LTS24 Migration Guide

Introduction

This guide describes how to upgrade a Nevis setup from LTS-2021 to LTS-2024.

The upgrade should be done as part of a migration project. Nevis integration partners can help customers to manage and execute these projects to successfully deliver a production ready, migrated, latest version of the Nevis Identity Suite.

Functionality-wise, this release is based on the November 2023 Rolling Release, introducing many new Nevis Identity Suite features with long term support. In general, LTS-2024 will contain all improvements and changes that appeared in the major and minor Rolling Releases since November 2021.

Prerequisite

LTS-2024 is a major upgrade with many changes compared to the LTS-2021 release. As such, we recommend customers to plan ahead and reserve ample time for upgrade preparations. The preparations should include the following points:

1. Reading all relevant release notes
2. Performing configuration updates
3. Doing upgrade "rehearsals"
4. Extensive testing of all use cases

When your upgrade procedures and use cases work well, you should also have a smooth production upgrade.

To upgrade from LTS-2021 to LTS-2024, you need to have the most recent LTS-2021 patch version installed.

Upgrading your components will require database changes. As the LTS-2024 database schemas are not compatible with LTS-2021, you also need to shut down the affected Nevis components.

Platforms support in LTS-2024

LTS-2024 will support:

• RHEL 8 and RHEL 9 operating systems
• nevisAppliance based on Rocky Linux 8
• SLES 15 and SLES 16 (for selected components)

LTS-2024 will not support:

• RHEL 7 / SLES 12

See the Linux Distribution Support Policy for Nevis for full details.

nevisAdmin4-based Docker/Kubernetes support

Kubernetes support is only available in combination with nevisAdmin 4.

As Kubernetes (short K8S) is in rapid development, only the latest K8S versions are maintained. This means that it is required to upgrade to the latest LTS patch quarterly, which also requires upgrading Kubernetes versions according to the Nevis Product Lifetime and Platform Support Matrix.

Migration Guidelines

The following guidelines describe an in-place upgrade.

Alternatively, you may set up a new environment and perform the upgrade there. This reduces risks and downtime. When the new environment is ready, you need to route the traffic to that new environment.

As a heads-up, see 2024 Q2 LTS-2024 Update May 2024.

Manual Setup (for non-nevisAdmin users)

If the components are installed manually, we cannot offer an automatic upgrade. Upgrade to LTS-24 as follows:

1. Analyse your configuration and apply the required changes for each Nevis component.
   1. The required changes are summarized in the LTS Migration Guide of the components (see References below).
   2. Even if you did not change anything, we recommend to check the LTS Migration Guide of the components for new component behavior due to changes in default values.
2. Upgrade your target systems according to the requirements defined in Nevis Product Lifetime and Platform Support Matrix.
   1. For some Nevis components, a database schema upgrade is required. Check the components technical documentation for upgrade instructions.
   2. Stop the affected components while the database schema is upgraded.
3. Restart or reboot the upgraded systems.
4. As LTS-24 contains significant improvements, test all use cases extensively with your partners.

nevisAdmin 4 Users

1. Upgrade nevisAdmin 4 according to the Software Upgrade guide.
2. nevisAdmin 4 comes with the latest Standard libraries, first, update your project to use them.
   1. Go to Administration tab, and for your project, click on Standard libraries, edit, and update.
   2. As there are breaking changes, new issues may appear in your project.
3. Go to the Configuration tab, and migrate your pattern data according to the standard pattern libraries migration guide .
   1. When the migration is completed, all errors should be resolved.
   2. If you face too many errors, consider upgrading step by step, by selecting an earlier version of the standard library in step 2.
4. Go to the Deployment wizard, and on the Validation step, check the generated configuration.
   1. Even if you do not face any issues or notice differences anymore, check the LTS Migration Guide of the components for new component behavior due to changes in default values.
5. Upgrade your target systems according to the requirements defined in Nevis Product Lifetime and Platform Support Matrix.
   1. For some Nevis components, a database schema upgrade is required. Check the technical documentation of each component for upgrade instructions.
   2. Stop the affected components while performing the database schema upgrade.
6. Deploy the project to your target systems.
7. As LTS-24 contains significant improvements, extensively test all use cases with your partners.

Generic Patterns

We cannot offer automatic upgrade for the contents of Generic patterns.

For this reason, upgrading a project which uses generic patterns requires that you also check the component LTS Migration Guides and apply the required changes in relevant patterns.

Rolling Release customers

Customers who want to switch from RR to LTS can seamlessly do so. As a requirement, first upgrade to the February 2024 Rolling Release. But instead of upgrading to the May 2024 Rolling Release (or a later one), you then update to the LTS-2024 release, which will be almost identical to the November 2023 RR.

To compare RR benefits with LTS benefits, see the chapters Rolling Release of the Nevis Product Lifetime guide.

Components

Components included in LTS-2024

Component	General Upgrade / Installations Instructions	LTS Migration Guide
nevisAppliance	Software updates
nevisAdmin 4	Software Upgrade	Migration from LTS21 to LTS24
nevisAdmin 4 Standard Pattern Library	Editing Project Pattern Libraries	Migration from LTS21 to LTS24
nevisProxy	Installation and Deployment	Migration from LTS21 to LTS24
nevisAuth	Installation	Migration from LTS21 to LTS24
nevisDetect/nevisAdapt	Install nevisDetect / Install nevisAdapt	Migration from LTS21 to LTS24
nevisFIDO (with additional nevisfidocl packages)	reference guide	Migration from LTS21 to LTS24
nevisIDM	Installation	Migration from LTS21 to LTS24
nevisLogRend	Installation	Migration from LTS21 to LTS24
nevisMeta	Installation	Migration from LTS21 to LTS24
nevisDataPorter	Installation	Migration is not needed
nevisCred
nevisKeybox
Ninja
Ninwin
Nevis Mobile Authentication Client SDK
Nevis Access App

Components removed in LTS-2024

The following EOL components were part of the LTS-2021 major release, but are no longer included in the LTS-2024 major release:

• nevisAgent
• nevisAdmin 3

RR components compatible with LTS-2024

• Nevis Mobile Authentication Client SDK
• Nevis Access App

FAQ

What is the deadline for the migration?

Technical support and minor updates for LTS-2021 will continue until November 2025*. This means that you have one year to prepare and finish the upgrade.

Do you offer automatic migration?

Automatic migration is not possible, but when using nevisAdmin 4 the migration effort is minimal.

How can I migrate from LTS-21 to RR?

Migrate to LTS-24 first and then to RR.

How do I migrate from LTS-21 (after the security patch has expired) to RR?

Migrate LTS-24, then to RR24.02, RR24.05, and so on.