How to upgrade from v16 to v18, then to v20

[houpl_IT]

Howdy,
I have a self-hosted 3CX Pro v16 system on Win10 (not virtualized) that I need to get up to v20 but am struggling to find the right steps to do this. I know that I need to first upgrade to v18, then upgrade to v20 and that there are certain steps/requirements that should be met before upgrading from v18 to v20, but I cannot find much for going v16 to v18. Does anyone have any information or links they can share on how to do this?

Thx!

 

[SnakeRiverWebDevelopment]

Can't be done, at least not directly. You may need to create a support ticket with 3CX to make this happen. V16 has been EOL for a while and only V18 U9 can be upgraded to V20

 

[VoIPTools]

You didn't mention the size of your license or number of users. However, there are a large number of significant design changes between 16 and 20. If your system is not too complex, you should consider starting over from scratch. That would give you the option to keep your production system running while you carefully work to recreate something similar in a v20 test environment. V20 is very different.

 

[NicholasP_3CX]

Creating a new system again from scratch would probably be the best way to go in this case, given the size of the system and the number of extensions.

However, not to steamroll the entire deployment, as you might need to keep your call records etc, you could do the following.

1. Take a V16 backup.
2. Find a Version 18 windows installer, install and restore the version 18 backup
3. Follow the steps in the Version 20 checklist, mainly concerning the System Owner extension. https://www.3cx.com/blog/releases/v20-upgrade-checklist-faq/
4. deploy into version 20 as per thestep above.

Depending on the complexity of the system, you shouldnt have any issues, but there are alot of unknowns like Call Flows etc.

 

[houpl_IT]

Its a systems with only 10 extensions, and a fairly simple workflow, so if doing the v16->v18->v20 install/upgrade doesn't work, I'll just have to make it from scratch, got it. I've still got two other v18 systems at different sites I need to upgrade too so I suppose I'll do those first as practice runs. Thanks all

 

[VoIPTools]

As a bit of kindly advice, running a v16 version of 3CX at this stage has two very significant concerns: (1) if your 3CX failed, or the server it was running on failed and you had to reactivate 3CX on a new server, you would be completely out of luck. The activation servers for V16 were shut down long ago, and (2) 3CX support for V16 was also dropped ages ago, so if you had trouble with V16 you would be on your own. Maybe you could get some help here on the forums, but there is no real replacement for 3CX support when it comes to analyzing logs and captures.

My point, and this is not to disparage you since for all I know you inherited this situation, is that running 3CX requires regular updates. This is not a platform you can set up and leave for years at a time. Security patches, activation servers, and support will drive the need to maintain your 3CX software on a more consistent basis.

I for one would NEVER run a production system as important as your phone system without support from 3CX. So, my advice is that you raise these concerns to the management team and explain that you were lucky this time, but this is not the way to manage a critical part of your business infrastructure. You want to decide when to perform upgrades, and not allow hardware or software failures to dictate when an upgrade is performed. For example, a Tuesday morning would be a bad time to discover you have a failed server and no help.

 

[houpl_IT]

I'm well aware of how to maintain production systems. I don't blame my predecessor, but its indeed an inherited situation. What makes it more difficult is that my institution used to have a contract with a 3CX partner that had apparently managed it for years, and eventually the company decided they were no longer going to do business with any institutions in our sector (an unfortunate, but somewhat understandable decision). Since they're the only 3CX partner in our area, we're kind of SOL. But I'm not too worried, I'll figure it out someway.

 

[VoIPTools]

If you need a partner for license renewals or support, we can help. We offer 24/7/365 support, real-time monitoring, custom development, and our commercial tools too.

 

[Evolute IT]

I'm well aware of how to maintain production systems. I don't blame my predecessor, but its indeed an inherited situation. What makes it more difficult is that my institution used to have a contract with a 3CX partner that had apparently managed it for years, and eventually the company decided they were no longer going to do business with any institutions in our sector (an unfortunate, but somewhat understandable decision). Since they're the only 3CX partner in our area, we're kind of SOL. But I'm not too worried, I'll figure it out someway.

The partner you choose doesn't need to be local. Many of us happily offer on-demand support, licensing, consulting and more.