It is possible to upgrade from 5.4 directly to 5.6, no need to apply any fix packs. The only thing to look out for is that I believe some versions of Windows Server and SQL Server are no longer supported in 5.6, so make sure you check the compatibility matrix to avoid any surprises there. If you have the supported servers, then I don’t see any reason not to go to 5.6.

Hi tbyrne,

How ya doing? Thanks for the info, yeah i checked the compatibility matrix and i think we are fine with what we currently have on 5.4, also SQL is on-premis so no Azure worries, although mailbox is in cloud.

We do have Visual Studio 2012 and some legacy stuff, so i’m trying to cover as many bases as possible because i’ve had issues with every upgrade to this point (although 5.3 to 5.4 went smoothly).

This article also worried me, not sure if all the steps only apply if azure db installed or whether each section must be checked: Known Issue: K2 5.6 upgrade failing on the configuration service. | Community (nintex.com)

I personally didn’t run into the “Known Issue” you’ve noted - we also were using SQL on-prem so this may just be an Azure issue. If you are still using the Visual Studio designer, it will still work but that might fall out of support at some point. Do you have any plans to convert to the K2 web designer?

We use the web designer since moving to v5.4 for workflows, but anything before that is still using K2 Studio, so I would 100% need to know that K2 Studio and legacy workflows remain working if jumping from v5.4 to v5.6

They will remain working, it is something to consider in the future that these legacy workflows may need to be converted. 

Hi Sharpharp1,

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Q: Is the upgrade from 5.4 to 5.6 directly possible? Avoiding 5.5 altogether?
A: Yes, you can upgrade directly from 5.4 to 5.6. No 5.5 “middleman” needed.

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Q: Is 5.6 to new? Should i just upgrade to 5.5?
A: 5.6 had been around for a while, and there are 18FPs released already.
Extra Information: K2 Cloud U19 is already being rolled out. 5.7 will be released soon after. 5.6 with the latest FPs should be a safe bet for a stable environment.

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Q: Should 5.4 be on the latest fix pack before upgrading?
A: No… All mayor installers (5.5, 5.6 etc.) CUs and FPs are cumulative. You will be able to upgrade to 5.6 from any 5.4 install, no matter the CU and FP level you are on currently. When you are on 5.6, I would recommend that you install the latest FP though.

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Q: Is there any functionality that has been removed or no longer works in 5.6? I’m thinking legacy stuff, for example K2 Studio Workflows, will they continue to work and be supported?
A: Legacy designer workflows will continue to work during runtime. You will also be able to create new workflows and edit existing ones in the legacy designers. That being said, we HIGHLY recommend that you create all new collateral in the new HTML5 designer.

Side note: We have no plans to remove the legacy designers from the product just yet. Visual Studio 2015 will reach “end of life” (EOL) in October 2025. At the time of writing, we have no plans to rewrite our workflow integration for Visual Studio 2017 and beyond.

You mentioned that you are using VS2012. 5.6 only supports VS 2013 and VS2015. Since VS2013 will reach EOL this ear, I would suggest that you get a copy of VS2015 before you upgrade.

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Q: Any pitfalls you’ve come across during the upgrade?
A: I see you found this article already...
Known Issue: K2 5.6 upgrade failing on the configuration service.
If you make these changes BEFORE you upgrade to 5.6, you should be fine.
The cause: MS started implementing a “secure by default” config in .NETCore 3.x. They snuck in this change in .NET core 3.x. The same thing happened a few years back with the browsers, where HTTPS is now a requirement. This is an extension of the “secure by default” trend.

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Q: Any post upgrade issues to be aware off?
A: None that comes to mind, but I would suggest that you read the K2 Five release notes for both 5.5 and 5.6 properly. Where are “considerations”, “deprecated functionality”, “known issues” and a few others that are worth a read. 
As stated earlier by tbyrne777 that you should check out the product compatibility matrix to make sure there are no “gotchas” that might surprise you.

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Q: Any other advice or nuggets of insight you can share?
A: I would strongly suggest looking into technical advisory services (TAS) for upgrades. CUs and FPs are not all that hard, but big version upgrades can get tricky sometimes. They do this often and will made the upgrade process MUCH less “stressful”… This would be “First Prize”! 

If TAS is not on the cards, I would suggest that you at the very least book a coaching session with the support team. This is a forum where you can ask questions, they will give a high-level overview of what to expect, tell you about some potential “gotchas”, and give you some and tips and hinters. (Not as extensive as TAS, but a good alternative.)

Lastly, ALWAYS have a plan to roll back… It is not something that we like to think about, but sometimes an “immediate fix” might not be possible. In that event, grab the Installer trace, HostServer logs, the Config service logs and all other collateral that you can think that will be helpful, and roll back. Then you can log a support ticket, get yourself back into a running state, the support team can investigate, formulate a plan and we can try again later.

Good luck with the upgrade.

Excellent response, thank you for the re-assurance