Upgrading Seq

Seq 2024 is an in-place update, but uses some new index file formats not recognized by previous versions of Seq. In the unlikely event that you need to downgrade from 2024, reach out to the Seq support team and we'll send you a commandline to recover. This won't remove any of your log data.

To upgrade from:

• Seq 202x - use the instructions on this page and upgrade directly
• Seq 5.x - upgrade to Seq 2022.1 first, before returning to these instructions to follow further upgrade steps above
• Seq 3.0-4.2 - upgrade to Seq 5.1 first, and run the server for 24 hours so that background data migration can complete, before returning to these instructions to follow further upgrade steps above

Before upgrading...

It's best to check that you have access to a recent Seq backup filefrom before the upgrade. These are created nightly and saved to Backups/ under the Seq storage path, and can be downloaded from Settings > Backup in the Seq web interface. You'll need a copy of the Seq encryption key if you want to restore from backup, so if you don't have it saved securely, run seq show-key from the server command-line to retrieve it.

Upgrading Seq on Windows

Existing Seq (Windows) servers can be upgraded in-place by running the latest MSI package. The server will be restarted during the upgrade process.

Upgrading Seq on Docker

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These instructions assume that you have deployed Seq on Docker following the Deployment with Docker guide. In particular, it is important that docker is configured to mount Seq's data directory /data on the host file system as a docker volume.

The preferred approach to upgrading Seq deployed with docker is to:

1. Stop the existing Seq docker container

Use:

docker container stop <seq container name or id>

If you don't know the name or id of the docker container hosting seq you can list your docker containers with:

docker container ls

2. Start a new docker container with the latest version of Seq, mounting the docker volume /data at the same host location that the previous Seq docker container used. You will need to give the new container a different name to the old one.

After upgrading...

Once you've updated to a new Seq version, don't forget to update your installed Seq Apps, too. This can be done directly in the Seq UI from Settings > Apps > Update.

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If you encounter any problems...

Seq upgrades are expected to be smooth and seamless. If you do encounter any problems during or after the upgrade, avoid a downgrade if possible: contact the Seq Support Team and let us know what's gone wrong, and we'll have you back up and running in a flash.