Solarwinds makes some excellent networking tools and their flagship product, ORION, is no exception. However, Solarwinds does not have the best skills when it comes to documentation. Last week, I was attempting to find out what the process is for upgrading ORION on one of my servers. I got lost in the documentation – literally. But after a bit of trial and error, here is what you need to do to upgrade Solarwinds ORION:

  1. Log into the Solarwinds Customer Portal.
  2. Download the software ZIP file from the main screen after logging in.
  3. Extract the ZIP file to a folder on the Solarwinds server.
  4. Run the EXE file.

No, I’m not kidding. That is the entire process right there. Yes, the installer actually performs the “upgrade” without breaking anything. And yes, it is still suggested to backup your ORION database before upgrading.

So, forget about trying to read the upgrade documentation. Just run the installer and everything will take care of itself.

-Joe