Upgrade Pre-check Standard · UPS-1

If the change fails, it should be the product, not the pre-check.

UpgradeGate turns the Word and Excel upgrade checklists every team keeps into one standard: expert checks for each product and version, the evidence for every answer, a second-engineer review and signed change approval. The record you close is what the vendor's support team would ask for.

Start free: 10 pre-checks a month Read the standard

No card needed. 1116 expert checks across 29 products today; servers, storage, network, OS and database waves follow.

VC-CR-02blockerSECpre-change

STS signing certificate (and port 7444) valid

Why: an expired STS certificate stops all logins and fails the upgrade pre-check, inside the window.

Run checksts / vCert; check STS_INTERNAL_SSL_CERT expiry.

A pass looks like: Valid beyond the window + 30 days.
Evidence: Command output, reviewed by a second engineer

PassFailN/A

Every upgrade, the same six steps

Each check says why it matters, exactly how to run it and what a pass looks like. Nothing closes on a blank.

PlanPath, interoperability and support, days before the window

Pre-checkEvery check with its evidence, in the last 24 hours

ReviewA second engineer reviews; deviations go to change approval

Go / no-goRecorded at the start of the window

ValidatePost-change tests before closing

AttestSigned, hashed evidence record for the vendor and auditors

Built from years of failed windows

Checks are written the way a principal engineer briefs a junior one: the failure it prevents, the exact command, the expected output, the KB. Blockers stop the change; failed blockers need a written, approved deviation.

Version-aware and current

Pick source and target versions. The checklist, upgrade path and interoperability are computed for that pair, and new checks reach open records automatically from a signed library feed.

Evidence a vendor will accept

Command output and screenshots per check, signed approvals, a hash-chained audit and a closure attestation, exported as a PDF you can attach to a support case.

Separation of duties

The engineer cannot approve their own change, the reviewer cannot also give change approval, and approvals need a fresh two-factor signature.

Your organisation, isolated

Each organisation has its own database. Platform staff can see plan and usage, never your records. Team and Enterprise enforce two-factor for everyone.

Vendors publish here

OEMs can publish their own pre-checks through a reviewed publisher portal, so customers run the vendor's checks, not a copy of them.

Products covered

Product	Vendor	Checks
Avi Load Balancer	VMware by Broadcom	63
Cisco Nexus (NX-OS)	Cisco	35
Cisco Catalyst (IOS XE)	Cisco	34
F5 BIG-IP (TMOS)	F5	35
Palo Alto Networks firewalls (PAN-OS)	Palo Alto Networks	34
Fortinet FortiGate (FortiOS)	Fortinet	33
Windows Server	Microsoft	36
Red Hat Enterprise Linux	Red Hat	34
Ubuntu Server	Canonical	32
Kubernetes (upstream / kubeadm / managed)	CNCF	33
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform	Red Hat	32
Nutanix AOS / AHV	Nutanix	32
Microsoft SQL Server	Microsoft	34
Oracle Database	Oracle	33
Dell PowerEdge server firmware	Dell Technologies	45
HPE ProLiant server firmware	Hewlett Packard Enterprise	36
Cisco UCS (Fabric Interconnects, IOMs, servers)	Cisco	35
NetApp ONTAP	NetApp	38
Pure Storage FlashArray (Purity//FA)	Pure Storage	33
vCenter Server	VMware by Broadcom	64
ESXi hosts / vSphere clusters	VMware by Broadcom	48
VMware NSX	VMware by Broadcom	52
VMware Cloud Foundation (SDDC Manager)	VMware by Broadcom	50
Aria Suite Lifecycle (vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager)	VMware by Broadcom	33
Aria Operations (vRealize Operations)	VMware by Broadcom	39
Aria Automation (vRealize Automation)	VMware by Broadcom	38
Aria Operations for Logs (vRealize Log Insight)	VMware by Broadcom	35
Aria Operations for Networks (vRealize Network Insight)	VMware by Broadcom	35
Workspace ONE Access (vIDM)	VMware by Broadcom	35

Your own products and checklists can be added on Pro and above.