How to upgrade a Gen Windows CSE to Gen 8.6

Products

• Gen

Issue/Introduction

This article describes how to upgrade an existing Gen Windows Gen Client Server Encyclopedia (CSE) to Gen 8.6.

Environment

Release: 8.6
Component: Gen Client Server Encyclopedia (CSE)

Resolution

1. Check Operating System and Database compatibility support for the CSE in the Gen 8.6 Techdocs "Technical Requirements" here:
   Third-Party Software Version
   Development Platform Environments - see "CSE & Host Encyclopedia"
   
   
2. Normally changes in Operating System and Database version support in Gen 8.6 will mean that a new CSE server will need to be configured rather than upgrading the existing CSE in place. This is also best practice because it enables both existing and new CSEs to be available during the transition phase. NOTE: The remaining steps in this article assume a new CSE server will be configured.
   
   
3. Backup/export the CSE Encyclopedia & Coordination databases on the existing server and restore to the new server. This is the simplest method to copy all existing model data to the new server in one easy step.
   The alternative approach would be to use the download with upload option (and optional extract option to retain ancestry) on each model one by one in the existing CSE and then upload to the new CSE which is of course a longer process. For further details see: Use the Client Server Encyclopedia > Encyclopedia Communication > Encyclopedia Communications Tasks  (see "Manually Copying a Model from a CSE to a CSE While Preserving Common Ancestry").
   NOTE: The remaining steps in this article assume that the database backup/export and restore approach will be used.
   
   
4. Install the Gen software on the new server. 
   To install the CSE the Custom setup option needs to be used and feature "Encyclopedia Server" needs to be selected.
   If generating code from the CSE then feature "Encyclopedia Construction Server" also needs to be selected. The additional features for the Encyclopedia Client, Encyclopedia Construction Client, Encyclopedia Version Control Kit and Encyclopedia Administration Kit may also be useful to have installed on the CSE server itself.
   
   
   
5. a. Run the CSE Configuration Program
   b. Under Set Configuration Parameters
    - For "Encyclopedia Database Configuration" use "Update Encyclopedia tables to this release"
    - For "Coordination Database Configuration" use "Update Coordination tables to this release"
   
   
6. Install the latest Windows Gen 8.6 PTFs for the CSE Server and Clients (CSN*) from the Gen 8.6 Solutions & Patches page.

Additional Information

1. For further information see Gen 8.6 Techdocs section: Upgrading to a New Release
   
   
2. Using the Database backup/export option means that both the existing and new CSEs will have the same Encyclopedia ID. During the upgrade phase it may be planned to have existing and new CSEs running in parallel with work being done in both and subsequently any modified models in the existing CSE needing to be copied to the new CSE. For that scenario both CSEs must either have unique IDs or any copied models must be downloaded from the existing CSE without retaining ancestry (extract option not used) and after upload to the new CSE they will then need to be adopted to regain ancestry. For further information see KB article: Gen Encyclopedias and importance of unique Encyclopedia IDs