Upgrading SOTI MobiControl

About this task

To upgrade your SOTI MobiControl instance:

Procedure

Prepare your environment for an upgrade
  1. Check the system requirements for SOTI MobiControl 2025.0 and make sure your enrolled devices are still supported in 2025.0.
    Important: If upgrading from 11.x, 12.x, or 13.3.x, you must upgrade in stages. Review the system requirements at each stage of your planned upgrade process to minimize the number of system modifications needed.

    If upgrading from a version earlier than 11, contact the SOTI Professional Services or Support teams for support.

    SOTI MobiControl hard blocks upgrades to 2025.0 if the current version is 15.6.5 or earlier.

  2. Check any end-of-life notices.
  3. Backup your SOTI MobiControl database.
    The SOTI MobiControl setup wizard backs up your database automatically. However, you should also back it up independently. If you are running a Non-express edition of Microsoft SQL Server, you can back up your database using the backup tool provided with the Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise Manager. You can also use a third-party backup tool.
Upgrade your environment
  1. Close the SOTI MobiControl console and shut down all SOTI MobiControl services, including all SOTI MobiControl deployment servers. You can use either the SOTI MobiControl Administration Utility or Windows Services to shut down all SOTI MobiControl services.
  2. Download the SOTI MobiControl installer from the SOTI website and copy the installer to every server that you want to upgrade.
    Important: Use the same installer version on every server.
  3. Run the SOTI MobiControl installer as an administrator to launch the SOTI MobiControl setup wizard.
    The SOTI MobiControl installer for a fresh installation and an upgrade is the same. See Installing SOTI MobiControl for reference on the different screens.
  4. Follow the instructions in the setup wizard.
    Warning: On the feature selection screen, keep any currently installed components selected. If you clear the selection for an installed feature, the setup wizard removes that feature during the upgrade.
  5. Select Finish to close the installation wizard.
  6. Run the installer on the rest of your servers.
    You may need to stop SOTI MobiControl services again because services are often configured to auto start during installation or upgrade.

Results

Your SOTI MobiControl system is now up-to-date. You can restart the SOTI MobiControl services.

Note: If your activation fails, SOTI MobiControl has a 30 day grace period for activation. Afterward, the software locks you out and the SOTI MobiControl console require you to enter an activation code each time you log in.
Troubleshooting: When attempting to upgrade SOTI MobiControl, run the installer only once per server. After the installation is complete, check the SOTI MobiControl web console to verify all the data persists under different sections. If there is any missing data, do not re-run the installer on the same instance. Re-running the installer after a failed SOTI MobiControl upgrade may not resolve the issue.
To resolve the upgrade issue, retrieve the following log files:
  • Upgrading from SOTI MobiControl 2024 and earlier
    • C:\DBInstall.log
    • C:\ProgramData\SOTI\MCUpgradeHandler.log
  • Upgrading from SOTI MobiControl 2025.0 and later
    • C:\ProgramData\SOTI\MobiControl\Installer\Logs\Installation.log

Contact SOTI Support and share with them the log file(s). Then rollback your failed upgraded SOTI MobiControl.

Troubleshooting: Alerts may appear on your devices in the console if their device agents are out of date. See Upgrading a SOTI MobiControl Device Agent for details.
Note: SOTI MobiControl 2024.1.0 deprecated IActivationService and the corresponding WCF APIs. SOTI XSight 2024.0 no longer uses these APIs. You must use the analogous SOTI XSight-specific REST APIs. All earlier SOTI XSight versions (4.3.2 and earlier) can not activate with SOTI MobiControl 2024.1.0. You must upgrade to SOTI XSight 2024.0 when upgrading to SOTI MobiControl 2024.1.0.

What to do next

Your devices may have a warning sign in the SOTI MobiControl console. It means that you must enable theSOTI MobiControl Device Agent upgrade for the automatic upgrade to proceed.