Milestone Systems

Upgrade your XProtect® VMS product

Quick guide
Quick guide | Upgrade your XProtect® VMS product

Copyright, trademarks, and disclaimer

Copyright © 2020 Milestone Systems A/S

Trademarks

XProtect is a registered trademark of Milestone Systems A/S.

Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. App Store is a service mark of Apple
Inc. Android is a trademark of Google Inc.

All other trademarks mentioned in this document are trademarks of their respective owners.

Disclaimer

This text is intended for general information purposes only, and due care has been taken in its preparation.

Any risk arising from the use of this information rests with the recipient, and nothing herein should be construed
as constituting any kind of warranty.

Milestone Systems A/S reserves the right to make adjustments without prior notification.

All names of people and organizations used in the examples in this text are fictitious. Any resemblance to any
actual organization or person, living or dead, is purely coincidental and unintended.

This product may make use of third-party software for which specific terms and conditions may apply. When that
is the case, you can find more information in the file 3rd_party_software_terms_and_conditions.txt located in your
Milestone system installation folder.

2 | Copyright, trademarks, and disclaimer

Quick guide | Upgrade your XProtect® VMS product

Introduction
This guide describes how to upgrade your XProtect VMS installations and licenses to newer versions of Milestone
products.

Milestone regularly updates its XProtect VMS solutions with new features and improvements. Whenever an
upgrade is available, you can use Milestone Customer Dashboard to ensure that your system is up to date.

Milestone Customer Dashboard is a free online tool for Milestone partners and resellers to manage Milestone
software installations and licenses.

If your company has a My Milestone account and your My Milestone administrator has
defined you as a user with the role License User or License Admin, you can log in to
Milestone Customer Dashboard with your My Milestone credentials from any computer
with an internet connection either through My Milestone or directly in Milestone Customer
Dashboard (https://online.milestonesys.com/).

Before you start

To upgrade your Milestone product, you must have, or have had, a valid Milestone Care Plus
subscription. You can upgrade to a Milestone product that was released on or before the
expiration date of your Milestone Care Plus subscription.

When you purchase a Milestone product, you are provided with a software license code (SLC) that is registered at the
point-of-purchase or through Milestone Customer Dashboard. When you upgrade a license, Milestone Customer
Dashboard registers a new SLC and transfers all of the installation and customer information to the new SLC.

After you upgrade a license, Milestone Customer Dashboard provides you with an upgraded software license file
(.lic). Use the upgraded software license file (.lic) to upgrade your XProtect VMS installation with the new product
version and SLC.

You must have a computer that can access the internet. If your XProtect VMS installation
cannot access the internet, you will need a portable storage device, such as a USB flash
drive, to transfer the product installer and upgraded software license file (.lic) to your
XProtect VMS installation.

3 | Introduction
Quick guide | Upgrade your XProtect® VMS product

Upgrade your XProtect VMS product

Before you upgrade your XProtect VMS product, you must upgrade the associated license in Milestone Customer
Dashboard. For details, see Upgrading software licenses in Milestone Customer Dashboard (explained) on page 5.

To upgrade your XProtect VMS product:

1. Locate the email that contains the upgraded software license file (.lic), or get the software license file in
Milestone Customer Dashboard (see Get a software license file (.lic) on page 7).

2. Download the XProtect VMS product installer from the download section
(https://www.milestonesys.com/downloads/) of the Milestone website.

3. Optional: If the XProtect VMS system you are upgrading cannot access the internet, download the software
license file and the product installer on another computer, then transfer them to the system using a
portable storage device, such as a USB flash drive.

4. Run the XProtect VMS product installer.

5. In the Select license file window, select Browse, locate the software license file, then select Continue.

Make sure you select the upgraded software license file (.lic). If you install using the
free XProtect® Essential+ license and then import the software license file, you may
lose some video recordings.

6. Follow the steps in the installer to complete the installation.

After you have upgraded your XProtect VMS product, you must activate the software license in Management Client.
For instructions on how to activate software licenses, see the Activate licenses for XProtect® VMS products quick
guide.

4 | Upgrade your XProtect VMS product

Quick guide | Upgrade your XProtect® VMS product

Upgrading software licenses in Milestone Customer

Dashboard (explained)
To upgrade your Milestone product, you must also upgrade the associated license in Milestone Customer
Dashboard.

Milestone Customer Dashboard displays an orange bar at the top of the page when a license can be upgraded, or
when you select a license eligible for upgrade. You can also filter by licenses with upgrades available and get initial
license files (.lic) to upgrade your Milestone products.

Filter by licenses with upgrades available

You can display only licenses that are eligible for upgrade in Milestone Customer Dashboard, which is useful if you
manage multiple licenses.

To filter by licenses with upgrades available:

1. Log in to Milestone Customer Dashboard (https://online.milestonesys.com/).

2. Select Licenses in the main menu.

3. Select Filter , then in the Status dropdown list, select Upgrade available , then select OK .

You will now see all of the licenses that are eligible for upgrade.

Upgrade a software license

Whenever an upgrade is available for your XProtect VMS product, you will see a notification in Milestone Customer
Dashboard prompting you to upgrade your software license and download the new product installer.

1. Log in to Milestone Customer Dashboard (https://online.milestonesys.com/).

2. Select Licenses in the main menu.

3. Double-click on a license to open the license details page. Alternatively, on the Customers page, double-
click a customer, then double-click on an associated license.

5 | Upgrading software licenses in Milestone Customer Dashboard (explained)

Quick guide | Upgrade your XProtect® VMS product

4. If an upgrade is available for the license, an orange bar displays at the top of the page. To start the upgrade
process, select Upgrade license or the Click here link in the orange bar.

5. The Upgrade license dialog box appears, detailing the license upgrade process. Once a license has been
upgraded, a new software license code (SLC) will be registered with all associated installation and customer
information.

After you upgrade the software license, you will no longer be able to use the
previous license in your XProtect VMS installations.

Select the I understand that once upgraded the current license (SLC) will be deactivated check box,
then select Upgrade.

6. When the upgrade process completes, a confirmation window displays the previous SLC for the license
that you upgraded, and the new SLC for the upgraded license. You will also receive an email with the new
SLC and software license file (.lic).

7. Select Continue.

After you have upgraded your license in Milestone Customer Dashboard, you are ready to upgrade your XProtect
VMS installation with the upgraded software license file (.lic). See Upgrade your XProtect VMS product on page 4.

6 | Upgrading software licenses in Milestone Customer Dashboard (explained)

Quick guide | Upgrade your XProtect® VMS product

Get a software license file (.lic)

If a software license code (SLC) is registered in Milestone Customer Dashboard, you can get the associated
software license file (.lic) that is used when installing a VMS system.

To get a software license file (.lic):

1. Log in to Milestone Customer Dashboard (https://online.milestonesys.com/).

2. Select Licenses in the main menu.

3. Double-click on a license to open the license details page. Alternatively, on the Customers page, double-
click a customer, then double-click on an associated license.

4. Select Download initial .lic file to download the license file directly, or select Email initial .lic file to open
the Email initial license file dialog to send an email containing the license file to one or more recipients.

The license (SLC) must be associated with a product version 8.1 or newer and must not be a
plug-in license in order to provide a software license file (.lic).

7 | Upgrading software licenses in Milestone Customer Dashboard (explained)

About Milestone

Milestone Systems is a leading provider of open platform

video management software; technology that helps the
world see how to ensure safety, protect assets and increase
business efficiency. Milestone Systems enables an open
platform community that drives collaboration and
innovation in the development and use of network video
technology, with reliable and scalable solutions that are
proven in more than 150,000 sites worldwide. Founded in
1998, Milestone Systems is a stand-alone company in the
Canon Group. For more information, visit
https://www.milestonesys.com/.