Download the installer from your Customer Portal: https://customerportal.solarwinds.com:

1. Open a browser and go to https://customerportal.solarwinds.com.
2. Log in using your Solarwinds Customer Account UserID and Password.
3. Navigate to Licenses > Manage Licenses.
4. Scroll down and look for your Solarwinds Product License entry and click on "Choose Download" button right beside it.
5. Under Product Downloads > Server Downloads > select the appropriate version of Product you want to download.
6. Click on the "Download" button.

• Serv_U 15.2.3 Release Notes
• Serv-U 15.2 System Requirements

Preparations for upgrade:

1. Do Snapshot your current Serv-U Server if applicable.
2. If your Serv-U has Database Users, backup the database first.
3. Login to your Serv-U Server using a Local Administrator account if possible. Not a Domain admin with admin privileges on the server.
4. Temporarily disable Anti-Virus, UAC, and Firewall in your Serv-U Server.
5. For Windows deployments, make sure to take note of the service account used by the Serv-U File Server service through services.msc. After the upgrade, make sure to check the service account if it changed and correct it as necessary.
6. IMPORTANT: If you are upgrading to Serv-U FTP/MFT version 15.2.3 or newer, make sure you have a copy of the new license key from your Customer Portal account page. If your Customer Portal page does not show the new license key, DO NOT proceed with the upgrade, and please contact our Customer Service Support hotline at the numbers below to update your Serv-U license.

• Phone (Americas): +1-866-530-8040, option 1 or +1-512-682-9300
• Phone (EMEA): +353 21 5002900
• Phone (DACH): +49 30 390 634 50
• Phone (APAC): +61 2 8412 4900

Here is how the old and new license keys will show in the Customer Portal page:

There are instances where only one license key will show. The new license key compatible with version 15.2.3 will start with FA.

• Please note that only the Serv-U FTP/MFT will have a new license key. The Serv-U Gateway will have the same license key.

Backing Up Serv-U Settings :

In accordance with the new requirements of Windows 7, 8, Server 2008 R2, and Server 2012, Serv-U now stores critical settings files in the "ProgramData" folder. This means Serv-U settings may be in one of two different locations depending on the version of Windows you have installed. The files that must be backed up are the following:

• Serv-U.Archive file
• Users folder
• Serv-UID.txt file

These files are either stored in:

• Windows Vista/7/8, Server 2008/2012 - C:\ProgramData\RhinoSoft\Serv-U (Folder is Hidden in Windows by default)
• Windows 2000/XP, Server 2000/2003 - C:\Program Files\RhinoSoft\Serv-U
• Linux - /usr/local/Serv-U

If you are using FTPS or SFTP and do not want to change the default RSA Host Key, you will need to back up additional key and cert files along with the above basic configuration files:

• Any file ending with .crt 
• Any file ending with .pem
• Any file ending with .key

Example: Serv-U-DefaultCertificate.crt
                 Serv-U-DefaultCertificate.key

The Serv-UID.txt file contains your license key information. This file is created at the time when you enter your license ID in the Serv-U Management Console, and it will be stored in your installation directory, but the other files may be located elsewhere on your system. The best way to verify whether you are using these files is to check the Domain Limits & Settings | Encryption (for each domain) and Server Limits & Settings | Encryption tab to see where those files are stored. (It's a best practice to store these all either in one directory for the server, or one directory per domain so they are easy to back up.)

Running the Serv-U MFT installer:

1. Access the downloaded zip file for the installer and make sure to extract the contents.
2. Right-click the Serv-U MFT 15.2.3  installer and select Properties.
3. Click "Unblock" if available.
4. Right-click the Serv-U MFT 15.2.3 installer again, and then run the installer as an administrator.
5. Complete the installation wizard.

License related issues during or after upgrade:

If there is a message about an Invalid Registration ID while running the Serv-U 12.2.3 installer, click NEXT and proceed with completing the upgrade.



After the upgrade is complete, the Serv-U Management Console will show a "Your trial has expired" banner. This is expected as version 15.2.3 requires the new license key.


Proceed with manually entering the license key from the Customer Portal page, into the Serv-U Management Console by following the steps below.

1. Open the Serv-U Management Console.
2. Go to Server Details > View information about and configure the current license.
3. Click Enter License ID...
4. Paste your alphanumeric Registration ID string in the Registration ID field. 

   

5. Click Save.

Applying the Serv-U 15.2.3 Hotfixes:

• Review the included 'Read Me' file in the Hotfix download before proceeding with applying the patch.
• Hotfix 1 is required before applying Hotfix 2
• Make sure to extract the hotfix from the compressed file download files before applying them to the installation folder
• The hotfixes should only be applied to the MFT server. There is no need to apply the patch in the Gateway application.
• It is important to stop and restart the Serv-U MFT service after each hotfix application.
• The Hotfix files are not executables, do not RUN them. You only need to copy and paste the files into the current Serv-U installation folder. If you execute the hotfix files, you might encounter the error below.

Upgrade Tips:

1. While running the installer file, if there is a window that says your registration ID is invalid, please disregard it and just continue with the prompts.
2. If after the upgrade process and Serv-U shows you have an expired license, just reapply your MFT license. 
   • Copy your Serv-U MFT license from the Customer Portal page.
   • Back in Serv-U, go to Management Console > Global > Server Details > License Information tab > scroll to the bottom left part of the page and click Enter License ID, and paste your MFT license there
3. If you are not able to connect to Serv-U after the upgrade, bounce the listeners (disable/enable) 
   • Go to Domains > Domain Details > Listeners tab
   • Disable one of the listeners, SAVE, then re-enable the listener.
4. If there is an error saying the Serv-U.dll cannot be renamed or overwritten, make sure that the Serv-U service is stopped. Also, check the Task Manager for any Serv-U related processes that might still be running and stop them (except for the Serv-U Setup process). If there are no Serv-U related processes running, reboot the server and start the installation or upgrade again.
5. There is no specific order on which to upgrade first (MFT or the Gateway) but it is highly suggested to upgrade the Gateway application first.
6. For deployments with SFTP connections enabled. If the default self-signed SSH private keys are used, make sure to backup the 'Serv-U-DefaultCertificate.crt' and 'Serv-U-DefaultCertificate.key' files found in the installation folder (C:\Program Files\RhinoSoft\Serv-U by default). Installing Serv-U version 15.2.0 and above will have a new set of self-signed SSL certificate and SSH key that will overwrite the old files that came from Serv-U version 15.1.7.162 and lower. After the upgrade procedure, the old 'Serv-U-DefaultCertificate.crt' and 'Serv-U-DefaultCertificate.key' files should be copied back to the installation folder (C:\Program Files\RhinoSoft\Serv-U) so the same SSH key will still be used, and clients who connect through SFTP will not have to accept or trust the new SSH key that comes with version 15.2.0 or higher.
7. If the Serv-U configuration is lost after upgrading to version 15.2.2 or after applying the hotfix for 15.2.2, please read on this article Serv-U configuration lost after upgrading to 15.2.2
8. If an Expired or Trial Maintenance banner shows after upgrading to Serv-U version 15.2.3 (or newer), manually apply the license key.  
   • Stop the Serv-U service
   • Make a backup of the Serv-UID.txt file located in C:\ProgramData\RhinoSoft\Serv-U (Folder is Hidden in Windows by default). If Serv-U is installed on another drive or folder, the Serv-UID.txt file will be located in the installation folder.
   • Edit the Serv-UID.txt file and clear out the old license key, then copy/paste the new license key from the Customer Portal. Save the changes.
   • Start the Serv-U service.
   • After starting the service, make sure that the Domain Listeners are working and ready to accept connections.
     • Go to Domains > Domain Details > Listeners tab
     • Disable one of the listeners, SAVE, then re-enable the listener.