The reason for this is that there needs to be a controller software (Daemon), in place within the Queue Agent in the Branch Hub or on the PC running the Queue Agent. This Daemon is included in Orchestra R5.3, and later, making it possible to manage Remote Update.

Remote Update of Queue Agents means the possibility to update the Software running on a distributed Queue Agent without physical contact with the actual Branch Hub or PC running the Queue Agent software, but to be able to do it from the Central Orchestra installation.

For more information about how Queue Agents are handled, how Queue Agent Profiles are created, which files are mandatory and optional, and so on, please refer to “Queue Agents” .

Before the upgrade from one version to a later can be made, the new Profile version must be downloaded to the machine on which the distributed Queue Agent is located, e.g. a BranchHub or a PC server. This is called synchronizing.

For more information, see “Synchronizing the Queue Agent” .

Different distributed Queue Agents may have different functionality and settings, e.g. different Terminals, different applications and different databases etc.

Queue Agent Profiles are created to define what software files and which parameters that shall be applied for one or more Queue Agents.

This is described in “Agent Profile” .

An Agent Profile consists of configuration parameters (stored in database) and a zipped file containing the (web-) applications and required configuration files, such as language files and scripts. The Agent Profile zip file typically contains the Workstation Terminal, the Reception Terminal, and other applications that should be upgraded.

For more info, see “Agent Profile” .

Create a new Agent Profile when a new Queue Agent version is released or when you are about to perform other changes on a Queue Agent. By creating a new Agent Profile, a Queue Agent could easily be reverted in case of any failure during deployment.

It is only recommended to change/update an existing Agent Profile if e.g. a change of a parameter is needed, or a language property file should be added or changed.

The performance bottleneck when it comes to remote upgrade of distributed Queue Agents can be the synchronization of the Agent Profiles. It is highly depending on the network bandwidth between the Central Orchestra installation and the Queue Agents. Once the synchronization is done, the upgrade is taken care of by each Branch Hub or the distributed Queue Agent PC. This is triggered by a command in Central.

Synchronization can take very long if the bandwidth is low. The upgrade can however not be started until that step is done and the upgrade itself will not take long but should be done outside business hours, so that it will not disturb your daily routines too much.

A typical use case for the pre deployment script is to reset the database.

A typical use case for the post deployment script is to include some tests to ensure that the Queue Agent is working properly. In case of failure, a roll back of the Agent Profile will be done.

What is covered by the Regression Test naturally largely depends on what your system looks like, how many Branches you have, which hardware you are using and so on.

However, we suggest that you perform tests on the Branch that you have deployed as the first Branch and that you test scenarios that relate to the normal scenarios of your business, such as calling customers, printing tickets, making sure that correct surfaces are displayed on printers, media displays and so on.

As with the Regression Test, this depends a lot on the size and load of your system.

We suggest that you run some kind of load tests, using tools and load scripts especially developed for this kind of task.