Upgrading SCT Banner

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Upgrading SCT Banner

The process of maintaining SCT Banner involves frequent upgrades for both enhancement and error correction purposes

These tasks will involve using: ActionWeb

Patches

Upgrades

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ActionWeb - Services

ActionWeb is SCT's web site for: Information on the SCT Banner products

FAQs

Finding information on defects

Finding and downloading patches

Entering technical request contacts

You must be a valid SCT customer

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ActionWeb - Account

Requires setting up an account

Specific username and password

Uses reverse IP lookup

To set up an account:

Start at http://www.sct.com

Click on Client Support

In the ActionWeb Users box, click where prompted ("If you do not have a valid User ID and Password, then Click Here to continue.").

Click the ActionWeb FAQs link below, if needed

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ActionWeb - Options

After logging into the account, the ActionWeb home page displays several options

On the main page there are entries for: Recent News

Instructions for downloading patches

How to sign up for SCT listservs

SCT Banner Release Schedule

SCT Banner FAQs

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ActionWeb - Menus

On the left side of the main page are a set of menus:

Profile - This is your personal profile

Contacts - Contacts opened by your institution

Extended Search - Extensive search of the SCT databases

Known Issues - Defect searches

FAQs - Various SCT Banner FAQs

Upgrades - Request SCT Banner documentation and upgrades

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ActionWeb - Support

ActionWeb is one of the available avenues to

report SCT Banner problems

ActionLine is also available

Both ActionWeb and ActionLine go into the same

helpdesk pool

ActionMail

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SCT Banner patches and upgrades

Except for major upgrades, most enhancements and patches will be downloaded off the ActionWeb

As issues are resolved and error corrections developed, these fixes will be bundled into patch sets and posted on the ActionWeb's electronic download site

These patch sets are compressed and encrypted

Must use a special program to decrypt (edread)

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Finding patches

The first step is to use the Known Issues search engine to locate defect and associated patch numbers

New patch postings are also broadcast on the SCT listserve BPOST

Once the proper patches are located, invoke the download gadget to retrieve them

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Downloading patches

There is a web gadget that allows for easy packaging and downloading of patches and the decryption program

Follow the directions on the main ActionWeb page for downloading patches to set it up

Set up a directory structure to download and decompress/decrypt these patches

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Installing patches

Once the patch is downloaded, decompressed, and decrypted, review the install instructions

Most downloads involve new software or database objects, which will need to be:

Migrated to proper software directory

Compiled as needed

Installed into the database as needed

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Managing patches

Patch management is one of the most challenging of the SCT Banner maintenance duties

A methodology and conventions for storing, testing, and applying patches should be developed

Patch installation does not necessarily coincide with upgrade installations

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SCT Banner Upgrades

SCT Banner upgrades come in two types:

Cumulative

Interim

Upgrades are applied in two parts:

Upgrade applied to the database

Upgrade applied to the software

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Upgrade dependencies

Each SCT Banner product has its own upgrade procedure

These upgrades must be applied in a particular order to build dependencies properly

There is a dependency matrix for all upgrades in the SCT Banner general FAQ section

Read Page Five of the Upgrade Installation Guide

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Database Upgrades

GOSTAGE is a PL/SQL program that builds a database upgrade script based on two SCT Banner upgrade tables:

GUBSMOD - Holds Modification Identifier

GURSSQL - Holds Modification SQL

Creates and runs a file called DOMOD.SQL which will apply all of the upgrade changes to the database

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Software Upgrades

The upgrade to the software happen in sync with the database upgrade

All changes to source code is migrated to the software tree during this stage

All Pro*C, Pro*Cobol, and Forms executables are compiled and moved to the appropriate executable trees

Forms executables probably need to migrate to other servers

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Managing Upgrades

How many upgrades - the bare minimum

Remember the O/S and Oracle

The database server is not the only upgrade

Timing the upgrades

READ THE UPGRADE DOCUMENTS

Media verification

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Step One

READ THE USER RELEASE NOTES!

Distribute them

Make copies

Users will make upgrade timing decisions based upon them

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Step Two

Backups The databases

Make sure you have a cold backup

Check on disk space if in archivelog mode

The SCT Banner directories This will replace the existing files

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Step Three

Restricting access

Revoke user access

Change user passwords

Restricted Mode

Stopping the named listener

Change the port number so you can access the database while doing the upgrade

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Step Four

Position to the correct directory

Make sure you are doing the correct upgrade

Make sure the paths are set

DO IT EVERY TIME YOU RESTART THE UPGRADE!

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Step Five

Edit the login.sql file

DO IT FOR EACH DATABASE!

Create a subdirectory for each database within the upgrade for the SPLPREF variable

Change the passwords?

PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE TABLE SIZING!!

Site-specific changes may be affected

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Step Six

Nruready.sql

Modification tables

GUBSMOD

GURSSQL

Possibly a set of these tables for each product

The import error message

Verify the import

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Step Seven

You are provided several lists of changes that should be reviewed before any upgrade.

You may need to resize tablespaces and quotas

Items can be deleted, increased, added of modified Tables

Indexes

Views

Stored objects

Objects, options and menus are now modified as part of GOSTAGE

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Step Seven (cont.)

Changes the database structure

GUBSMOD

GURSSQL

xURVERS

GURDMOD

GOSTAGE

domod.sql

domod.sql

The GOSTAGE Process

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Step Eight

Migrate from stage to permanent directories

Check that you are pointing to the correct SCT Banner code tree

Extra migration step for the forms

Unix users should verify which type of link is used (soft vs. hard)

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Step Nine

Compile the COBOL programs

Uses the make file or com file

Run in the background

Not required for subsequent databases

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Step Ten

Compile the C programs

Uses the make file or com file

Run in the background

Not required for subsequent databases

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Step Eleven Baseline data changes

Dynamic help

Role level security objects

Rule codes

Graphs

Data conversion

Performed after structural changes

Each one is specific

Very seldom used

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Steps Twelve and Thirteen

Forms and Reports Now done on the forms server

Review each file for necessary include files

Make site-specific changes Passwords

Connect strings

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Step Fourteen

Letter generation/population selection variables

need recompilation

When necessary, the instructions are very explicit

Not done very often

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Step Fifteen

Referential Integrity created in Step 7

This step may disable some of the constraints

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Step Sixteen

If there are any reports that involve changes to the database or data dictionary, this step lists the reports and how to create the output listings

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Step Seventeen

The final run of the GOSTAGE process

Renames the original domod.sql and listab1.lst files

Drops all obsolete tables

Drops temporary objects

Updates xURVERS table

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Step Eighteen

Verify the upgrade Part A

The GURALTR script finds all invalid objects owned by the BANINST1 and recompiles them

Part B Re-synchronize any changes to classes

Part C Run Xrudone.sql

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End of Session

Any Questions?