How do I get started with upgrading Java Agents?

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Release Upgrade Checklist for Java Agents

To make sure you complete all the tasks necessary for upgrading Java Agents after a release, we recommend following the upgrade checklist instructions below. 

NOTE: The information in this article is not release-specific. You can reference it for any release

 

Table of Contents

• Prepare to upgrade your Java Agent 
• Plan your Java Agent upgrade 
• Shut down the JVM when uninstalling a Java Agent 
• Additional resources 

 

Prepare to upgrade your Java Agent

• Review the Product Announcements and Alerts page for details on any intermediate versions between the current version of your instance and the version you are targeting.
  
  
• Review either of the following to confirm the compatibility of the various components of the AppDynamics environment:
  • Knowledge Base article: How do I get started with upgrading my AppDynamics components for any release?, especially the component compatibility matrix
  • Technical documentation: Agent and Controller Compatibility

Plan your Java Agent upgrade

• To ensure a successful correlation, upgrade agents on downstream tiers first, and then on upstream tiers.
  
  
• If you’re upgrading multiple agents in your monitored environment, upgrade the agents for the tiers on which business transactions are originated last.
  
  
• Starting in release 4.5, Java Agents are automatically backward-compatible with any 4.4.1+ Controller, so you can upgrade your agent while retaining your 4.4.1+ Controller.
  
  Note: If your Controller is older than 4.4.1, you must upgrade your Controller before upgrading your Java Agent.
  
  

  Supported Controller Versions	v4.3	v4.4	v4.5	v20.3 - future releases
  Java	4.x - 4.3	4.4.1 - 20.x (1)	4.5 - 20.x (1)	4.4 - 20.x (1)(2)

⁽¹⁾ Controller version supports through the most recent released Agent version

⁽²⁾ Controller version does not support Agent version 4.1

• Review How does EUM component compatibility work? for compatibility mappings between agents and Controller versions
  
  
• See Upgrade the Java Agent for step-by-step instructions.
  
  
• See Install the AppDynamics Site Extension for Java for instructions for both minor and major releases.

Shut down the JVM when uninstalling Java Agents

When uninstalling, it’s important to shut down the JVM that the Java Agent runs on, or the Java Agent will reappear in the UI. See Uninstall the Java Agent for the correct procedure. 

Additional Resources

Instructions for upgrading other AppDynamics components are available in our general release upgrade checklist, How do I get started with upgrading AppDynamics components for any release?