Knowledge Base

Note: For upgrades with older versions of Jama prior to 8.x (such as 2015), please visit Education > System Administration for more information.

Incremental Step Upgrade for Jama 8.x and Beyond - Self-Hosted 

We recommend performing incremental upgrades to each major version change before proceeding to our latest release. There have been many changes between your version and our most recent release that need to be applied to the different major versions of Jama.

We have found the following path of upgrades to be the most successful for customers upgrading to the current release: 

Version 8.x > 8.36.0 > 8.49.0 > 8.62.4 ** > 8.79.1

• You must reindex after reaching your desired version. 

• ** Before you can install or upgrade to the Jama Connect 8.62+ release, we recommend that you first create two new database schemas to support the new SAML and OAuth authentication options. Please review the "Notes to Self-Hosted Administrators"  in the 8.62.4 release notes for specific instructions: Jama Connect 8.62.4 Release Notes
• MySQL version 8 is required for releases 8.71.1+

• For all version upgrades, please review Release Notes for more specific information. 

Important Considerations

• We recommend following standard upgrade procedures in between each step. For example:
  • First, check to see if you need to run a curl, specified in the Admin Notes of the Release Notes
  • Log into your Jama Console, select the desired version and choose your incremental step upgrade.
  • After reaching your desired version, you must log in to your Jama Root menu and reindex.
    
• If you decide to stop at one of these versions, please make sure to check for any hotfix versions. Hotfixes are made to fix defects for any particular release.
• Most of our upgrades require landing on the .00 version of any release before upgrading to a hotfix version of that release, with the exception of 8.56.1 (there is no .00 version for this release).
• Please see the Notes for Self-Hosted Administrators in our Community Release Notes. This is suggested as each step upgrade will require a specific set of required actions for a successful upgrade. This script is not required with 8.49.3+.

Tips for Users

• If possible, we suggest performing upgrades on a test instance first. 
• We recommend taking a backup of your instance in the event that your instance crashes during the upgrade.
• Schedule the upgrade when all of your users are logged off and where there is minimal traffic on the server hosting your Jama instance.
• If you have any more questions, you're welcome to open a ticket and request to schedule a one-hour call to review the upgrading process. We recommend that a  Named Support Contact and the person performing the actual upgrade be on the call.