V20 Upgrade question

[JohnWoodCC]

I am still searching for an answer regarding the upgrade from Windows v18 to v20. We are currently running on Professional, and from what I have seen on the forums and what my 3cx Partner is saying to me, there are conflicts. Below is what I received from my reseller, who contacted their 3cx rep:

This is what 3CX corporate said (sorry it is not more definitive yet) :

We have not confirmed yet if we will provide a free upgrade to ENT for all Windows users. It is likely we will, but I am waiting on the confirmation. They cannot upgrade to v20 windows yet, but this should be ready by the final release of update 2. To be on the safe side, it is best to upgrade the license prior to renewing as there is no guarantee we will upgrade to ent for free.


The issue is not whether to upgrade our license to Enterprise; we understand that and will do that. The issue is trying to understand if we can save money now by not upgrading to Enterprise because 3cx will upgrade it for us during the installation. Then, at renewal, we will renew our license at the Enterprise rate. 3cx documentation and forums say one thing; the response I received from my rep says another.

If anyone, including any 3cx employee who is watching these threads, has more details on this, I would be grateful for any guidance in this matter. I would like to upgrade soon. If we need to upgrade our license to Enterprise first, then upgrade to v20, that is fine. But if we can upgrade to v20 and then just renew the license at renewal time at the Enterprise rate (which is July 2025), that is also fine.

 

[Scot Busby]

Relating to the v20 upgrade - is it still the plan to show the "upgrade" option in the Admin Console on existing v18 on-premise systems once the v20 is fully released or do we just download the v20 installer and follow the steps outlined (backup v18, un-install v18, install v20 with restore)?

I would like to avoid installing a pre-release in my production environment.

 

[SteveITS]

v20 is released. The Linux version for several months; the Windows version since update 2 a few weeks ago.

Linux versions can upgrade from the web GUI. Windows needs an uninstall/reinstall to upgrade major versions.

https://www.3cx.com/blog/releases/v20-update-2/
https://www.3cx.com/blog/releases/v20-update-2-alpha/ (note about Windows requiring an Enterprise license)

 

[NicholasP_3CX]

Relating to the v20 upgrade - is it still the plan to show the "upgrade" option in the Admin Console on existing v18 on-premise systems once the v20 is fully released or do we just download the v20 installer and follow the steps outlined (backup v18, un-install v18, install v20 with restore)?

I would like to avoid installing a pre-release in my production environment.

Please ensure that your PBX is on Version 18 Update 9 before taking the backup, and that you have a system owner configured, with a UNIQUE email address and access to the web client of that user!!!

While youre at it, do the Windows Updates as well

 

[Scot Busby]

Thanks @SteveITS and @NicolasP_3CX

I appreciate the insight. All my installations are Enterprise, so I have not worried about the conversation on PRO to Enterprise, but it was not clear to me the official release had happened.

I keep all my servers up-to-date, so we are on the latest patches on V18 and Windows and have the checklist of prerequisites completed, so are ready to go!