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Tutorial: Upgrade the Access Server Helm Chart

Abstract

How to upgrade Access Server deployed via the Helm Chart in your Kubernetes cluster.

Overview

Follow this tutorial to upgrade Access Server deployed via the Helm Chart in a Kubernetes (K8) cluster. Upgrading ensures your VPN server has the latest security patches, features, and improvements while retaining existing configurations and data.

When you upgrade, the existing pod running Access Server is deleted. Kubernetes automatically recreates the pod with the updated Helm Chart, preserving your configuration via the Persistent Volume Claim (PVC).

Prerequisites

  • A working Kubernetes cluster with your Access Server Helm Chart already deployed.

  • kubectl and Helm CLI installed and configured to access your cluster.

  • Access to the values.yaml file used for your deployment, if you need to modify the image version or others settings.

Step 1: Identify the Pod Name where Access Server is installed

  1. Connect to the console and get root privileges.

  2. List the pods in your cluster to locate the Access Server pod:

    kubectl get pods

    • Example output:

      # kubectl get pods
NAME                                        READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
my-openvpn-as-openvpn-as-6b474c9757-jmjlc   1/1     Running   0          5m53s

  3. Take note of the pod name; you'll need it for the next step.

Step 2: Delete the Access Server pod

  1. Delete the running pod to trigger Kubernetes to recreate it with the updated Helm Chart:

    kubectl delete pod <Pod Name>

    Important

    Replace <Pod Name> with the name of your Access Server pod.

    • Example:

      kubectl delete pod my-openvpn-as-openvpn-as-6b474c9757-jmjlc

  2. Kubernetes will automatically recreate the pod with the same configuration, ensuring minimal downtime.

Step 3 (optional): Upgrade to a specific version

By default, this process uses the latest image tag from the Docker image. If you want to upgrade to a specific version instead:

  1. Open your values.yaml file used for the Helm deployment.

  2. Modify the image.tag value to the desired version (e.g., 2.14.2-40b190d8-Ubuntu24 → 2.14.3-5936bcd7-Ubuntu24).

  3. Run the Helm upgrade command:

    helm upgrade my-openvpn-as as-helm-chart/openvpn-as -f values.yaml

Important notes

  • Persistent configuration: Access Server stores its configuration in a Persistent Volume Claim (PVC) managed by the Helm Chart. All settings remain intact after the pod restarts or upgrades.

  • Downtime: The pod deletion and recreation cause a brief interruption. Connected VPN clients may need to reconnect automatically.

  • Version control: Always ensure that the image tag in your values.yaml matches the version you intend to deploy.

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