Upgrading in a Multi-Site Environment

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Please note, Autodesk recommends that when you are upgrading or migrating a complex environment in Vault,

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that you work with a Value-Added Reseller or your Autodesk Account Team.

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When upgrading a multi-site environment and an in-place server, as mentioned earlier,

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Autodesk does recommend that you test your upgrade prior to go-live and in a multi-site environment.

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If you can, it's best to have both a publisher and a subscriber.

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If you already have a test server,

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you can do a backup from production and restore it to the test server and then you can perform the process on the test server.

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To create a test server, you're going to build a server as close to the same as your production,

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with the same version and patch level as your existing Vault server.

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You're going to want a backup from production and restore to that new test server.

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And again at that point, you're ready to perform and document the steps that are going to be required on go-live day.

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Preparation for go-live for SQL and check your SQL in your Windows version,

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make sure you document your current version in case you have to roll back.

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So you want to know both the Vault version and the patch level.

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Ensure that the server that you are using does meet the minimum hardware and software requirements.

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In case you need to upgrade either SQL server or Windows, you'll need to the impersonation account and the SA account.

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And if your organization doesn't allow access to an SA account,

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you will then need a SQL account that has been set up as a sysadmin and have the password for that.

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It can be disabled after the install.

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It is only needed during install and updates.

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Make sure you have all the required software and patches,

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that you know the serial number, product key, network license,

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server model, and the name if roll back is required.

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In case you need to reinstall the older version for any reason,

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make sure that you have documented the exact version you're moving from in order to be able to restore your backup.

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Make sure you've taken the backup once the users are logged off at the very beginning of the upgrade,

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and then reinstall Vault and restore the backup.

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The actual steps -- so choose your upgrade window.

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If you're working with an Autodesk representative, let them know your plan to upgrade Window.

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Have all your users log out of the system and do an IISRESET from the command line of the ADMS console.

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And you want to validate that the replication is synced.

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You can do this by looking on the SQL server and looking at the replication monitor or the synchronization monitor on the subscriber.

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And you should see a message that says "It's been polling for 60 seconds."

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If that's happened and your users are not in the system,

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you know that your subscribers and publishers are in sync.

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At that point, you want to backup the current Vaults, the publisher, in case you need to do a roll back.

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And then you're going to run the server installation on the current server, apply the Hotfixes.

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And then you're actually going to want to run the installation on both the current server and all your subscribers.

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Apply the Hotfixes and then once the upgrade is complete, you will start your ADMS console.

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You should be asked if you want to migrate your Vaults. Select "Yes."

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And if this step doesn't start automatically, you can do a manual B2B migration.

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Instructions for that are in the resources PDF.

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Once you've migrated your database, the publisher should begin creating a snapshot that will be used by the subscribers.

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It's important to note that the publisher will create a new snapshot to send to the subscribers,

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for both major upgrades and minor updates.

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Once everything is complete, and you're ready to install your client,

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but since you are only moving within two versions, you can use the existing clients until you have them updated.

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And then make sure that you backup your Vault in the new working state.

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For the subscribers, the publisher has to be done first.

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Once the publisher is finished at the complete migration level, you are going to go to your subscribers.

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Your subscribers should have already been installed.

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They do need to be online during the upgrade,

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but you can stop the SQL server jobs that perform the replication until you're done.

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So make sure all your users are out of the system on the subscriber, and as mentioned in the previous slide,

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you're going to want to upgrade all of the servers at the same time.

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So you will have run this server installation on the subscribers and applied the Hotfixes.

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Once the publisher is all set, then and only then can you start your ADMS console on the subscriber.

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And at that point, the subscriber will begin consuming the snapshot that was created by the publisher.

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You should wait for the snapshot to be consumed before starting the ADMS console.

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Enable your Vaults and then repeat for each subscriber.

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When doing a multi-site upgrade, it is important to note the publisher and the subscriber must be at the same version and patch level.

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Any time you do an upgrade or even an update, as I mentioned on the publisher, a new snapshot is created and sent to the subscribers.

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After the database migration is complete, on the publisher work group, a new snapshot is generated.

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And once the new snapshot generation is complete, the subscribers will begin to consume it.

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This is why you want to make sure that you have installed the Vault on all the servers.

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Assuming or if you do have a slow connection, it may be possible to use an alternate snapshot method.

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This is documented in the resources PDF on how to do this.

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It is a method by which you send the snapshot manually or on a disk or you copy it separately,

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and then you apply it to the subscriber.

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And do not proceed until the update has been successfully applied on all ADMS servers and work groups.

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Ensure that all work groups are online and accessible,

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make sure that they're synced and stay polling for 60 seconds for each replicated Vault in library.

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And then once the replication status is displaying is "Waiting 60 seconds,"

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it's safe to open your ADMS console on the subscriber and your database replication is scheduled by default every 60 seconds.

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So for AVFS, it's going to continue as configured, as this does not include a SQL server, it's just file store application.