Migrate Userful 10 to Userful 11

Because Userful 11 has a new base platform (CentOS Stream), directly updating On-Premise servers from Userful 10 to 11 is not possible, and a fresh re-install is required.

Userful Cloud Servers are always up to date! Just install any App or Firmware updates available, and you're done!

Public Computing customers should refrain from updating systems at this time.

Should I Upgrade?

As of November 2021, all new systems shipped from Userful will come pre-installed with Userful 11.1.

You should upgrade your existing Userful 10 system to Userful 11 if:

• You are experiencing issues that impact daily operations that are addressed in the Release Notes or Change Log.

• An upgrade has been advised by Userful Support.

• Your endpoints are uClients (LG or uClient Adapters).

• You are purchasing a self-sourced hardware upgrade and need the release with the latest drivers.

• You are a Userful partner managing development or test environments.

You do not need to upgrade to Userful 11 if:

• You are a Public Library / Public Computing customer (features still in testing).

• Your systems are operating normally, to a satisfactory level.

Before you Begin

You will need:

1. About 2 hours of time for your first server, and about 30 minutes for any subsequent servers.

2. A USB Flash Drive- 4GB or higher.

3. Ready local copies of all media files that have been uploaded to your server's Signage Player sources, if any.

4. Latest Userful 11.1 ISO.

5. Rufus or another USB installer creator capable of DD write mode.

6. If your Userful server is not connected to the Internet, a copy of your offline license file.

7. A keyboard, mouse, and monitor connected to your On-Premise server.

8. (Optional) Have your Zero Clients labeled with some sort of descriptive information so that you are able to determine which one is which when re-mapping them to your server. If you skip this step, you may need to visually inspect all of your displays to ensure they are re-numbered in the correct order:

A note on Failover Servers

The steps outlined in this guide only need to be accomplished on the Primary Server in a Failover Group. Once the Primary Server is fully up and running, the Failover Server can simply be re-installed with Userful 11, and then made to rejoin the Failover Group.

Backing up the Server

1. Use the Backup feature in Userful Control Center to download a copy of your server's configuration file. If this function is not available, either update the server to Userful 10.6.3 or contact support.

2. Have local copies of all relevant Signage Player content ready to re-upload to the server. If you need to download content from Userful, you can either configure Userful as a network share (recommended) or back up your content to a USB device.

3. Record the Network Settings of your server. These are included in the Backup feature but if you have settings that must be applied so you can access the server, it is best to have a written copy.

4. If your Userful system is not connected to the Internet, please collect your System ID and email [e-mail] to obtain an offline copy of your license file. If your system is connected, so long as no changes are made to the configuration of any of the network adapters, the system should re-license itself automatically.

Creating Install Media

​Download the Userful 11 ISO and verify the MD5. To check the MD5SUM, open the MD5SUM file from the download page with Notepad, and then run the following command in the Windows command prompt to check the image:

cd Downloads
certutil -hashfile (filename) MD5

The resulting output should match the contents of the MD5 file. If it does not, re-try the download.

Using Rufus to create the USB installer is recommended. Using the default setup options is fine, but you must select DD mode after clicking Start.

Click OK and wait for the process to finish.

Installing Userful 11

Insert the USB drive into the Userful system and start or re-start it. It should be configured to boot from the USB automatically. If not, you will need to enable USB booting from the BIOS or EFI of the system, or select USB as a temporary boot device.

You will be presented with this screen. It's recommended to select the default Test this media & install Userful. Wait while the test completes and the installer starts.

Select language options to use during the install process. This does not affect the installed product.

Select date/time, keyboard, and language settings for the system. Automatic partitioning and network settings (not connected) are recommended. Click Begin Installation once ready.

Installer creates the file system

Copying packages

This process should take less than 30 minutes. Once finished, you will be prompted to reboot. Click Reboot System and then remove the USB drive.

Installation Complete

Software Configuration

After the initial reboot, you should be presented with this screen:

Claiming the server through Userful Manager is optional. Click later if you do not use Userful Manager.

If your server has no Internet connection, you may see additional messages about Userful TURN service. This can be ignored.

For servers that have an Internet connection, the licensing status message will disappear on its own.

The Backup message is referring to a new UCC function that keeps local configuration backups.

At this point you should switch to managing Userful from a web browser directed at the indicated IP address, especially if the screen you are shown looks more like this:

Enter the displayed URL in your browser to continue.

If the Userful server can not receive a DHCP IP address, you may be presented with this:

It is recommended that the server be allowed to take a DHCP lease. By default, all adapters are configured to accept DHCP leases. If this cannot be done, contact Userful Support.

1. Create an administrator user and password and record this information as it can be difficult to reset or retrieve later, especially if you have no Internet connection.

2. Change the server hostname, or leave it as-is.

3. If you have, or are, a Partner that helps you support your Userful system, Grant partner access.

4. Configure your Network Settings from the settings you recorded in the Backing Up stage.

5. Verify date/time/time zone.

6. (Optional) Enable cloud-based logging.

7. Once proper network settings are entered, it should not be necessary to activate your license with an Activation Code, the license will download after clicking Get Started. If you are not connected to the Internet, licensing will be handled later.

8. Click Get Started.

If you are still using the onboard station to manage Userful, it is strongly recommended that you now:

1. Connect to the local IP displayed below from a web browser and log in using the credentials you set above.

2. If you don't have one already, bookmark the page and save the password you set.

3. Disconnect the keyboard, mouse, and monitor from the Userful system.

You'll then see the Control Center's default mapping page.

We should now restore the Backup file. Go to Support -> Backup & Restore, click Restore and select the .ubkup file from Userful 10.

Re-mapping Displays

While the calibration and Zone settings will have been restored from Userful 10, your Displays will not necessarily come back in the same order if they are mass-mapped to the server. If you followed the optional step #7 above, you should be able to determine which Display is which.

You may also need to re-map your Displays. Go to the Displays tab and ensure all Displays are assigned to the server.

If you have changed the hostname of the server during the setup process, a reboot may be required for the hostname change to fully take effect and for uClients to properly pair.

If you assign them in sequential order, they will keep the correct station numbers. If you make a mistake, or if they are mass-assigned, you can easily correct the Display ID manually by clicking its number and changing the Display ID field in the dialog that appears.

uClient Adapters and LG WebOS displays will require an App update. This process should take no more than 30 seconds per display. If you have any LG displays also asking for firmware updates, now is a good time to do so. LG firmware updates installed through Userful are certified by both LG and Userful, and are safe to deploy.

Select your displays and click the Update App button to start the process.

Recalibrating Video Walls

Mapping the displays back into calibrated Video Walls and Zones is easy. Click any Zone and re-map the Displays. All Zones related to that wall will be properly re-created.

Final Steps

Signage Player Content

If you have any Signage Player content, re-upload it using any of the Sources you have. You may need to stop and re-start any Zones that are trying to play missing files. As long as the file names are the same between copies, all your content should start playing.

Source Testing

Make sure to test all:

• HDMI Capture Sources - do all sources play correctly?

• Signage Player Sources - is content complete and does the entire playlist play without any color bars, black bars, or distorted content?

• Desktop Sources - RDP and VNC connections still working and Interactive Viewer is available.

• Web Browser Sources - use Interactive Viewer to log in and re-set any logins, passwords, or extensions as they will have been reset.

• Command & Control Sources - ensure they start and run, and all Layouts are responsive.

• Engage Sources - you will need to delete any Displays you have in Engage and map new ones, because your Zones have been re-created and will need new Engage licenses.

Regenerating Presets

Your Presets will have been migrated in the backup, however, the display mapping to zones (what we did in Recalibrating Video Walls, above) will not. For this reason, it's recommended to manually re-create any Presets, and ensure you follow the best practices when doing so.

Alternatively, you can trigger each individual Preset and follow the steps above in Recalibrating Video Walls if this is faster. If you choose this route, remember to update your presets after each round!

Final Checklist

Your Userful migration is complete! Here is a checklist you can use to ensure everything is working as expected:

• Check Support -> System Diagnostics for any unexpected messages.

• If you have Failover, test it by unplugging all network connections from the Primary server.

• Verify any Users have access to all the same Resource Groups and other functionality that they did before.

• Ensure any Events are working properly by altering their schedule if needed.

• Check Performance Settings to ensure Nvidia Offload is enabled.

• Check the Date and Time in Settings and ensure it is accurate.

• Check for Updates in Settings to ensure you have any post-release fixes and that Chrome is up-to-date.

• Ensure any self-signed Certificates are imported and working.

• Visually inspect any displays you have to ensure playback is smooth and in sync across video walls.

• Check Monitoring to ensure the system is not under excessive load.

• Reboot the system to ensure everything starts properly.

Contact

If you have any issues, questions, or comments on the process of updating your Userful server, contact [e-mail].

If you have any issues, questions, or comments about this page and its process, please email them to [e-mail].

You're done!