How to successfully upgrade an old Version of CA Directory to CA Directory r12.0SP1
Article ID: 54544
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
Description
This document will outline the upgrade process from an old Version of CA Directory to CA Directory r12.0SP1
Solution
When upgrading from an old version of CA Directory to CA Directory r12.0SP1 there are many things to consider especially when moving from a version of Directory with Ingres.
When upgrading it is important to follow steps below:
Review the installation guide/readme.
The installation guide shipped with CA Directory r12.0 SP1 describes in detail things you will need to know in order to prepare for your installation. It contains information about the installation packages and assists you in deciding what kind of implementation you plan on having. The readme details system requirements needed to run CA Directory r12.0 SP1 and list the minimum requirements needed, including the amount of RAM and disk space required.
Preparing CA Directory r8.x to be ready for the upgrade.
When upgrading from CA Directory r8.0 or r8.1 there are a few things you need to be aware of. Previous versions of CA Directory used Ingres as its datastore, however CA Directory r12.0SP1 (and later) uses a memory mapped file to store its data. Because of this many of the database specific settings in the configuration will need to be removed before upgrading. The following will need to be done before we can start an upgrade:
- Because this upgrade attempts to move the data stored in an Ingres database to a memory mapped file, it is important to backup everything before doing anything to the current installation. This will ensure that if anything goes wrong you can still revert to the previous installation. When backing up your previous installation you will need to back up the following:
- Your entire configuration directory, which is under $DXHOME/config/
- Your data in the database. This can be done using the dxdumpdb utility. This will need to be done on each data DSA you have in your current implementation.
The installer will attempt to do the backup for you, however in the case that something should fail, it is always a good idea to back up everything yourself.
- Your entire configuration directory, which is under $DXHOME/config/
- In previous versions of CA Directory, there was the concept of using multiple DSA's connecting to the one database in order to increase performance. In CA Directory 12.0SP1, however, this concept is no longer valid as the multi-threaded DSA architecture negates this need. Therefore if you do have multiple DSAs per database configured in your r8.x deployment, these will need to be simplified. In order to do this you will need to remove any read only DSAs and keep one read/write DSA for each database configured. This will require you to go though the configuration files and manually delete the knowledge and servers file for each DSA you need to remove. You will also need to check any group files you have and remove the superfluous read-only DSAs from the group files. If you still have multiple DSAs per database configured the installer will exit with an error when you attempt to run the setup.
Testing the Upgrade in a test environment
It is part of CA's best practice recommendations that if possible, you perform the upgrade on a replica test environment first. This will ensure that if there are any problems during the upgrade process, the problems will be resolved before being implemented into production.
The test environment should be a full replica of the production environment with all the same settings and configurations. The tests should be repeated until you are confident that the upgrade process completely caters for all your business requirements.
Running the upgrade
After the preparations have been completed and the upgrade process has been tested, you can perform the upgrade by executing the dxsetup.sh script (on UNIX) or the dxsetup.exe executable (on Windows). Follow the instructions from the interactive installers and proceed with the upgrade.
FAQs
- Do I need to manually dump my data prior to the upgrade and manually reload the data after the upgrade?
No. A manual dump and reload is not required as the installer attempts to do this for you. However a manual dump of the database is recommended for backup purposes. - What happens if I have large amounts of data in my database?
Because CA Directory r12.0 SP1 uses a memory mapped file as its datastore, there are OS limitations on the size of the datastore on 32-bit systems. In the case where there is large amounts of data a 64-bit OS is recommended as this does not have any limitations on amount of data which can be mapped into memory, provided you have enough resources on the machine ie. RAM and disk space. If you have large amounts of data in your r8.1x database it is recommended that you test the upgrade first in a test environment in order to see the implications of the large data. - How long does the upgrade take?
The upgrade time will depend on how much data is stored in your database as well as the system resources available for the installer. - Do I need to do a reboot after the upgrade?
No. - I've upgraded my Directory and everything appears to have worked but my DSAs weren't started
Some commands used in previous versions of CA Directory have now been deprecated and are no longer valid. These, if present in the configuration after the upgrade, will prevent the DSA from starting. To check if you have deprecated commands or syntax errors in your configuration run " dxsyntax" on the command line. remove any settings or fix the syntax errors reported by dxsyntax. This tool should be run until there is no output given. Your dxserver should now start if you execute "dxserver start <DSANAME>" - What should I do if my upgrade failed?
You should run the dxinfo command and attach the files created by it to the support issue. - How do you upgrade Shadow DSAs? Does the concept still exist in r12.0SP1?
In terms of upgrading, Shadow DSAs are the same as any other data DSA's. You will go about upgrading these the same way you would upgrade a data DSA by ensuring the Shadow DSAs doesn't have multiple DSAs connecting to the same database.
Yes the concept still exists in r12.0SP1 - What criteria should we look into when choosing hardware for running CA Directory version 12 SP1?
When deciding on hardware for your CA Directory install, you will need to review the following:- Your data size (amount of data you will be storing into the Directory). This will determine how much disk space and RAM you require.
- Your performance requirements (How quick you need the Directory to run). This will determine how many CPUs you will need and how fast your CPUs and disk speed should be.
- Your data size (amount of data you will be storing into the Directory). This will determine how much disk space and RAM you require.
- What should the value of dxgrid-db-size be? How do you work this out for the different platforms?
On 32-bit platforms the dxgrid-db-size should not exceed 500MB as the 32-bit platforms cannot allocate more then 2GB of address space. If your data exceeds this limitation then you should look at moving to a 64-bit platform. On 64-bit platforms there is no limitation on the dxgrid-db-size, however this value is dependant on the amount of RAM available on each machine.
Environment
Component: ETRDIR
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