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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I get WSO2 Updates for free?¶

You can receive updates to WSO2 software for six months for evaluation and trial. If you'd like to use WSO2 software in production, this requires a WSO2 Subscription.

Find out more about WSO2 Subscriptions

What are the benefits of a WSO2 subscription?¶

A WSO2 Subscription entitles you to :

Run WSO2 software in production.
Receive all updates.
Access WSO2 support and much more.

Find out more about WSO2 Subscriptions

How can I migrate from WUM/In-place model to the new WSO2 Updates 2.0 model?¶

The WSO2 WUM and In-place update tools were decommissioned on 7^th March 2023. For more information, please review the Decommission plan and reach out to WSO2 support with any questions.

How often does WSO2 release new updates?¶

WSO2 updates are released bi-weekly as new update levels. Follow the updates commands in updates command page.

For urgent security updates, WSO2 will alert customers via the Support Portal. In addition, WSO2 will announce all new security updates monthly. WSO2 recommends updating your production environments at least monthly.

How can I update my product pack if my environment doesn't have Internet access?¶

First, update the product pack in an environment that has Internet access using the create-update command.
Next, transfer the created zip file securely to your isolated environment(s).
Next, run the apply-update command pointing the proper zip file location. If you have an older update client tool version, the tool will update itself and show a message to re-run the same command.
Upon running the apply-update command again will propagate new updates to that environment.

What should I do if I get an`unknown command "apply-update" for "wso2update` error while applying updates offline?¶

You will get this error if the update tool is old and does not support the apply-update command. To resolve this problem, follow the steps below:

Check the version of the Update Tool in the non-internet environment by running wso2update_<os> version command.
If the version of the Update Tool in the non-internet environment is earlier than 1.3.0, copy a newer version of the tool that is fetched by an environment with internet.
a. The latest version of the tool would be available in the <PRODUCT>/bin directory in the environment with internet after running the create-update command.
Next, while copying the update zip file into the non-internet environment, copy the updated tool executable into the <PRODUCT>/bin directory.

Learn more about the create-update and apply-update commands by referring to updates command page

Do I need a key to unlock updates for production?¶

No. We trust our customers to adhere to the license terms. We make the terms clear to avoid accidental violations and reserve the right to remove access to updates or take other means to enforce the license against intentional violators.

Find out more about the EULA license.

Can I choose which updates to install?¶

You can choose to update your product to a specific update level. This will update the product from the existing level to the chosen level, applying the updates in between.

What license is WSO2 Updates on?¶

We have released WSO2 Updates with a commercial EULA license. Find out more about the EULA license.

Should I test my updates and hotfixes?¶

WSO2 tests all updates and hotfixes before releasing them to customers. However, it is a best practice to install updates or hotfixes to either your development, staging or testing environment that has the same product distribution that runs on your production environment, execute test run and thereafter apply to the production environment.

How do I know when updates are available?¶

You can learn about the latest updates from WSO2 by logging into Updates Portal.

You can review details about each update and hotfix in Updates Portal. Information about your subscribed products is available in Updates Portal.

How can I print update information by accessing the Updates portal?¶

Follow the steps given below:
1. Login to the Updates portal
2. Enter your WSO2 user credentials and click on the 'Sign In' button.
3. The page will be directed to the 'WSO2 Updates Information Portal'.
4. Click on the products "Already installed updates" button or "Newly Available Updates" button.
5. Click on the "View Report" button then the user is able to print the update report.

What can I do in case of an issue?¶

If you encounter any issues while using WSO2 updates, and you have a valid subscription, please report the issue on the Support Portal. Be sure to attach the details of the error when making the report. You can obtain the details by accessing the log files in 'updates/logs' within the product directory.

If you do not have a subscription, kindly reach out to us through the contact page for assistance.

How can I know what changes are included in an update?¶

You can check the changelog of an update by log into the Updates Portal.

when I get an error as 'invalid credentials. Please enter valid WSO2 credentials'. What should I do?¶

Check whether you have given the correct WSO2 credentials. If you have, check whether your password has the $ sign. If yes, escape the $ sign using escape character '\'.

    Example
     Password - 123$abc
     Should be entered as 123\$abc

Should I change configurations when a proxy server or firewall is running?¶

Yes. WSO2 updates are received by connecting to https://api.updates.wso2.com, https://cdn.updates.wso2.com, https://product-dist.wso2.com and https://wso2.com, https://gateway.api.cloud.wso2.com. If your system connects to the Update service through a proxy server or firewall, whitelist the above-mentioned endpoints.

Since WSO2 Updates is a command-line tool, the proxy should be configured from your command-line using the following command:

    export http_proxy=http://username:password@proxyhost:port/

If you are behind an NTLM proxy, you can use a third party tool like CNTLM to do the NTLM proxy authentication. See the CNTLM documentation for instructions.

What if my proxy runs only on http: protocol?¶

You can achieve this by sending HTTPS traffic to the proxy server using plain http. Change the variable HTTPS_PROXY to the following:

HTTPS_PROXY=https://<proxyIP>:<proxyPort> -> HTTPS_PROXY=http://<proxyIP>:<proxyPort>

Do I have to run the update tool in all the servers in my environment?¶

This is not a WSO2 recommended approach. If you have several servers running in your environment, it is prudent to use a Configuration Management System. You can update the product pack once and distribute it to other servers using your Configuration Management System .

What are the recommended configuration management tools to deploy configurations to client nodes?¶

WSO2 recommnds Ansible and Puppet.

Ansible resources:

WSO2 APIM: https://github.com/wso2/ansible-apim/blob/master/README.md

WSO2 EI: https://github.com/wso2/ansible-ei/blob/master/README.md

WSO2 IS: https://github.com/wso2/ansible-is/blob/master/README.md

Puppet resources:

WSO2 APIM: https://github.com/wso2/puppet-apim/blob/master/README.md

WSO2 EI: https://github.com/wso2/puppet-ei/blob/master/README.md

WSO2 IS: https://github.com/wso2/puppet-is/blob/master/README.md

How can I use update commands in automation scripts?¶

The WSO2 Updates tool supports the use of flags for user input values and exit codes for commands.

Use user input commands

Use exit codes

Are the updates I get from WSO2 Updates secure and assures authenticity?¶

The Update tool communicates with the WSO2 Update Service to get details of the updates that need to be downloaded and applied like the following:
1. Artifacts to be downloaded.
2. md5sum values of the artifacts.
3. Several other metadata required for the next invocations.

After getting information about the updated files, the Update tool makes an authenticated invocation to the CDN to download the necessary updates. The client’s communication with the WSO2 Update Service and the CDN are secured through HTTPS.

After the necessary files have been downloaded, the Update tool validates the authenticity of the files by comparing their md5sum values with the values obtained from the WSO2 Update service. This ensures that the files have not been tampered with after the download is complete. The Update tool will then apply the downloaded updates and create an updated product distribution.

How can I get Docker images with updates and how will those be distinguished?¶

To get Docker images, please go to WSO2 Docker Repository and select the Docker image based on <product-name>,<product-version>,<update-level> and the optional [OS] requirement.
The <docker-file-version> represents the Docker file version that was used to build this image for reference purposes (you may disregard this value).

The naming conversion of Docker images is as follows:

<product-name>:<product-version>.<update-level>-<docker-file-version>-[OS]

e.g., wso2am:3.2.0.3-spec1-alpine

How can I get updates for each node (Dev, Staging and Production) when a deployment or server directory is shared among nodes?¶

You can get updates to nodes when there is a shared deployment or server directory. Below is a list of recommended ways to achieve this:

Configuration Management Tool

Stop all running product packs.
Unmount the shared directory from all nodes except the main node of your Configuration Management Tool. (If the shared directory is not mounted in the main node of the Config Management setup, you'll have to mount it to the main node).
Execute the WSO2 update tool on the main node to update the product pack.
Using you Configuration Management Tool, transfer the updated pack to the other nodes.
Mount the shared directory on other nodes. At this point, the update is successful on all the deployment node.

Configuration Management Tool

In the deployment, first stop all product packs.
Unmount the shared directory (deployment/server) in all servers except in one server/instance.
Run the WSO2 Update tool to update the product pack with the latest changes (jar, war, and webapp changes).
If there are conflicts, take any necessary steps to manually resolve them. Refer to the Resolve Conflicts page
This will apply all the updates sent for deployment/server directories from WSO2.
Copy the updated pack to all other nodes replacing their existing product.
Mount the shared directory in all nodes and start servers. Now the whole deployment is updated.

Is it mandatory to have a Configuration Management Tool configured or can we deploy Updates manually to tour environments?¶

It is not mandatory to have a Configuration Management Tool configured, but having a Configuration Management Tool makes the continuous updates process easy and aids configuration with less possibility of human errors.

How are the keystore and truststore configurations incorporated with a configuration management tool?¶

Please refer to APIM Ansible repository Documentation to learn about customizing keystore and truststore configurations that are integrated with a Configuration Management Tool.

How do I persist customizations done on the servers during each update?¶

If there are .jar or UI customization, those changes should be done in a configuration management server. Those changes should also be pushed to your forked repository, for future use.
The customized files should be in the sub-directories of the files directory. (All .jar files and UI customizations should be added to the misc folder.)
Next, you need to change the script to include group customizations/changes. However, if there are any role specific changes the script changes should be performed in the respective role(s).

What are the correct steps to apply the same Update level to all the nodes in the deployment if a Configuration Management Tool is not being used?¶

WSO2 recommends the use of a Configuration Management Tool to mitigate human errors as a manual intervention may lead to errors.
However, here are the steps to apply the same update level across all node:
1. In a pre-production environment, update to the required update level using the --level flag (e.g., ./wso2update_linux --level 10)
2. Run all testcases and verify the update in that environment.
3. Propagate the same updated product pack to other and production environments (using rolling updates, Canary or Blue-green update methods).

If nodes are started with product profiles, how do I get updates?¶

First, get the update of the base product and distribute the updated pack to other deployment environments. Then, run different profiles on those environments as needed.

How do I change the Backup location?¶

By default, the WSO2 Update tool will use <user_home>/.wso2-updates in the users home directory as the backup location.

If you want to change the backup location, run the update tool command with --backup flag followed by the new backup location.

./wso2update_<os> --backup <New backup location>

Note

You need to provide the flag only when changing the backup location. Subsequent executions of the same command will automatically use the provided backup location.

How do I create an updated product zip to be used in a pipeline?¶

Follow the steps described below to create an updated product zip that can be used in a pipeline.
1. Set the following environment variables

    WSO2_UPDATES_SKIP_CONFLICTS="true"
    WSO2_UPDATES_SKIP_MIGRATIONS="true"

2. Download or copy the required U2 base pack to your pipeline workspace. (You can download the U2 base pack from the WSO2 website and host it internally so that you can access the same from your pipeline.)
3. Unzip the product pack and use the command shown below:

    unzip -q <product pack zip name>

4. Run the update tool suited to your OS. Refer to link
Note :
a. If you already have a WSO2 subscription use the following command to run the updates with the user credentials.
b. When a self update (the update tool will run a self update when the tool is not up to date. This is a automatic procedure) is executed, the update tool will generate a Exit Code of 2. Thus, it is recommended to configure the pipeline to rerun the update command.

    [path_to_product_pack]/bin/<OS specific update command> -u $WSO2_UPDATE_USER -p $WSO2_UPDATE_PASSWORD

5.Run the following command to re-zip the updated product pack.

    zip -r [path_to_product_pack].zip [path_to_product_pack]

6. You can use the zip file created in step 6 in the rest of the pipeline.

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