Overview

This article shows CircleCI Server 4.x admins how to see which parts of their system get updated during a Server upgrade. You can track what gets deployed, what gets updated, and what stays the same. This helps you make sure your upgrade worked correctly and troubleshoot any issues with specific parts like output-processor.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have:

• Admin access to your CircleCI Server 4.x setup
• Helm installed and set up for your CircleCI Server
• Access to the namespace where CircleCI Server runs
• Your values.yaml config file ready to use

Instructions

Step 1: Add the Debug Flag to Your Upgrade Command

Add the --debug option to your normal Helm upgrade command. This will show you detailed information about what happens during the upgrade:

helm upgrade circleci-server \
  oci://cciserver.azurecr.io/circleci-server \
  -n $namespace \
  --version <version> \
  -f <path-to-values.yaml> \
  --debug

Note: that this is applicable only during the upgrade itself.

• Replace these parts with your actual values:

  • $namespace: Your CircleCI Server namespace
  • <version>: The Server version you want to upgrade to
  • <path-to-values.yaml>: The path to your values config file

  Step 2: Monitoring the Output During Upgrade

  During the upgrade process, you'll see detailed messages about each part of your system. The debug output shows what's happening in real-time as the upgrade moves through each component.

  Step 3: Check What Changed

  The debug output will tell you:

  • Updated parts: Components that got new versions during the upgrade
  • Unchanged parts: Components that stayed the same (no updates needed)
  • Status info: The current state of each system component

  Outcome

  When you run the upgrade with the --debug flag, you'll see exactly what happened to each part of your CircleCI Server. This lets you:

  • Check that important parts like output-processor got updated correctly
  • Make sure the upgrade finished properly
  • Find any parts that didn't update when they should have
  • Fix upgrade problems by seeing exactly what changed

  Important: You can only see this debug info while the upgrade is running. You can't get this information after the upgrade finishes.

  Additional Notes

  • Always test upgrades on a test system before upgrading production

  • You can save the debug output to a file for later review:

    helm upgrade... --debug > upgrade-log.txt 2>&1

  • To see what will change before you upgrade, use the Helm Diff plugin

  Additional Resources

  • CircleCI Server Upgrade Guide: https://circleci.com/docs/server-admin/latest/installation/upgrade-server/
  • Preview Changes Before Upgrading: https://support.circleci.com/hc/en-us/articles/16563709693723-Server-4-x-How-do-I-confirm-what-is-deployed-during-a-Server-version-upgrade
  • Helm Diff Plugin: https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff
  • Server 4.x Admin Documentation: https://circleci.com/docs/server-admin/latest/