Upgrading Jama Connect: Direct Upgrade to the Latest Release (Replicated KOTS)

Published Date: August 14, 2025

Products and Versions Covered: 

• Self-hosted, Replicated - KOTS

Summary

If you’re running Jama Connect® v8.79.x or later, you can upgrade directly to the latest available version without performing intermediate “step” upgrades.

However, you must first update the underlying KOTS dependencies to meet the requirements for the latest release.

While step-upgrades are no longer required in modern Jama Connect® versions, you must complete the necessary KOTS dependency upgrades beforehand.

Resolution

Internet Installations

If you previously installed Jama Connect® via the internet, upgrading the KOTS dependencies is straightforward. Essentially, you’ll just need to re-run the kURL installation script:

curl -sSL https://k8s.kurl.sh/jama-k8s-standardkots | sudo bash

The installer will handle all necessary downloads and system updates. Please note that this may include a step-upgrade of Kubernetes versions and could take some time to complete.

Once the KOTS installation finishes, you can deploy the latest version of Jama Connect from the admin console.

For additional guidance, please refer to the release notes, supported software requirements, and installation/upgrade steps in the user guides.

Airgap Installations

Upgrading Jama Connect® in an airgapped environment requires a slightly different process.
Download Required Files

• Obtain the latest KOTS installer and airgap package from the Replicated Download Portal. Your organization may have already received the links and credentials from your Customer Success Manager or the Licensing team.

• You’ll also need specific Kubernetes packages required by the installation script. Note that the exact versions and URLs may change over time. Example download commands:

curl -LO https://kurl.sh/bundle/version/v2025.06.25-0/2e7f72e/packages/kubernetes-1.27.16.tar.gz
curl -LO https://kurl.sh/bundle/version/v2025.06.25-0/2e7f72e/packages/kubernetes-1.28.15.tar.gz
curl -LO https://kurl.sh/bundle/version/v2025.06.25-0/2e7f72e/packages/kubernetes-1.29.15.tar.gz
curl -LO https://kurl.sh/bundle/version/v2025.06.25-0/2e7f72e/packages/kubernetes-1.30.12.tar.gz
curl -LO https://kurl.sh/bundle/version/v2025.06.25-0/2e7f72e/packages/kubernetes-1.31.8.tar.gz

Determine Current Kubernetes Version

• Run the following on your application server.

Example output:

  kubectl version   -- run this command on your application server
  Client Version: v1.29.15
  Kustomize Version: v5.0.4-0.20230601165947-6ce0bf390ce3
  Server Version: v1.29.15

• In this example, the installed Kubernetes version is v1.29.15.

Determine Required Step-Upgrades

NOTE: As part of the installation/upgrade steps in the user guides, you will have unpacked the 'jama-k8s-standardkots.tar.gz' which will have generated an 'install.sh' file. By inspecting this file, you will be able to determine which Kubernetes packages you'll need to download to upgrade to the desired version.

• Unpack the jama-k8s-standardkots.tar.gz file from the installation/upgrade package.

• Inspect the install.sh file to identify which Kubernetes versions must be downloaded for the upgrade.

Example snippet from install.sh (v9.22.1):

  KURL_URL="https://kurl.sh"
  DIST_URL="https://s3.kurl.sh/dist"
  FALLBACK_URL="https://kurl-sh.s3.amazonaws.com/dist"
  INSTALLER_ID="jama-k8s-standardkots"
  KURL_VERSION="v2025.07.23-0"
  CRICTL_VERSION=1.20.0
  REPLICATED_APP_URL="https://replicated.app"
  KURL_UTIL_IMAGE="replicated/kurl-util:v2025.07.23-0"
  KURL_BIN_UTILS_FILE="kurl-bin-utils-v2025.07.23-0.tar.gz"
  # STEP_VERSIONS array is generated by the server and injected at runtime based
  on supported k8s versions
  STEP_VERSIONS=(0.0.0 0.0.0 0.0.0 0.0.0 0.0.0 0.0.0 0.0.0 0.0.0 0.0.0 0.0.0 0.0.0
  0.0.0 0.0.0 0.0.0 0.0.0 0.0.0 1.16.4 1.17.13 1.18.20 1.19.16 1.20.15 1.21.14
  1.22.17 1.23.17 1.24.17 1.25.14 1.26.15 1.27.16 1.2
  8.15 1.29.15 1.30.12 1.31.8 1.32.4)
  # ROOK_STEP_VERSIONS array is generated by the server and injected at runtime
  based on supported rook versions
  ROOK_STEP_VERSIONS=(1.0.4-14.2.21 0.0.0 0.0.0 0.0.0 1.4.9 1.5.12 1.6.11 1.7.11
  1.8.10 1.9.12 1.10.11 1.11.8 1.12.8 1.13.10 1.14.12 1.15.8 1.16.6 1.17.1)
  # CONTAINERD_STEP_VERSIONS array is generated by the server and injected at runtime
  based on supported containerd versions
  CONTAINERD_STEP_VERSIONS=(0.0.0 0.0.0 1.2.13 1.3.9 1.4.13 1.5.11 1.6.33 1.7.26)
  INSTALLER_YAML="apiVersion: cluster.kurl.sh/v1beta1
  kind: Installer
  metadata:
   name: jama-k8s-standardkots
  spec:
   kubernetes:
     version: 1.31.8

You can then use this information to construct the download links:
curl -LO <KURL_URL>/bundle/version/<KURL_VERSION>/<INSTALLER_ID>/packages/kubernetes-<STEP_VERSION>.tar.gz

In our example,  v.1.29.15 is currently installed. We can see from the INSTALLER_YAML's spec.kubernetes.version that we will attempt to upgrade to v1.31.8. In the STEP_VERSIONS array, we can conclude that v1.30.12 and v1.31.8 will be necessary.

Using the 'pattern' above, our download links would look like:

curl -LO https://kurl.sh/bundle/version/v2025.07.23-0/jama-k8s-standardkots/packages/kubernetes-1.30.12.tar.gz
curl -LO https://kurl.sh/bundle/version/v2025.07.23-0/jama-k8s-standardkots/packages/kubernetes-1.31.8.tar.gz

Please check the release notes and supported software requirements and  installation/upgrade steps in the user guides for additional details.

Reach out to your Customer Success Manager to help schedule a 'Pre-Upgrade Consultation' to ensure you are fully prepared to upgrade.

Additional Resources

• Success Programs
• Success Catalog
• Datasheets
• Request a Solution Offering or Training from the Success Catalog

Feedback:
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