UPGRADING IMIS NEWLIN JOLME, INTEGR8TIV @njolme @integr8tiv
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UPGRADING IMISNEWLIN JOLME, INTEGR8TIV
@njolme@integr8tiv
AGENDA
Want to be on the latest greatest release of iMIS but not sure where to start? This technical session will cover what you need to know from both a software and hardware perspective -including what hosting might offer for your organisation. We wrap up with things you need to know before you take the plunge.
UPGRADING IMIS, THE TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE
• Before you begin• Choosing a version• Server architecture
– Web & app vs web/app• Hosting options• iMIS Ecosystem• Migration considerations
AGENDAWHAT WE’LL COVER
• Overall upgrade approach– Third party software– Custom integrations
• Best practice• Top tips• References• Questions
INTEGR8TIVYOUR IMIS & BUSINESS SYSTEMS PARTNER
• Integr8tiv assists iMIS customers to get more from their business systems
• Authorized iMIS Solution Provider with unparalleled iMIS experience• iMIS Certified Professionals and Certified iMIS Extension Developers • Founded in 2012, now with 5 full time iMIS dedicated consultants• Located in Melbourne, servicing customers in Asia Pacific and world
wide
INTEGR8TIVYOUR IMIS & BUSINESS SYSTEMS PARTNER
Services include:• Award winning RiSE websites
iMIS Dashboards and reporting• invoice and receipt automation &
other process automation• iMIS upgrades• iMIS training and support• Staff site and customer portal
development• iQA, Crystal and SSRS reporting• Business Intelligence reporting
• Financial Integration, inc MYOB and Xero
• System Health and usage reviews• IT strategy and road maps• Passbook member cards• Marketing automation and email
marketing• Systems integration• 3rd party CMS and iMIS integration• LMS integration• Everything iMIS
• First installed 10.6 back in 2003• Upgrades all the way through to current versions• Introduction of web, IQA’s, Business Objects, API’s, web services• Increase in hardware & complexity (300)• Decrease in hardware & complexity (100-200)• Less downtime due to website integration & process automation• Greater functionality and flexibility• Migration to the cloud• Currently average 1 upgrade every 1 – 2 months
INTRODUCTION
“Every upgrade will contain hurdles, the question is how many and how high”
– Wise grasshopper
ALWAYS START WITH AN AWESOME QUOTE…WHO SAID THAT?
• Read the iMIS documentationhttp://help.imis.com/q42015/Implementation/Upgrade_Guide/Upgrading_iMIS.htm
• Know current and plan future your architecture
• Consider hosting options
• Audit related software and suppliers
• Plan and document your upgrade approach, create test plans
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
GA – General Availability EA – Early Adopter
• GA is the main release for the year, generally 1 per year– Fully tested with hotfixes available throughout the year
• EA is the preview of GA, available for customers to test– Users provide feedback and changes are made before GA version
• Interim updates happen throughout the year– Allow new features or fixes to be deployed prior to annual GA– Don’t go through same regression testing as GA, but are stable and
supported and can be upgraded– No hotfixes issued, so to fix bugs an upgrade is required
VERSIONINGWHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GA, EA & INTERIM RELEASES?
• Latest interim version is 20.2.49• Latest Generally Available version Q4 2015• Other interims include 20.2.40 and 20.2.46• ASI recommends current interim update (e.g. 20.2.49) and lots of
testing• What version is right for you?
– 20.2.40 known issue with public user credentials page– Work around is to change to casual/full, modify, change back to public
• Installing multiple versions on one server– Consider carefully and test on a non live server
CHOOSING A VERSIONIMIS 20.2.XX
• Internal
• Physical vs Virtual
• ASI Cloud– Shared – Dedicated virtual server
• Other cloud– Amazon Web Services (AWS)– Microsoft Azure – Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
HOSTING OPTIONS
• 3 separate servers to consider:– Database Server– Application Server– Web Server
• Most common architecture approach is:– 1 database server– 1 combined web & app server
• Ability to install a separate stand alone web server was removed and recently re-added to the product (version 20.2.46/9)
• Multiple web & app servers requires publishing considerations
SERVER ARCHITECTURE
IMIS ECOSYSTEM
• Manually migrate the following:– Custom reports– Custom RiSE files (docs, images, themes, master pages)– Other iMIS related files (e.g. GL Int folders/files)– Non iMIS related files
• Third party applications– Task Centre tasks– Informz db access
• Non iMIS related applications (e.g. GL, reporting, MS Office etc.)• Existing db backup files• Non iMIS databases• User configuration
– RDP
MIGRATION CONSIDERATIONS
• Before you begin
• Upgrade
• Post Upgrade Tasks
• Upgrade existing websites
http://help.imis.com/q42015/Implementation/Upgrade_Guide/Upgrading_iMIS.htm
ASI UPGRADE - DOCUMENTED APPROACH
• Review system requirements• Review install and upgrade changes• Install additional required components• Prepare the application server• Prepare databases for an upgrade• (optional) Refresh metadata• (optional) Delete Database Engine Tuning Advisor Index• Prepare to upgrade your websites
http://help.imis.com/q42015/Implementation/Upgrade_Guide/Before_you_begin_your_upgrade.htm
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
• Download the iMIS product image• Have all users log out of iMIS• Uninstall iMIS• Temporarily disable tools and settings• Run the iMIS setup.exe• Upgrade additional instances of iMIS
http://help.imis.com/q42015/Implementation/Upgrade_Guide/Upgrade_iMIS.htm
UPGRADE
• Upgrade the On Behalf Of role• Upgrade content items• Upgrade website master pages• Upgrade system alerts• Redirect to the virtual directory URL• Test access to installed components
http://help.imis.com/q42015/Implementation/Upgrade_Guide/Post-upgrade_tasks.htm
POST UPGRADE CHECKS
• Review website upgrade strategy• Update sites that have page errors• Upgrade older sites
http://help.imis.com/q42015/Implementation/Upgrade_Guide/Upgrading_existing_websites.htm
UPGRADE EXISTING WEBSITES
• SQL Collation Sequence:– SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI (sort order ID 52), which is the default for
the EmptyDB and DemoDB provided with iMIS. If your SQL Server default is different, reinstall SQL Server with the correct collation before installing iMIS.
• iMIS will now let you upgrade with a different collation sequence• Difficult to change this later• Get it right at the start
COLLATION SEQUENCE
• Ensure that your server environment is ready for the upgrade:– Confirm minimum system requirements– Server(s) have all standard and additional components installed and configured
• Complete a test upgrade run on the same server environment and architecture• Clean data
– Close all batches before running the upgrade– Ensure there are no duplicate registrations for the same events, if so close events– Run pre-upgrade steps from iMIS site:– http://help.imis.com/Q42015/Implementation/Upgrade_Guide/Before_you_begin_your_u
pgrade.htm#Preparing_databases_for_an_upgrade• Make sure that all users are logged out from iMIS and server, close all connections• Take a database backup• Check there is no QAS path stored in the system parameters table, if so remove it
as it wipes out the server path variables which will cause system issues• Ensure no user is logged on to your server, if necessary logged them off• Now ready to upgrade but don't forget to run the process with 'run as admin'
option
PRE UPGRADE CHECKS
• Download software from ASI website– Client support - ReleasesOR
• Request interim release from ASI• Read release notes
– New functionality– Known issues– Email ASI regarding known issues
• Prepare servers• Run pre upgrade steps• Run test upgrade• Prepare database – DB Maintenance Tool installed with iMIS
OVERALL UPGRADE APPROACH
DB MAINTENANCE TOOL
• Login as system admin• Allows you to complete a bunch of adminy type functions
– Prepare iMIS database– Purge unused contacts & users– Sync net contacts
OVERALL UPGRADE APPROACH
• Publish sites & content• Configure IIS
– Bindings– App Pool config– SSL
• server signed is fine for testing• migrate or reinstall?
• Test iMIS client / staff site / public sites• Report & fix issues
– Define issue reporting process• Plan live upgrade• Run live upgrade• Post deployment support
• Run DB Prepare, Purge unused contacts & users, Sync contacts in the DB Maintenance Tool
• Restart web & app server• Ensure iMIS Desktop URL is correct
http://servername/application_name/CS• iMIS Desktop & Staff Site should now work• Do the following in RiSE to ensure website are operating correctly:
– clean up publishing server– publish a page with the re-generate option to ensure that publishing is
working– clean Lucene index (delete)– publish entire @ parent content folder with re-generate option– ensure that all RiSE websites are correctly configured (iMIS website URL,
IIS)
POST UPGRADE STEPS
• By default the new Advanced Account Console is shown– http://servername/application_name/CS2
• Switch back to the standard client by changing the URL:– http://servername/application_name/CS
WHERE’S THE CLIENT GONE?
• IQA options on the desktop client are no longer visible by default
• Can be easily accessed on the staff site
• Can also be easily added back in to the iMIS desktop after the upgrade– SMR ASI – Email me
WHERE’S MY IQA’S?
• iMIS integrated websites will be offline for a period of time• Put up a “maintenance mode” web page
– Provide contact details– Ideally a time when site is back up– Do during a
• Third party Single Sign On sites may also be down if they are relying login page
• Think about SEO and 301 redirects if changing web sites
MANAGING YOUR WEBSITE DURING AN UPGRADE
• SQL– Stored Procs– Triggers– Other objects– Scheduled Jobs– Custom integrations
• Reads• Writes
MANAGING CUSTOMISATIONS & MODIFICATIONS
• RiSE– Content pages– Documents– Themes– Master pages– Shortcuts– IQA– Embedded C# no longer
supported• Reports
Kati’s Top 3 Upgrade Tips
1. Try to avoid test upgrade run on your live server environment. Although iMIS 20.2 allows mixed server installations on the same server architecture it is often hard to separate test upgrade related issues that may / may not impacted the live environment.
2. After successful upgrade run don't forget to run the DB Prepare process in DB Maintenance tool. This will re-create the necessary backend SQL users and without that you may receive logon errors in iMIS Desktop
3. Update your publishing server details. Ensure you have the correct code and path, remove any redundant old publishing server details BEFORE you republish the whole @ parent folder in RiSE.
KATI’S TOP 3 UPGRADE TIPSKATI RETI, SENIOR CONSULTANT INTEGR8TIV
• Separate out upgrade vs enhancements• Try to phase the tasks as much as possible (avoid the big bang
approach)• Run the upgrade at least once in a test environment which is as close
to live replica environment as possible• Backup everything (db, Net folder, other files, server image, TC tasks,
SQL jobs)• Test everything • Have a rollback plan – There’s a point where this becomes impossible• Check collation sequence – upgrade won’t fail but some functionality
will• 2 step required on pre 15.1.3 (use SQL 2008 box to get to 15.1.3 first,
then upgrade on SQL 2012 or 2014)• Recommend running upgrades on a separate server for now
BEST PRACTICETIPS & TRICKS
• Have one– Plan to upgrade every 1 – 2 years depending on the benefit to your
business– Understand what is coming and determine if there is a business case for
your organisation• Try and stick to it
– Skipping upgrades to save on money can sometimes be a false economy– Keep up do date on latest software, get access to what you are paying for
• Consider external support– If your staff only do this once every 2+ years consider outsourcing the
project to those who do it every month– This allows your internal staff to focus on day to day operations, rather
than rare/one off tasks– Distributes knowledge of your iMIS ecosystem to third party to mitigate
risk
UPGRADE STRATEGY
• Multiple versions on the same server• Continuous delivery & less downtime
“Continuous Delivery (CD) is an approach in which teams keep producing valuable software in short cycles and ensure that the software can be reliably released at any time. It is used in software development to automate and improve the process of software delivery.”
• Dev Ops approach by ASI“DevOps is the practice of operations and development engineers participating together in the entire service lifecycle, from design through the development process to production support.”
• Less user and third party involvement• Clearer and more defined release scheduled
FUTURE OF IMIS UPGRADES?
• ASI documentation (Q4 2015)– http://help.imis.com/q42015/Implementation/Upgrade_Guide/Upgrading_i
MIS.htm
• NiUG Member Community Shared– http://members.niug.org/library.htm
REFERENCES
WITH THANKS TO OUR SPONSORSNIUG DISCOVERY CONFERENCE
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