Upgrade PV drivers on EC2 Windows instances

1. We recommend that you create a backup in case you need to roll back your changes.

   Tip

   Instead of creating the AMI from the Amazon EC2 console, you can use Systems Manager Automation to create the AMI using the AWS-CreateImage runbook. For more information, see AWS-CreateImage in the AWS Systems Manager Automation runbook reference User Guide.

   1. When you stop an instance, the data on any instance store volumes is erased. Before you stop an instance, verify that you've copied any data that you need from your instance store volumes to persistent storage, such as Amazon EBS or Amazon S3.

   2. In the navigation pane, choose Instances.

   3. Select the instance that requires the driver upgrade, and choose Instance state, Stop instance.

   4. After the instance is stopped, select the instance, choose Actions, then Image and templates, and then choose Create image.

   5. Choose Instance state, Start instance.

2. Connect to the instance using Remote Desktop. For more information, see Connect to your Windows instance using an RDP client.

3. We recommend that you take all non-system disks offline and note any drive letter mappings to the secondary disks in Disk Management before you perform this upgrade. This step is not required if you are performing an in-place update of AWS PV drivers. We also recommend setting non-essential services to Manual start-up in the Services console.

4. For the instructions for how to install or upgrade the AWS PV driver package using Distributor, see the procedures in Install or update packages in the AWS Systems Manager User Guide.

5. For Name, choose AWSPVDriver.

6. For Installation type, select Uninstall and reinstall.

7. Configure the other parameters for the package as necessary and run installation or upgrade using the referenced procedure in Step 4.

   After running the Distributor package, the instance automatically reboots and then upgrades the driver. The instance will not be available for up to 15 minutes.

8. After the upgrade is complete, and the instance passes both health checks in the Amazon EC2 console, verify that the new driver was installed by connecting to the instance using Remote Desktop.

9. Once you have connected, run the following PowerShell command:

   Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Amazon\PVDriver

10. Verify that the driver version is the same as the latest version listed in the Driver Version History table. For more information, see AWS PV driver package history Open Disk Management to review any offline secondary volumes and bring them online corresponding to the drive letters noted in Step 3.

To upgrade AWS PV drivers manually

1. We recommend that you create a backup in case you need to roll back your changes.

   Tip

   Instead of creating the AMI from the Amazon EC2 console, you can use Systems Manager Automation to create the AMI using the AWS-CreateImage runbook. For more information, see AWS-CreateImage in the AWS Systems Manager Automation runbook reference User Guide.

   1. When you stop an instance, the data on any instance store volumes is erased. Before you stop an instance, verify that you've copied any data that you need from your instance store volumes to persistent storage, such as Amazon EBS or Amazon S3.

   2. In the navigation pane, choose Instances.

   3. Select the instance that requires the driver upgrade, and choose Instance state, Stop instance.

   4. After the instance is stopped, select the instance, choose Actions, then Image and templates, and then choose Create image.

   5. Choose Instance state, Start instance.

2. Connect to the instance using Remote Desktop.

3. We recommend that you take all non-system disks offline and note any drive letter mappings to the secondary disks in Disk Management before you perform this upgrade. This step is not required if you are performing an in-place update of AWS PV drivers. We also recommend setting non-essential services to Manual start-up in the Services console.

4. Download the latest driver package to the instance.

   Or, run the following PowerShell command:

   Invoke-WebRequest https://s3.amazonaws.com/ec2-windows-drivers-downloads/AWSPV/Latest/AWSPVDriver.zip -outfile $env:USERPROFILE\pv_driver.zip
   Expand-Archive $env:userprofile\pv_driver.zip -DestinationPath $env:userprofile\pv_drivers

   Note

   If you receive an error when downloading the file, and you are using Windows Server 2016 or earlier, TLS 1.2 might need to be enabled for your PowerShell terminal. You can enable TLS 1.2 for the current PowerShell session with the following command and then try again:

   [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12

5. Extract the contents of the folder and then run AWSPVDriverSetup.msi.

To upgrade a domain controller

1. We recommend that you create a backup of your domain controller in case you need to roll back your changes. Using an AMI as a backup is not supported. For more information, see Backup and Restore Considerations for Virtualized Domain Controllers in the Microsoft documentation.

2. Run the following command to configure Windows to boot into Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM).

   Warning

   Before running this command, confirm that you know the DSRM password. You'll need this information so that you can log in to your instance after the upgrade is complete and the instance automatically reboots.

   bcdedit /set {default} safeboot dsrepair

   PowerShell:

   PS C:\> bcdedit /set "{default}" safeboot dsrepair

   The system must boot into DSRM because the upgrade utility removes Citrix PV storage drivers so it can install AWS PV drivers. Therefore we recommend noting any drive letter and folder mappings to the secondary disks in Disk Management. When Citrix PV storage drivers are not present, secondary drives are not detected. Domain controllers that use an NTDS folder on secondary drives will not boot because the secondary disk is not detected.

   Warning

   After you run this command do not manually reboot the system. The system will be unreachable because Citrix PV drivers do not support DSRM.

3. Run the following command to add DisableDCCheck to the registry:

   reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Amazon\AWSPVDriverSetup /v DisableDCCheck /t REG_SZ /d true

4. Download the latest driver package to the instance.

5. Extract the contents of the folder and then run AWSPVDriverSetup.msi.

   After running the MSI, the instance automatically reboots and then upgrades the driver. The instance will not be available for up to 15 minutes.

6. After the upgrade is complete and the instance passes both health checks in the Amazon EC2 console, connect to the instance using Remote Desktop. Open Disk Management to review any offline secondary volumes and bring them online corresponding to the drive letters and folder mappings noted earlier.

   You must connect to the instance by specifying the username in the following format hostname\administrator. For example, Win2k12TestBox\administrator.

7. Run the following command to remove the DSRM boot configuration:

   bcdedit /deletevalue safeboot

8. Reboot the instance.

9. To complete the upgrade process, verify that the new driver was installed. In Device Manager, under Storage Controllers, locate AWS PV Storage Host Adapter. Verify that the driver version is the same as the latest version listed in the Driver Version History table. For more information, see AWS PV driver package history.

10. Run the following command to delete DisableDCCheck from the registry:

    reg delete HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Amazon\AWSPVDriverSetup /v DisableDCCheck

To upgrade RedHat drivers

1. Connect to your instance and log in as the local administrator. For more information about connecting to your instance, see Connect to your Windows instance using RDP.

2. In your instance, download the Citrix PV upgrade package.

3. Extract the contents of the upgrade package to a location of your choice.

4. Double-click the Upgrade.bat file. If you get a security warning, choose Run.

5. In the Upgrade Drivers dialog box, review the information and choose Yes if you are ready to start the upgrade.

6. In the Red Hat Paravirtualized Xen Drivers for Windows uninstaller dialog box, choose Yes to remove the RedHat software. Your instance will be rebooted.

   Note

   If you do not see the uninstaller dialog box, choose Red Hat Paravirtualize in the Windows taskbar.

   

7. Check that the instance has rebooted and is ready to be used.

   1. Open the Amazon EC2 console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.

   2. On the Instances page, select Actions, then Monitor and troubleshoot, and then choose Get system log.

   3. The upgrade operations should have restarted the server 3 or 4 times. You can see this in the log file by the number of times Windows is Ready to use is displayed.

      

8. Connect to your instance and log in as the local administrator.

9. Close the Red Hat Paravirtualized Xen Drivers for Windows uninstaller dialog box.

10. Confirm that the installation is complete. Navigate to the Citrix-WIN_PV folder that you extracted earlier, open the PVUpgrade.log file, and then check for the text INSTALLATION IS COMPLETE.

    

To upgrade your Citrix Xen guest agent service

1. Connect to your instance and log in as the local administrator. For more information about connecting to your instance, see Connect to your Windows instance using RDP.

2. On your instance, download the Citrix upgrade package.

3. Extract the contents of the upgrade package to a location of your choice.

4. Double-click the Upgrade.bat file. If you get a security warning, choose Run.

5. In the Upgrade Drivers dialog box, review the information and choose Yes if you are ready to start the upgrade.

6. When the upgrade is complete, the PVUpgrade.log file will open and contain the text UPGRADE IS COMPLETE.

7. Reboot your instance.