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Upgrading to Pluton PRO

This guide explains how to upgrade from Pluton (free) to Pluton PRO while preserving your existing data, backup plans, and configurations.

Prerequisites​

  • A valid Pluton PRO license key
  • An existing Pluton installation with data you want to preserve
  • Sufficient disk space to temporarily have both versions

What Gets Migrated​

When upgrading from Pluton to Pluton PRO, the following data is preserved:

  • Database (backup plans, schedules, history)
  • Configuration settings
  • Connected storage accounts
  • Backup statistics and logs
  • Local backup snapshots

Note: Your encryption key remains the same. You will use your existing encryption key with Pluton PRO.

Upgrading on Windows​

Step 1: Stop the Pluton Service​

  1. Open Services (press Win + R, type services.msc, press Enter)
  2. Find "Pluton" in the list
  3. Right-click and select Stop

Or use PowerShell as Administrator:

Stop-Service -Name "Pluton"

Step 2: Back Up Your Data​

Copy the Pluton data directory to a safe location:

Copy-Item -Path "C:\ProgramData\Pluton" -Destination "C:\ProgramData\Pluton-backup" -Recurse

Step 3: Uninstall Pluton​

  1. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Pluton
  2. Run uninstall.exe

Important: When prompted, choose to keep your data. Do not remove the data directory.

Step 4: Install Pluton PRO​

  1. Download the latest version of Pluton PRO for Windows from Pluton User Panel
  2. Run the installer
  3. When prompted, use the same port settings as your previous installation

Step 5: Configure Pluton PRO​

  1. Open http://localhost:5173 in your browser
  2. A top bar will show up asking you to activate your license.
  3. Activate the license and you are all done.

Pluton PRO will detect your existing data and use it automatically.

Upgrading on Linux Desktop​

Step 1: Stop the Pluton Service​

sudo systemctl stop pluton

Step 2: Back Up Your Data​

sudo cp -r /var/lib/pluton /var/lib/pluton-backup
sudo cp -r /etc/pluton /etc/pluton-backup

Step 3: Uninstall Pluton​

sudo /opt/pluton/uninstall.sh

When prompted, choose to keep your data.

Step 4: Install Pluton PRO​

Download the Pluton PRO AppImage from Pluton User Panel

Then Install the AppImage:

chmod +x Pluton-PRO-x86_64.AppImage

# Install
sudo ./Pluton-PRO-x86_64.AppImage --install

Step 5: Configure Pluton PRO​

  1. Open http://localhost:5173 in your browser
  2. A top bar will show up asking you to activate your license.
  3. Activate the license and you are all done.

Upgrading on Linux Server​

Step 1: Stop the Pluton Service​

sudo systemctl stop pluton

Step 2: Back Up Your Data​

sudo cp -r /var/lib/pluton /var/lib/pluton-backup
sudo cp -r /etc/pluton /etc/pluton-backup

Step 3: Note Your Current Configuration​

Retrieve your existing credentials before uninstalling:

sudo cat /etc/pluton/pluton.env

Save the PLUTON_ENCRYPTION_KEY, PLUTON_USER_NAME, and PLUTON_USER_PASSWORD values.

Step 4: Uninstall Pluton​

curl -sSL https://dl.usepluton.com/server/scripts/uninstall.sh | sudo bash

When prompted, choose to keep your data.

Step 5: Install Pluton PRO​

curl -sSL "https://dl.usepluton.com/server-pro/scripts/install.sh?license=YOUR_LICENSE_KEY" | sudo bash -s -- \
    --license "YOUR_LICENSE_KEY" \
    --encryption-key "YOUR_EXISTING_ENCRYPTION_KEY" \
    --user "YOUR_EXISTING_USERNAME" \
    --password "YOUR_EXISTING_PASSWORD" \
    --non-interactive

Replace the placeholder values with your actual license key and existing credentials from Step 3.

Pluton PRO will start automatically and use your existing data.

Upgrading Docker Installation​

Step 1: Stop the Pluton Container​

docker compose down

Step 2: Back Up the Data Volume​

docker run --rm -v pluton-data:/data -v $(pwd):/backup \
  alpine tar czf /backup/pluton-backup.tar.gz -C /data .

Step 3: Update Docker Compose File​

Modify your docker-compose.yml:

services:
  pluton:
    image: plutonhq/pluton-pro:latest # Changed from plutonhq/pluton:latest
    container_name: pluton-backup
    restart: unless-stopped

    ports:
      - "${SERVER_PORT:-5173}:${SERVER_PORT:-5173}"

    volumes:
      - pluton-data:/data

    environment:
      LICENSE_KEY: ${LICENSE_KEY} # Added license key
      ENCRYPTION_KEY: ${ENCRYPTION_KEY}
      USER_NAME: ${USER_NAME}
      USER_PASSWORD: ${USER_PASSWORD}
      APP_TITLE: ${APP_TITLE:-Pluton PRO}
      APP_URL: ${APP_URL:-http://localhost:5173}
      SERVER_PORT: ${SERVER_PORT:-5173}
      MAX_CONCURRENT_BACKUPS: ${MAX_CONCURRENT_BACKUPS:-2}
      SESSION_DURATION: ${SESSION_DURATION:-7}
      ALLOW_CUSTOM_RESTORE_PATH: ${ALLOW_CUSTOM_RESTORE_PATH:-true}
      ALLOW_FILE_BROWSER: ${ALLOW_FILE_BROWSER:-true}
      DISABLE_EVENT_SCRIPTS: ${DISABLE_EVENT_SCRIPTS:-false}
      NODE_ENV: production
      IS_DOCKER: "true"

    healthcheck:
      test:
        [
          "CMD",
          "sh",
          "-c",
          "wget --no-verbose --tries=1 --spider http://localhost:${SERVER_PORT:-5173}/api/health",
        ]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 40s

volumes:
  pluton-data:

Step 4: Update Environment Variables​

Add the license key to your .env file:

LICENSE_KEY=your-pluton-pro-license-key
ENCRYPTION_KEY=your-existing-encryption-key
USER_NAME=admin
USER_PASSWORD=your-existing-password

Step 5: Start Pluton PRO​

docker compose up -d

The Pluton PRO container will use the existing pluton-data volume and preserve all your data.

Post-Upgrade Steps​

After upgrading to Pluton PRO:

  1. Verify your backup plans are visible and correctly configured

  2. Test a manual backup to confirm functionality

  3. Remove backup directories once you've confirmed the upgrade was successful:

    # Linux
    sudo rm -rf /var/lib/pluton-backup
    sudo rm -rf /etc/pluton-backup

    # Windows (PowerShell as Admin)
    Remove-Item -Path "C:\ProgramData\Pluton-backup" -Recurse -Force

Rollback​

If you need to revert to Pluton (free):

  1. Stop Pluton PRO
  2. Uninstall Pluton PRO (keep data)
  3. Restore your backed-up data directories
  4. Reinstall Pluton (free)
  5. Restore your original /etc/pluton/pluton.env file

For Docker, restore from the backup tarball:

docker compose down
docker run --rm -v pluton-data:/data -v $(pwd):/backup \
  alpine sh -c "cd /data && tar xzf /backup/pluton-backup.tar.gz"
# Revert docker-compose.yml to use plutonhq/pluton:latest
docker compose up -d