In this post, I will guide you through upgrading your 8.x vRLI appliance to Aria Operations for Logs 8.18.1 using VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle. Before proceeding, ensure that your VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle is upgraded to version 8.18. You can find the upgrade instructions here. Note that the upgrade does not include the latest PSPACK containing the 8.18.1 Aria Operations for Logs release. Instructions for obtaining the PSPACK are available in here.

To begin, navigate to VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle -> Lifecycle Operations -> Settings -> Binary Mapping.

Settings page in VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle with options for system administration and servers/accounts.

Click on Add Binaries under Product Binaries

Binary Mapping screen in VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle, showing options to add and manage product binaries for deployment.

Due to changes in the 8.16 Aria Suite Lifecycle release (Release notes available here), My VMware based operations functionality has been deprecated. In my case, In this case, I chose to use Local and uploaded my .pak file to the /tmp directory on the Aria Suite Lifecycle appliance. The upgrade package can be downloaded from here.

Adding a product binary for upgrade via VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle wizard.

This will create a request and start mapping the package. To view the progress, click on the “Click Here” hyperlink

Product binary mapping request submitted. Click here to check status.

Click on the “In Progress” button to view the details

Requests page showing “In Progress” status for Product Source Mapping Request.

Wait for the mapping to complete

Request Details shows Stage 1 with Source Mapping in progress.

Once the download is complete, go to Environments -> View Details on the environment that includes Aria Operations for Logs.

The screenshot shows the VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle Environments page with details for Aria Operations for Logs, indicating a completed environment and a datacenter named mgmt-datacenter-01.

Click on “Upgrade”

The image shows the “Upgrade” button for VMware Aria Operations for Logs version 8.18.0.

An Inventory sync is recommended because environments can change and Aria Suite Lifecycle might be out of sync. Trigger the sync from the UI or click on “Proceed” to continue.

Upgrade step with inventory sync recommendation and proceed options.

Select product version 8.18.1 and click “Next.” Review the compatibility matrix to ensure the environment is compatible.

Upgrading Aria Operations for Logs to 8.18.1 via VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle Wizard.

A new feature allows you to automatically create a snapshot prior to the upgrade and remove it afterward. On this screen, you can also choose to keep the snapshots post-upgrade for validation testing. Click “Next.”

Upgrade wizard step shows snapshot option; select ‘Take product snapshot’ checkbox.

Run the Precheck to ensure there are no errors or issues, then click “Next” once the review is complete.

The Precheck step shows all validations passed, with options to re-run or download a report.

Review the upgrade details and click “Submit.” You will be taken to the progress screen to follow the upgrade process.

Upgrade summary shows version 8.18.1 and repository details for Aria Operations.

The system will get rebooted and once its back up we will be on 8.18.1

Since this is a major upgrade, I strongly recommend clearing the cache before using the new Aria Operations for Logs version.