Version-to-Version Server Upgrade Guide: Unsupported Versions
Important
Please see the Server Upgrade Checklist to help plan and execute a successful Server upgrade, including the Pre-Upgrade Checks workflow to identify issues that cause upgrades to fail.
How Does This Document Help?
This document highlights tasks and changes you need to be aware of when upgrading through versions of Alteryx Server. Issues are cumulative, so read through each section as you upgrade through multiple versions. This doesn't replace Release Notes (see links in each section).
This document includes only unsupported versions of Server. For more information on supported versions, go to Version-to-Version Server Upgrade Guide: Supported Versions.
Release Schedule
Semi-annual releases add features but can also change Server management requiring you or your users to change behavior.
Maintenance releases/patches within each quarter address issues found in the initial release. For example, the first maintenance release for 2022.3 would be 2022.3.2.
Legend
PIT-STOP | Significant change that requires upgrading to this version before upgrading to a later version. |
MongoDB Upgrade | The Mongo database version is upgraded. An Alteryx Server upgrade can only include ONE MongoDB version upgrade between your current version and target upgrade version. |
CRITICAL | Critical Issue: Admins must address or be aware of when moving to or past this version. |
Criteria for Entries in This List
This list condenses each version's Release Notes to highlight where:
Admin or Users are required to perform an action.
Item is important in choosing an upgrade version (that is, changed behavior or defect).
A significant change was made in Server administration.
Quick Links
2018.1
Version | Actions to take when upgrading to—or past—this version. |
|---|---|
2018.1 MongoDB 3.4 | MongoDB upgrade: Embedded MongoDB upgrades from version 3.0.4 to 3.4. Task: If using embedded Mongo, upgrade to 2019.3-2021.3 before upgrading to 2021.4+ to ensure embedded Mongo upgrades to version 4.0. Note free drive space requirements of 1x-3x your current Mongo database size. |
2019.3
Version | Actions to take when upgrading to—or past—this version. |
|---|---|
2019.3 MongoDB 4.0 | MongoDB Upgrade: Embedded MongoDB upgrades from version 3.4 to 4.0.10 Task: If using embedded Mongo, upgrade to 2019.3-2021.3 before upgrading to 2021.4+ to ensure embedded Mongo upgrades to version 4.0. Note free drive space requirements of 1x-3x your current Mongo database size. |
2019.3 CRITICAL | Python upgrade: Embedded Python upgrades from 3.6.0 to 3.6.8 (Conda) Impact: Users should retest Python in workflows. Engine still uses Python Version 3 so there should be little impact on scripts. Task: All Connector Tools must be re-installed from YXI's. |
2020.1
Version | Actions to take when upgrading to—or past—this version. |
|---|---|
2020.1 | MongoDB issue: NULL user names, emails, or subscriptions will cause upgrade failures in this and future versions. Task: Use the Pre-Upgrade Checks workflow to identify NULL values before upgrading to this or later versions. |
2020.1 | Administration change: Artisans are given the ability to create Collections by default. Impact: This adds capabilities Artisans might not have had before. Task: To remove this functionality for a user, edit their User record and set Create Collections to No. |
2020.1 | Administration change: Users with Viewer Role lose ability to run workflows in Collections shared with them (TGAL-2666). Impact: Users who want to run workflows shared with them in a Collection need to have their Role set to Member. Expected error message: This Workflow is published in a private Studio. An Analytics Gallery Membership is required to run Workflows published in private Studios. Contact the Artisan who shared the Workflow to request a Membership. For more information on Memberships, please contact sales@alteryx.com. Task: Set the user's Role to Member. |
2020.1 | Defect TGAL-2745: If using AD authentication: Schedules, Collections, and individual Users may not display (corrected 2020.3.9). Impact: If using Active Directory authentication, if an AD User is deleted:
Task: To determine if you have any Server Users who have deleted AD User accounts prior to upgrading, run the AD Health Check workflow. If you experience this issue, contact Customer Support to resolve [CSEs Gallery Errors when using Windows Authentication]. |
2020.2
Version | Actions to take when upgrading to—or past—this version. |
|---|---|
2020.2 | New Features
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2020.3
Version | Actions to take when upgrading to—or past—this version. |
|---|---|
2020.3 | New Features
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2020.3 | Defect TSM-317: Output Tool SQL Server error (corrected 2021.2) Impact: See Output Tool SQL Server: An unknown error occurred in II_PushRecord. |
2020.3 | Defect TGAL-2832: If using AD Groups, AD "Display Name" is now used and it can be different or blank (corrected 2021.4) Impact: If using AD authentication, AD Group names changed from the "Network Name" to the "Display Name" field. This can cause the AD Group names to appear differently in Server UI or be completely blank. Task: Go to Active Directory Groups Not Showing when Adding Groups. |
2020.3 CRITICAL | Defect TGAL-2671: Active Directory authentication leading to slow Admin access of list of Users (corrected 2020.4) Impact: If you use Active Directory authentication, move to version 2020.4+. |
2020.4
Version | Actions to take when upgrading to—or past—this version. |
|---|---|
2020.4 CRITICAL | Python upgrade: Embedded Python upgrades from 3.6.8 to 3.8.5 (Conda) Impact: Users should retest Python in workflows. Engine still uses Python Version 3 so there should be little impact on scripts. Task: All Connector Tools using Python must be re-installed from YXI's. |
2020.4 | New Features
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2020.4 | Administration change: A Collection can no longer be shared with a Private Studio, share Collections with Users instead. Impact: This feature had allowed a backdoor for Servers using Active Directory authentication to allow access to Collections by users in different AD Forests. The steps for the backdoor had been:
Going forward, the AD User in a different domain can't have the Collection shared with them since the Collection can only be shared to users in the same AD Forest. |
2020.4 | Defect TGAL-6039: If using AD authentication, unable to Change Collection Owner (corrected 2022.1) Impact: If using Active Directory authentication, if the AD User is deleted for a Server User who owns a Collection, the Collection Change Owner page appears blank. Task: Edit the User in Server UI and set their Role to No Access to correct this problem. |
2020.4 | Defect TDALI-1078: PowerPoint Output from Render Tool is Corrupt (corrected 2022.3) Impact: The PPT / PPTX file presents an error when opened: |
2021.1
Version | Actions to take when upgrading to—or past—this version. |
|---|---|
2021.1 CRITICAL | Administration change: Server Shared Database Connections must now be shared with Users attempting to run or schedule a workflow using the connection. Previously, a workflow using a Shared Database Connection could be shared with a Collection and all users in the Collection would be able to run it. Impact: Workflows and Schedules that were working before might now receive Unable to Translate Alias errors. 2022.1 Patch 5 and 2022.3 Patch 2 provide the option to restore this functionality. Task: For workflows receiving an error after the upgrade, determine the shared Server Database Connection used by the workflow and share it with the User attempting to run or schedule the workflow. |
2021.1 | New Features
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2021.1 | System change: Configuration file locations have changed. Impact:
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2021.1 | Security enhancement: Enforce that OAuth parameters are sent as headers rather than query parameters. |
2021.1 | Defect TGAL-2872: Curators can see Jobs run by other users on shared workflows but receive Access Denied error when trying to access the results (corrected 2021.4). Impact: If a UserA shares a workflow with a Curator via a Collection or by being in the same Studio, the Curator will see the Jobs UserA has run manually or through a Schedule. When the Curator selects the Job to view the Results they receive |
2021.2
Version | Actions to take when upgrading to—or past—this version. |
|---|---|
2021.2 PIT-STOP | First version that is compatible with the 2022.3+ Crypto Migration Impact: Versions 2021.2 - 2022.1 are compatible with the MongoDB crypto migration performed in the upgrade to the 2022.3+. Task: If upgrading from an earlier version to 2022.3+ you will need to upgrade to 2021.2 - 2022.1, test, then upgrade to 2022.3. |
2021.2 | MongoDB change: Duplicate emails will cause failure to upgrade in this and later versions. Impact: Use the Pre-Upgrade Checks workflow to identify duplicate emails before upgrading to this or later versions. |
2021.2 | New Features
|
2021.2 | Feature removed: Option to Share Workflows removed from the Workflow page. Impact: This removes the options to share workflows via social media and email from this page. |
2021.2 | Defect TCPE-120: Designer Select Tool Defect. The field "XXX" was renamed conflicting with an existing field name (corrected 2022.1). Impact: An error message appears on the Select tool in cases where the incoming data field names changed case since the tool was configured. |
2021.2 | Upgrade change: Service will not start if the MongoDB Schema migration failed. Impact: This ensures issues preventing the schema migration are addressed before the Service starts. The Pre-Upgrade Checks workflow is the best way to ensure the schema migration will be successful. |
2021.2 | Defect TCPE-531: .hyper files read strings into Alteryx as V_WString Impact: .hyper files read strings into Alteryx as V_WString (1,073,741,823) while prior versions read in as V_WString (255). Task: Use an Auto Field or Select Tool after reading .hyper data to reset the column type. |
2021.3
Version | Actions to take when upgrading to—or past—this version. |
|---|---|
2021.3 | Performance Improvement - Schedule Forecast performance significantly improved |
2021.3 | Defect: Running alteryxservice setserversecret results in an errorSet server secret failed: Error in CryptImportKey(3): Bad Data (-2xxx) Impact: No defect was created. To correct this, edit the Runtime Settings and remove the content of the server secret section and save. |
2021.3 | Database Connections - End of Support for 32-Bit Database Connections Impact: See End support 32-bit database connections FAQ. Final end-of-life for 32-bit is 2023.1. Task: Users should move to 64-bit connections, see 21.3 and 32 bit connections. |
2021.3.4 | Defect TGAL-6268: API endpoints Impact:
Task: See a discussion of the changes you'll need to make and an example workflow that performs workflow migrations that have been updated based on this defect: Migrating-Workflows. |
2021.3.6 MongoDB 4.2 | MongoDB Upgrade: Embedded MongoDB upgrades from version 4.0 to 4.2 Impact: The .6 maintenance release of 2021.3 upgrades the MongoDB version, please see details in the 2021.4 section below. |
2021.3.6 | Defect TGAL-6566: Service fails to start after upgrading to 2021.3.6 with Mongo error: Index with name: fd5e7f7ad987788251ca676578977ec1 already exists with a different name: generic server error" code: <mongodb:85> in LastStartupError.txt (corrected 2021.3.7). Impact: This affects upgrades to 2021.3.6 only. Task: Contact Support and refer CSE to internal article Unable to upgrade Server with User managed database on version 4.2+. Note to TAMs: the steps in the article are easy and can be done proactively before upgrading (see Jennifer Powell). |
2021.4
Version | Actions to take when upgrading to—or past—this version. |
|---|---|
2021.4 MongoDB 4.2 | MongoDB Upgrade: Embedded MongoDB upgrades from version 4.0.10 to 4.2.15 Impact: While the initial upgrade was to 4.0.10, subsequent patches upgraded to 4.2.15 [CSE Internal (TGAL-6772)]. Task: If using embedded MongoDB, upgrading to this version or later will upgrade MongoDB to version 4.2. Note free drive space requirements of 1x-2x your current Mongo database size. Note If your first Server installation was prior to 2018.1 and your MongoDB folder does not contain files with the .WT extension, you need to backup and restore your Mongo database, then set your Server to use the restored data folder prior to this upgrade. See MongoDB Migrate from MMAPv1 to WiredTiger Storage. [CSE Internal - TGAL-6590 and Teams] (corrected 2021.3.7). |
2021.4 CRITICAL | Internal Change: Controller Token length extended Impact: The shorter Controller Token will continue to work following your upgrade, however you will not be able to perform a Server Host Recovery using the shorter token because it will not be accepted by the "AlteryxService.exe setserversecret" step. The best practice is to proactively reset your controller token to the new extended length to ensure you'll be able to perform a Server Host Recovery in the future. Task: Critically Important
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2021.4 | New Feature: Data Connection Manager (DCM) Impact: A User can store passwords for Credentials, Data Sources, and Connectors in the DCM. These can be used by a User in workflows locally or on the Server, and shared on the Server so other Users or Groups can run the User's workflows on the Server. This moves control of credentials from the Server Administrator to the User publishing the workflow. |
2021.4 | New Feature: API V3 added with many new Administration endpoints, OAuth2, and new API endpoints Impact: Task: If your Server uses a Base Address other than localhost, copy the domain into the Web API Address in Alteryx System Settings > Gallery > General. The  If you have a Load Balancer you must implement Sticky Sessions to use OAuth2. Failure to do so will lead to intermittent 401-Unauthorized errors when the load balancer sends an API call to a different machine than generated the Bearer Token. [CSEs - Jira TGAL-6353, TCPE-402; Aha SERV-605] |
2021.4 | Server UI Change: Private Studio and Home pages merged Impact: |
2021.4 | Server UI Change: If users have been moved between Private Studios, they will now see all workflows they've created Impact: Prior to this version, if users were moved between Private Studios (Subscriptions) they would only see workflows from their current Private Studio. With the change to viewing workflows in "My Workspace", users will now see all workflows they have ever created. However, while displayed, users will not be able to delete or open workflows other than those in their current Subscription (as assigned in the Admin > Subscriptions page). This is a step in the direction of removing Private Studios from the Server product in favor of sharing workflows via Collections. In a future release, users will be able to open and delete all of their workflows, regardless of the Private Studio they were created in. Task: No action needed. |
2021.4 | Administration Change: "Jobs Shared With Me" tab was removed from Private Studio (which is now called My Workspace) Impact: If Users shared Scheduled Workflow Job Results by being in the same Private Studio with the Studio setting Shared Schedules Enabled, they will no longer see the Jobs Shared With Me tab in their Private Studio to view the Job Results from these Schedules. Task: To provide access to shared Schedules:
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2021.4 | Improved: Telemetry enhanced to track usage at the workflow level Impact:
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2021.4 | Defect TGAL-6408:Default Worker Tag assigned to a Private Studio is not being saved (corrected 2022.3) Impact: The Private Studio Assigned Worker setting is not saved. Task: Set the Job Tag when publishing the workflow (the User must have Assign Jobs set to true). |
2021.4 | Defect TGAL-6502/TCPE-292: If you have user-managed MongoDB Atlas, schema migration fails with 250+ Users/Subscriptions (corrected 2021.4.2_Patch2) Impact: Corrected in version noted above. |
2021.4 | Defect TCPE-473: Collection names appear with %20 or %26 instead of space of ampersand (corrected 2023.1) Impact: In past versions Collection names were saved URLEncoded, where a space would be replaced with %20 (as well as other character substitutions). 2021.4+ are displaying the Collection names exactly as they appear in the database. Task: You can determine if this will be an issue by reviewing the AlteryxGallery.collections collection for names with %20's. If they exist you can edit the Collections in Server UI to correct. If there are too many to edit easily, contact Customer Support for assistance. |
2021.4 | Excel XLSX File Handling Change: Excel XLSX files can no longer be read from if they are open in Excel [TDCB-3592] Impact: This change was made to ensure data integrity |
2021.4.2 | Defect TDES-4123: Related to use of feature locking down users' Designer access to a single, specific Server UI URL (corrected 2021.4.2_Patch2) Impact: If the feature below is used in local Designer installations to (1) specify a default Server UI URL and (2) prevent the user from connecting to Server UI's of their choice, the user will lose the default Server UI from the File > Open Workflow menu and thus no longer be able to open workflows from the Server UI. Affected feature: Control Designer Access to Server Specific setting that causes the issue: <Designer> <ManageGalleriesEnabled>False</ManageGalleriesEnabled> <DefaultGalleryUrl>http://my-server.com/gallery</DefaultGalleryUrl> </Designer> Task: Change the XML file |
2021.4.2 | Defect TGAL-6443: Impact: If a workflow is originally published from Designer, subsequent updates using the |
2021.4.2 | Security Notice: AMP Engine (corrected 2021.4.2_Patch1) Impact: Alteryx has received a report of a vulnerability in AMP processing. Alteryx is investigating the possible impact. (TELC-2814) Task: We recommend that you disable AMP on Designer and Server. |
2021.4.2.47792 Patch 5 | Defect TGAL-6990: Upgrade fails with Gallery Data Connections containing a blank password (corrected 21.4.2 Patch6, 22.1.1 Patch4) Impact: Upgrade fails when Gallery Data Connections containing a blank password exist, see Community [TGAL-6990]. Task:
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2021.4.2.47792 Patch 5 | Defect TGAL-7256: DCM connections don't work after Server Host Recovery (open) Impact: If the Mongo database is restored to a new machine (a Server Host Recovery), the DCM connections will not work (errors vary for each tool using DCM). Task: Workaround - best option:
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