CA Workload Automation DE (ESP dSeries Workload Automation) Pre-Upgrade Review Call Questions

Products

• CA Workload Automation DE
• CA Workload Automation DE - Business Agents (dSeries)
• CA Workload Automation DE - Scheduler (dSeries)
• CA Workload Automation DE - System Agent (dSeries)
• ESP Workload Automation

Issue/Introduction

As an CA Workload Automation DE (ESP dSeries Workload Automation) customer, planning on upgrading ESP dSeries.  What are the best practices in order to have a successful upgrade? 

 

A couple weeks ahead of an upgrade, please open a case with Support.  You'll be asked for an upgrade plan and this article can be used as a basis for your upgrade plan.  This is based on upgrade plans Support has seen in the past that have the most success.  An upgrade plan is typically a couple of pages long, but sometimes can be detailed down to the smallest detail so that nothing is missed and Support knows what's happening if something goes wrong and troubleshooting is needed. 

1. Please reference our Getting Started and Installing / Upgrade the Workload Automation DE Server documentation,  it contains information about how to plan your dSeries upgrade.
2. Contact your account management team and request a Hot Site for your upgrade event. The following KB Article documents the information that should be provided for creating a Hot Site upgrade event: How to Request a Hot Site and Pre-Upgrade Review for my product deployment/product upgrade?

 

The ESP dSeries Workload Automation Technical Documentation landing site provides other very useful links that cover Release Notes, Installing, Upgrading, Securing, Maintaining and Administering dSeries.

Also, please take a look at the Resolution section of this article below where you will see a list of best practice questions to help guide you further develop an upgrade plan that Support can review with you as well.

 

Resolution

Pre-work:

Testing:

• It is recommended to test upgrade in non-production instance/setup.
• Is production the exact same as non-production?  If not, what is difference between the two?
• Did you run into problems with the non-prod upgrade?  If so, what sorts of problems did you run into?  The workarounds/solutions should be noted.

Backup plan:

• What will you be backing up prior to upgrade?
• When will you take the backup?

Backout/rollback plan:

• When will you make the decision to back out in case something goes wrong?
• What steps will be taken to back out of the upgrade?
• Do you have a workaround in the meantime?

Timeline should include:

• When does the installation or upgrade begin (date and time)?
• What date/time will you stop components that need to be stopped?
• For each component:
  • What date/time will do you plan on updating each component?  
  • How long will these take?  
  • When do you expect to be finished with each component?  
  • How long will testing take to be sure it upgraded correctly?
• When will you make the decision to back out in case something goes wrong?
• When do you plan on having the upgrade end (date and time)?

Technical:

• Components:
  • What components are being upgraded?
    • Core components
    • Agents
      • Are you upgrading agents?  From what version/service pack to what version/service pack?
    • other
      • Are there any 3rd party components being upgrade?  Examples:
        
        • Database (from, to type and versions?)
        • OS in general (from, to flavor and versions?)
  • What steps/commands are you using to upgrade each component?
  • Are you copying a database?  
    • If so, is there enough space on the target server?
  • Is this an upgrade of a current system?  
  • Are you migrating data from one system to another?
  • Is there any pre-work to be done on the system before stopping to upgrade?  (for example are you stopping clients or queues?)
  • In what order will you be stopping running components?
  • In what order will you be starting components back up?
    • What commands will you use to start them up?
    • What user and environment settings are normally used to bring up the processes?  What will be used during and after the upgrade?

If something goes wrong:

• What is an acceptable situation/workaround if something does go wrong?  How long can it stay like that?
• What is your backout plan for each component?
• Who from your team needs to be available for troubleshooting?
• Do you have the support number to call in case something goes wrong?  Severity 1 cases cannot be raised from the website.  Use a new case when running into a new issue.

 

Additional Information

 

Additional Best Practice:

• Consider whether the Operating Systems and Databases used by your existing installation is supported by the version you are upgrading to. Find v12.3 supported system requirements here: Supported System Requirements
• For migrations, if the Ip Address of the scheduling/management server(s) will change then it is recommended to check on what firewall rules (OS and Appliance) might impact:
  • Connection between the Server and DE Desktop Client
  • Connection between the Server and Agents

 

Applying fixes are optional, however recommended. You can find existing fixes by following these steps: 

1. Go to: Downloads for ESP DSeries Workload Automation
2. Login.
3. After logging you should be in the Product Download page for DSeries Workload Automation. From this page, click on the "Solutions" view (to the right of My Dashboard navigation menu). 
4. In the search filter (upper right corner of the page), type "Server".
5. From the options that remain on the page you can expand based on your operating system and then click the URL for the 12.3 version. 
6. From this page it will show you the patches available for 12.3. The instructions for applying the patch are available in the documentation for that patch. For example: If you click the link for "12.3 SERVER CUMULATIVE PATCH #3" it will list the updates included in the patch and offer links to download the various patch files - including the Readme.txt which offer the steps for applying the patch.