Software update best practices for Messaging Gateway

Products

• Messaging Gateway

Issue/Introduction

Recommended best practices for software update preparation and execution for Symantec Messaging Gateway (SMG). This guide ensures system stability, data integrity, and a clear rollback path during the upgrade process. 

Environment

• Product: Messaging Gateway
• Release: All supported versions
• Component: Control Center, Scanner
• Deployment: SaaS, On-Premise (Virtual/Hardware)

Resolution

Planning the Upgrade

1. Review Release Notes: Read the release notes specifically for the SMG version planned for upgrade. These contain version-specific steps and known issues.
2. Verify System Requirements: Ensure hardware or virtual machines meet minimum requirements for the new release. Refer to the SMG Related Documents
3. Confirm Configuration Persistence: Upgrading preserves existing policies and configurations; however, Broadcom recommends a full backup before proceeding.

Preparing for the Upgrade

Reducing data in the Control Center reduces upgrade duration and backup size:

• Reduce spam quarantine messages (Spam > Quarantine Settings).
• Reduce Content Incident folder messages (Content > Content Incident Folders).
• Clear report data storage (Administration > Reports) by clicking Delete Data Now.
• Set operational Logs (Administration > Logs) to Warning.

Back up the current installation

Broadcom highly recommends backing up the system before moving to any new release.

1. Log in to the Control Center.
2. Navigate to Administration > Version.
3. Click Backup Now.
4. Select Full Backup and Store backup on the server.
5. Once complete, navigate to Administration > Version > Restore/Download.
6. Select the backup and click Download to save it to a secure workstation.
   • Note: Backups are only restorable to the same version (e.g., a 10.8.1 backup requires a 10.8.1 installation for restoration).

Prepare for Rollback

In the event of a failed upgrade, maintain the following:

• A full backup taken immediately prior to the upgrade
• The ISO for the pre-upgrade version
• A copy of the current license file

Performing the upgrade

Current guidance requires performing the upgrade from the command line interface (CLI).

1. Log into the SMG CLI as admin via SSH or virtual machine console.
2. For scanner systems, stop incoming mail:
   • mta-control pause-mode pause-accept
   • mta-control pause-mode status
3. Flush the delivery queue:
   • mta-control delivery flush
4. Execute the upgrade:
   • update install
5. Wait for the appliance to reboot.
6. Resume email acceptance:
   • mta-control pause-mode resume-accept

Apply available patches

1. Log into the admin CLI
2. Run patch list to identify available patches for the new release
3. Apply any patches using the patch install command
   • See Installing and removing patches for Messaging Gateway for details

Additional Information

• Installing and removing patches for Messaging Gateway
• How to download Messaging Gateway ISO files from Broadcom Support portal