Before Upgrading or Downgrading

Upgrading

The Aspera Client installer automatically checks for an older version of the product on your system. If an older version is found, the installer automatically removes it before installing the new version.
On a Windows system, the installer displays the following message when an older version of the product is detected:
Although the installer performs your upgrade automatically, Aspera highly recommends completing the tasks below before upgrading. If you do not follow these steps, you risk installation errors or losing your former configuration settings.
You cannot upgrade directly between different Aspera transfer products (such as from Point-to-Point to Desktop Client, or from Point-to-Point to Enterprise Server). To upgrade, you need to back up the configuration, uninstall the product, and perform a fresh install of the new version of the product.
When upgrading from versions 2.7.6 and earlier to version 3.X on Windows, user names are now case sensitive.

Downgrading

Older installers do not check for newer versions of the application. You must prepare your machine as described below then uninstall the newer version before continuing with your downgrade.

Preparing for an Upgrade or Downgrade

Verify the version of your existing product.
The steps required to prepare for an upgrade may differ depending on your current product version. To view the current product and version, run the following command:
```
> ascp -A
```
Review product release notes.
Review the release notes for the versions that were released since your current version. In particular, the Breaking Changes section highlights changes that may require you to adjust your workflow, configuration, or usage.
Confirm your Aspera service account.
The Aspera service account was created when you first installed Aspera Client on your computer and you will need this account information during the upgrade. By default, the user name for the Aspera services account is svcAspera; however, this is not a requirement and you may have selected a different user to run the services.
To identify which user is designated as your Aspera service account in Windows 7, 8, and 10, click Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services. In Windows Server 2008, 2012, and 2016, go to the Server Manager and select Configuration > Services. Find the account associated with the Aspera services (such as Aspera Central) and record the username. If you have forgotten the Aspera service account password or would like to change the designated Aspera service account, follow the instructions described in Managing the Aspera Service Account.
Stop or allow to complete any FASP transfers that were initiated by the computer that you are upgrading.
FASP transfers cannot proceed during your Aspera product upgrade.
- Stop Hot Folders by clicking .
- Close the application GUI.
- Stop (and resume after upgrade) or allow to complete any ascp, A4, or Sync transfers in the command line.
Back up configuration and settings files.
These files are found in the etc and var folders. Their location depends on the version of your previous installation and the operating system.
Aspera 2.5+
- C:\Program Files\Aspera\Client\etc\ (contains Configuration files, Shared Remote Hosts)
- C:\Program Files\Aspera\Client\var\ (contains Prepost scripts, Connect Server)
- <APPDATA>\Aspera\Client (contains the individual user's remote hosts and hot folder configuration)
  To determine the current user's <APPDATA> path, run the following command in a Command Prompt window :
```
> echo %APPDATA%
```
Aspera 2.2.x and earlier
- C:\Program Files[ (x86)]\Aspera\FASP\etc\ (contains Configuration files)
- C:\Program Files[ (x86)]\Aspera\Aspera Scp\etc\(contains Remote Hosts and Hot Folders settings)