Upgrade Advice – Avaya IP Office Server Edition 11.1.2.3.0 to 11.1.3.2.0 (VMware Environment)

[William C290]

Hi everyone,


We are planning to upgrade an Avaya IP Office Server Edition deployment currently running on:


Version: 11.1 Feature Pack 2 Service Pack 3
Build: 11.1.2.3.0 (Build 3)


We’re targeting the latest available release:


Version: 11.1 Feature Pack 3 Service Pack 2
Build: 11.1.3.2.0 (Build 6 / 11.1.3200.6)


This deployment is hosted entirely on VMware virtual machines, and due to the sensitive nature of the environment (financial sector), we plan to follow a very cautious upgrade path in the following order:

1. Upgrade the Secondary Server first.
2. Then proceed with all Expansion Systems.
3. Finally, upgrade the Primary Server.

All configuration backups have been completed, and full VMware snapshots will be taken before starting the upgrade.

---

Question:​

Given that this is a VMware environment, which method would be considered more stable and preferred for the upgrade?

• Mounting the ISO file directly to the VM via vSphere,
  or
• Using a bootable external DVD image

Any feedback or recommendations—especially from those who have recently performed this exact upgrade—would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks in advance!

 

[MikeeOK]

I don't understand why you would want to make it more complicated than it needs to be. You are already on R11.1 and in VMware.

Take a snapshot and upgrade using the standard process (Via uploading of iso file in web manager.)

Use the Snapshot as the fall back.

 

[William C290]

@MikeeOK :

Thanks for the input — really appreciate the direct approach.


You're absolutely right: since we're already on R11.1 and running on VMware, upgrading via ISO through Web Manager does work smoothly in most cases, and the snapshot gives a solid rollback plan.


However, this particular deployment is for a banking environment, so we're applying stricter internal policies and following a conservative approach, mainly to avoid any service interruption — even if it's just UI-based (like Agent Desktop or Wallboards going offline temporarily).


We're planning to upgrade in the following sequence:
Secondary → Expansion Systems → Primary,
which is also aligned with Avaya’s best practices for minimizing disruption in multi-server setups.


Appreciate the insight again — always good to hear from those who've been through it directly.

 

[Mo. Abdullah]

Upgrading using web manager 7070 - transferring .iso mechanism is done smoothly from R11.1.2 to R11.1.3. No need for other methods. Just make sure that you have enough disk space in the primary disk before the upgrade.
But if you have ur personal concerns, Attaching the upgrade disk to the VM after shutting down from 7071, and give the upgrade disk priority 0 and the primary disk as priority 1
This is the best method after transferring iso.
Follow the upgrade steps from the Avaya document for attaching the upgrade disk in the VM environment.

 

[IPOriface]

Is your client 24x7, or do you have an outage window?

 

[derfloh]

I see that you want to start with secondary to see if it works well. Nevertheless the correct way would be to update Primary first (through ISO upload in WebManagement as already mentioned) and from the updated primary server update the other systems.

Using any way you will.have a downtime. If you boot from ISO the downtime of the IPO service will be long, during update from WebManagement it is only a few minutes.

Tbh I am not sure if the update by voting from ISO is supported for virtual servers...

 

[William C290]

@Mo. Abdullah :

You’re absolutely right — the upgrade via Web Manager 7070 using the ISO upload works smoothly between R11.1.2 and R11.1.3, and we’ve validated that in lab setups before.


We also made sure to check disk space on the primary partition beforehand — great reminder.


In our case, since this is for a banking customer, we’re documenting both upgrade paths:

• Web Manager ISO upload (preferred for speed and simplicity).
• VM-level ISO mount with boot priority shift (as a fallback or in case of Web Manager access issues).

We’re using the Avaya official VMware upgrade documentation as reference, and trying to keep risk at a minimum due to the sensitivity of the production environment.


Appreciate your clear input — spot on.

 

[William C290]

@IPOriface :

Thanks for the great question.


The client operates in a 24x7 environment (Banking sector), so any disruption — even on the UI or agent side — is highly sensitive and needs to be pre-approved with a fixed outage window.


That’s why we’re preparing a detailed plan and considering all upgrade paths carefully, even though the upgrade between R11.1.2.3 and R11.1.3.2 is relatively straightforward.


Once we agree on a short maintenance window, we’ll most likely proceed using the Web Manager ISO method, along with snapshots as a fallback.


Really appreciate the feedback — very helpful for validating the plan.

 

[William C290]

@derfloh :

Thanks a lot for your input — much appreciated.


You're right that Avaya's official documentation shows the Primary Server as the starting point in the upgrade flow, and that’s generally the expected path when using Web Manager with ISO upload.


However, since this is a sensitive banking environment, we decided to start with the Secondary Server intentionally, to:

• Test system behavior after upgrade in a lower-impact node.
• Validate expansion sync and service continuity.
• Ensure fallback through snapshot if anything unexpected comes up.

You're absolutely right about downtime concerns — that’s why Web Manager is preferred here.
We also noted your point about the uncertainty of ISO boot in virtual environments — that's a very good point, and we’ll double-check that before considering it as a fallback method.


Appreciate the clarification and your experience — it definitely helps shape a safer upgrade approach.