Upgrading Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server on the dedicated EPM server

Last Updated : Jun 05, 2026 |

About this task

The following steps are guidelines to install a supported version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server, and provide instructions for making selections when the default values are not suitable.

Before you begin

If you are upgrading to Experience Portal 8.1 from Experience Portal 6.x or 7.x, you must do a fresh installation of a supported version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server.

Important:

  • Ensure that you backup all the Experience Portal data, including the database.

    Important:

    For more information on creating a backup, see Backing up data.

  • Verify that the prerequisites have been met. For more information, see Prerequisites overview for upgrading Experience Portal

  • Log in to Linux on the EPM server and turn off the automatic process restart feature for Tomcat by entering the chkconfig tomcat off command.

Procedure

  1. Reboot the server so that it boots from the media of a supported version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server.

    The system displays the Welcome to Red Hat Enterprise Linux screen.

  2. Select the Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux option.
  3. Select English as the language to use during the installation process.
  4. Select the U.S. English keyboard option.
  5. Select Installation Destination and select the disk to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
  6. Select Network and Host name.
  7. Enter the host name and select Apply.
    Note:

    All network configuration including the hostname and IP (and other properties specified in steps 7 and 8) must remain the same.

  8. To configure the network:
    1. Ensure that eth0/ens192, the main Ethernet interface, is enabled.
    2. On the IPv4 Settings tab, configure the following settings using the values specified on the installation worksheet:

      • Static IP address

      • Netmask

      • Gateway

      • DNS servers

      • Search domains

  9. Enter the applicable timezone.
  10. Select Begin Installation.
  11. Enter the root password. Ensure that you enter the value that you have specified in the installation worksheet.
  12. Complete the installation and reboot the system.
  13. After the system reboots, complete the post-installation configuration procedures.
    1. Accept the License Agreement and Finish Configuration (RHEL 8.x).
    2. Set the system clock.
    3. Create a non-root account. Ensure that you use the value that you have specified in the installation worksheet.
      Note:

      After the Experience Portal software is installed, use a non-root account to log in and then change to root account by using the su — command.

    4. Disable the firewall.
    5. Set default umask to 027 in the /etc/profile and /etc/bashrc scripts.
    6. Configure a yum repository that has required Experience Portal packages.