configuration and monitoring data can no longer be used. If you want to keep a configuration of PRTG 7, please install the master node on top of the old installation and use other servers for the failover node installations.
- Since PRTG 9 the SNMP sensors use the IPv4 Outgoing IP set for the probe service (this setting was formerly ignored by those sensors, using the auto setting instead). If you experience failing sensors, please check the setting in the PRTG Probe Administrator. For detailed information please see More section below.
- If you have (manually) configured the PRTG probe or PRTG core service to run under a different Windows user account (for example, for successful internet access through an ISA server firewall), please apply the respective Windows user account for the "PRTGProbeService" and/or "PRTGCoreService" anew after installing PRTG 12. For detailed information please see More section below.
- Probe core and probe now require: SP1 (or later) on Windows 2003, and SP2 (or later) on Windows XP.
- If you use the default data path in your PRTG setup, it will be changed automatically. Up to version 8 all data was stored in a sub folder reflecting a PRTG version number (v7 or v8). As of version 9 this sub folder is omitted, and data is stored directly at %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application data\Paessler\PRTG Network Monitor. During setup, all data will be moved to the new directory. If you use a custom data path it will not be changed.
- Up to version 8 all data in the registry was stored in a sub key reflecting a PRTG version number (v7 or v8). As of version 9 this sub key is omitted, and registry data is stored directly under the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Paessler\PRTG Network Monitor (on 32-bit systems) respectively HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Paessler\PRTG Network Monitor (on 64-bit systems). During setup, all existing registry values will be moved to the new key.
Updating from PRTG 7 to PRTG 12
- Regarding custom sensors, the interpretation of returned values is handled more strict as of PRTG 8. If you're using custom sensors with PRTG 7, these may not work with PRTG 12 if they do not fully apply to the API definition.
Update From Older PRTG Products
For all other predecessor products, a direct data import into the current version is not possible.
If you have been using IPCheck 5 or PRTG Traffic Grapher 6, please perform a clean installation of PRTG 12 and set up your configuration anew. Using PRTG's Auto-Discovery is the easiest way to quickly configure a monitoring of your entire network. Please see Quick Start Guide section for more information.
Knowledge Base: How do I backup all data and configuration of my PRTG installation?
Knowledge Base: How can I monitor a Windows service on Windows 2000?
Knowledge Base: Why is the Enterprise Console so slow?
Knowledge Base: Some of my SNMP sensors do not work after updating from PRTG 8 to PRTG 9 or later
Knowledge Base: Probe Service or Core Service stop working after updating from PRTG 8 to PRTG 9 or later
Knowledge Base: How and where does PRTG store its data?
Knowledge Base: Can I update from PRTG Traffic Grapher or IP Check 5 to the current PRTG version?
Knowledge Base: How do I Import Data from PRTG Traffic Grapher 6 or IPCheck Server Monitor 5 in PRTG Network Monitor?
Keywords: Install,Install Update,Update