Upgrade Methods

You can use this method to upgrade your Security Gateways and Cluster Two or more Security Gateways that work together in a redundant configuration - High Availability, or Load Sharing. Members:

Gateway

Central Deployment

Central Deployment Tool

CPUSE

Security Gateways,

VSX Virtual System Extension. Check Point virtual networking solution, hosted on a computer or cluster with virtual abstractions of Check Point Security Gateways and other network devices. These Virtual Devices provide the same functionality as their physical counterparts. Gateways,

Cluster Members

See Upgrade of Security Gateways and Cluster Members with Central Deployment

>	Best Practice - Use this method.

See Upgrade of Security Gateways and Cluster Members with Central Deployment Tool

See Upgrade with CPUSE

You can use these methods to upgrade your Management Servers and Log Servers:

Server	CPUSE	Advanced Upgrade	Migration and Upgrade
Security Management Server Dedicated Check Point server that runs Check Point software to manage the objects and policies in a Check Point environment within a single management Domain. Synonym: Single-Domain Security Management Server., Endpoint Security Management Server Check Point Single-Domain Security Management Server or a Multi-Domain Security Management Server., CloudGuard Controller, vSEC Controller	See Upgrade with CPUSE	See Advanced Upgrade of Management Servers and Log Servers	See Migration and Upgrade of Management Servers and Log Servers
Multi-Domain Server Dedicated Check Point server that runs Check Point software to host virtual Security Management Servers called Domain Management Servers. Synonym: Multi-Domain Security Management Server. Acronym: MDS.	See Upgrade with CPUSE	See Advanced Upgrade of Management Servers and Log Servers	See Migration and Upgrade of Management Servers and Log Servers
Multi-Domain Log Server Dedicated Check Point server that runs Check Point software to store and process logs in a Multi-Domain Security Management environment. The Multi-Domain Log Server consists of Domain Log Servers that store and process logs from Security Gateways that are managed by the corresponding Domain Management Servers. Acronym: MDLS.	See Upgrade with CPUSE	See Advanced Upgrade of Management Servers and Log Servers	See Migration and Upgrade of Management Servers and Log Servers
Dedicated Log Server Dedicated Check Point server that runs Check Point software to store and process logs., Endpoint Policy Server	See Upgrade with CPUSE	See Advanced Upgrade of Management Servers and Log Servers	See Migration and Upgrade of Management Servers and Log Servers
Dedicated SmartEvent Server	See Upgrade with CPUSE	See Advanced Upgrade of Management Servers and Log Servers	See Migration and Upgrade of Management Servers and Log Servers

Important:

Upgrade with CPUSE Check Point Upgrade Service Engine for Gaia Operating System. With CPUSE, you can automatically update Check Point products for the Gaia OS, and the Gaia OS itself. is supported only on Check Point computers that currently run Gaia Check Point security operating system that combines the strengths of both SecurePlatform and IPSO operating systems. Operating System.
Before you upgrade your Security Gateways and Cluster Members, you must upgrade your Management Servers that manage them.
You must upgrade your dedicated Log Servers and SmartEvent Servers to the same version as the Management Servers that manage them.

You must upgrade your Management Servers before you can upgrade these dedicated servers.
You must upgrade your Multi-Domain Log Servers to the same version as the Multi-Domain Servers that manage them.
During the upgrade process in a Management High Availability environment, we recommend that you do not use any of the Security Management Servers or Multi-Domain Servers to make changes in the management databases.

This can cause inconsistent synchronization between these servers.

Advanced Upgrade of Management Servers and Log Servers

In an advanced upgrade scenario, perform these steps on the same Check Point computer:

Step	Instructions
1	Take a full backup and snapshot of the current Check Point computer.
2	Export the entire management database with the R81 Management Server Migration Exporting the Check Point configuration database from one Check Point computer and importing it on another Check Point computer. Tool.
3	Get the R81 Check Point computer: If the current Check Point computer runs on Gaia, you can upgrade it to R81. If the current Check Point computer runs an operating system other than Gaia, you must perform a clean install of the R81.
4	Import the entire management database.

For detailed Advanced Upgrade instructions, see:

Note - When you perform an upgrade to R81 from R80.20.M1, R80.20, R80.20.M2, R80.30, or higher versions, you can see the upgrade report on the server. The upgrade process generates this report after each specific stage of an upgrade:

$MDS_FWDIR/log/upgrade_report-<yyyy.MM.dd_HH.mm.ss>.html

Migration and Upgrade of Management Servers and Log Servers

In a migration and upgrade scenario, perform these steps on the source Check Point computer and the different target Check Point computer:

Step	Instructions
1	Export the entire management database from the source Check Point computer with the R81 Management Server Migration Tool.
2	Install another target R81 Check Point computer.
3	Import the entire management database on the new target R81 Check Point computer.

For detailed migration and upgrade instructions, see:

Note - When you perform an upgrade to R81 from R80.20.M1, R80.20, R80.20.M2, R80.30, or higher versions, you can see the upgrade report on the target server. The upgrade process generates this report after each specific stage of an upgrade:

$MDS_FWDIR/log/upgrade_report-<yyyy.MM.dd_HH.mm.ss>.html