To upgrade to the latest build of Forcefield, it is recommended that a migration path be followed. Aritech recommends this course of action to potentially reduce any risk associated with updating the database.
WARNING: Before any upgrade, ensure you have a current backup of the site in case of any failure, so a rollback can be done if needed.
Migrating from version 6 to version 7
6.x.x > 6.4.1 > (7.0.0 or 7.2.1 B30)
Any Forcefield version 6.x.x should be upgraded to 6.4.1 first, then to 7.0.0 or 7.2.1 B30 before proceeding to a later version (see the section below for upgrading from version 7).
NOTE: If Forcefield 6.1.1 is installed you will need to review the 6.1.1 Upgrade Notes prior to upgrade - as often when upgrading from 6.1.1 a manual database edit of the version field is needed. See this article for more information: Forcefield 6.1.1>6.4.1 upgrade
Example: If you wanted to go from 6.0.0 to 7.2.2, the upgrade path would be:
6.0.1 > 6.4.1 > (7.0.0 or 7.2.1 B30) > 7.2.2 B54
Migration from version 7 to version 8
7.0.0 > (7.2.0 B53 or 7.2.1 B30 or 7.2.2 B54) > 8.1.0 B32
(However when going from 7.0.0 upward, we recommend using 7.2.2 B54 as the interim version)
NOTE: From version 8.0.0 onwards, Forcefield no longer supports V9 Challenger panels.
- Customers may upgrade to Forcefield 8 versions directly from the following previous versions:
FF 7.2.0 B53, FF 7.2.1 B30, FF 7.2.2 B54 - however when going from an earlier version upward, we recommend using 7.2.2 B54 as the interim version. - Previous versions prior to 7.0.0 should first upgrade to either 7.0.0 or 7.2.1 B30 first to prevent issues during an upgrade.
- USB keyboard and mouse must be connected on startup, otherwise they will not be detected.
- Serial printing to a third-party system sometimes stops working when the system is under heavy load. As a result, occasionally the server will need to be restarted to resume functionality.
NOTE: There is also a patch for 8.1.0 B32 to resolve issues with NACs in 8 door mode that brings Forcefield up to 8.1.1 B3.
See here for details, and how to obtain that patch: Forcefield patch from 8.1.0 B32 to 8.1.1 B3 instructions
Forcefield migration path downloads
The following Forcefield installation downloads are made available for migration purposes only. These are not provided with any warranty or support associated, and should only be used as interim bridging version for an upgrade path.
NOTE - 7.2.2 B54 "img" file known issue:
The Forcefield 7.2.2 B54 "img" file used for USB installations, has a known issue where it will not work for a fresh install (ie not an upgrade from a previous version, but a full install after a formatted hard drive, etc).
If you install 7.2.2 B54 directly from a USB image, it will not boot successfully afterwards, and you may have to delete the partition to install another version and get it working again.
To avoid this issue, and work around it, for any clean fresh install, Forcefield 7.2.2 B49 should be installed first as the fresh install, and can then be upgraded to 7.2.2 B54.
Links:
https://utcfs.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/Software/Forcefield/Forcefield6.0.1.30.iso
https://utcfs.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/Software/Forcefield/Forcefield6.4.1.06.img
https://utcfs.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/Software/Forcefield/Forcefield7.0.0.47.img
https://utcfs.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/Software/Forcefield/Forcefield7.0.0.47.iso
https://utcfs.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/Software/Forcefield/Forcefield7.2.0B53.iso
https://utcfs.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/Software/Forcefield/Forcefield7.2.1_build30.img
https://utcfs.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/Software/Forcefield/Forcefield7.2.1Build30.iso
https://utcfs.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/Software/Forcefield7.2.2_build49.img
https://utcfs.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/Software/Forcefield7.2.2_build49.iso
https://utcfs.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/Software/Forcefield/Forcefield7.2.2_build54.img
https://utcfs.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/Software/Forcefield/Forcefield7.2.2_build54.iso
For any support, please reach out to our Distributors who are our support agents.