I'm not clear on the BI4 to BI5 upgrade.

[jmburton2001]

I've been running BI4 for over 5 years (and BI3 prior to that). The first few years with BI4 were tweaking and tuning, but for the past few years it's been humming along PERFECTLY and auto-MAGIC-ally. I purchased the BI5 full version back in June 2019 and have been sitting on it ever since. The system I want to upgrade is physically located around 2,000 miles from me and I've been in the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." mindset but have been feeling like I should upgrade. I have full remote access to this system and have someone onsite that can push a button if needed, but not anything technical.

In that regard I have a few questions (I've been reading all the posts I can find on this)...

1. Is the valid license period from the date I purchased it or from the date I activate it?
2. Is there a way to backup my current BI4 configuration and then restore it in BI5?

---------- BI4 says "Not version 5 eligible" and when I press the "Upgrade/Renew" button it requests a support plan code.
3. Is this where I would put my full version BI5 key?
4. Or do I have to install the BI5 full version?

I guess what I really want to know is... What's the most painless way to upgrade without having to rebuild the system configuration?

Thanks in advance for your insights and wisdom!

 

[looney2ns]

See here: Blue Iris 4 to 5 Migration Guide

 

[bp2008]

1) From the date you activate.
2) Yes. Blue Iris makes registry backups automatically, or you can use a third party tool like bp2008/biupdatehelper or you can manually export HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Perspective Software from the registry.
3/4) It depends...

If you got a full-version BI5 key, then you should simply install Blue Iris 5 (full version) and put that key in when it asks.

If you got an extended support key, then you should enter that into Blue Iris 4. It will then say you are BI5 eligible. THEN you install BI5 (full version) and your old BI4 key will be "upgraded" to a BI5 key.

Most people don't need to rebuild any configuration, but there are a few exceptions to this. BI4's profiles (as in, profile 1, profile 2, ... profile 7) do not transfer over to BI5 correctly I think. So if you used more than Profile 1, then you may need to configure the others separately again. Also, when you uninstall Blue Iris 4, it will delete your configuration and license information whether you tell it to keep that stuff or not. The best thing to do is either 1) Never uninstall Blue Iris 4, or 2) Get BI5 working, back up its config, close Blue Iris 5 (and stop its service if you run it as a service), then with Blue Iris NOT RUNNING, uninstall Blue Iris 4, then restore the BI 5 configuration, then start BI 5 finally.

 

[jmburton2001]

Thank you!

Did I mention... THANK YOU?