Upgrade : Upgrade Methodology
  

Upgrade Methodology

General Information

Please note that the Upgrade wizard will run all necessary scripts etc for you. There is no need to run any scripts manually, unless specifically stated!

Possible Upgrade Path

Before you start, you need to make sure that you know the following:
a) Which is your current version of Orchestra? The version number can be found in the footer of Orchestra.
b) What possible upgrade path(s) are available to you, depending on your current Orchestra version. The image below illustrates this:

Before you begin (Test and Production environment) - Checklist

 
Step
More information
Check
Check your possible upgrade path.
 
Make sure that you have read through the Release Notes document, since it contains important information that needs to be considered before Upgrade commences!
 
 
Make sure that you have your license details in place.
You can not use the same license key as for your current Orchestra version, if that version is Orchestra 5.x, since the Licensing model has been completely updated for Orchestra 6.x. For more information, see “Licensing” .
 
Obtain / download all software artefacts to be upgraded.
 
 
Backup installation folder.
If you use the normal Windows operation of copying and pasting the folder, or dragging and dropping it, you may encounter problems with file names being too long. This means that some files will not be copied and you will be prompted about this problem. If this happens, cancel the copy operation and remove anything that was already copied to the target folder. Then, try using robocopy command line tool, instead. Entering “robocopy system backup /E” on the command line, for example, will copy the folder named “system” and make a copy named “backup”. Change these names as desired!
 
Backup databases.
 
 
Backup media content files. Optionally snapshot VM if using virtual machine technology for host.
Media content is all media files, such as images and videos, that are running on Media Displays (via Cinematic) and similar surfaces.
 
Prepare Regression Tests.
See “Regression Test” .
 
Prepare Performance Tests.
See “Performance Test” .
 
 

Suggested Upgrade Order

Naturally, depending on how your system is set up and configured, another upgrade order may be applicable for you. However, the following can be seen as a suggested guideline, with references to the applicable sections of this document:
1. Upgrade Central
See “Orchestra Central on Linux, MS SQL Server/Oracle Database” , or “Orchestra Central on Windows” .
2. Upgrade Stat.
3. Upgrade Business Intelligence, if applicable.
4. Upgrade Distributed Queue Agent
See “Distributed Queue Agent (both Linux and Windows)” .
5. Upgrade Unit Types
See “Unit Types” .
6. Upgrade Widgets
See “Widgets” .

Test / Staging Environments

1. Upgrade central.
See “Orchestra Central” .
2. Regression test.
See “Regression Test” .
3. Distributed setup only: Upgrade a set number of Queue Agents (not all, the environment should present a mix of Queue Agents on the latest and the second latest versions).
See “Distributed Queue Agent (both Linux and Windows)” .
4. Upgrade Unit Type Files and Widgets, if needed.
See “Unit Types” and “Widgets” .
5. Distributed setup only: Regression test.
See “Regression Test” .
6. Performance test.
See “Performance Test” .
If testing passes, proceed to production upgrade.
If testing fails, at any point in the process, restore the environment from backups, address the problem, and repeat the process.

Production Environment

Tasks to be performed sequentially within the same period:
1. Upgrade central.
2. Regression test.
If testing fails, restore the environment from backups and repeat the process.
3. Upgrade any distributed Queue Agents based on rolling upgrade plan.
4. Regression test after each upgrade step.
If testing fails, restore the Queue Agent to previous version, address the problem, and repeat the process.
Roll out of distributed Queue Agent instances will be controlled by customer, depending on the number of Queue Agents deployed in their environment and the resourcing at their disposal to perform the upgrade.