10 replies to this topic

[Fred Marker]

What is the best/preferred approach to upgrade an existing Windows 2000 production server from 4.6 to 5.5?

1. Install 5.5 in same directory as existing 4.6, overwriting the existing install?

• Does the site ID remain the same?
• Are new activation keys required?
• Are there any remnants of 4.6 that need to be removed manually?

2. Uninstall 4.6 first, then install 5.5?

• Does the site ID remain the same?
• Are new activation keys required?
• Are there any remnants of 4.6 that need to be removed manually?

3. Install 5.5 into new directory, leaving the 4.6 directory intact?

• Can both 4.6 and 5.5 coexist and be operational (for testing purposes) at the same time?
• Does the site ID remain the same?
• Are new activation keys required?
• Are there any potential conflicting settings in pro4.ini?
• Can 4.6 be safely removed after 5.5 is deemed ready for production?
• Are there any remnants of 4.6 that need to be removed manually?

Thanks.

[Tony Waszkiewicz]

Hi Fred,

We have done this at a number of sites and always uninstall the existing PRO-IV first.

It is apparently possible to get different versions of PRO-IV working on Wintel but is tricky and I would not recommend it for a production system.

You will need new keys from PRO-IV.

hth

[Chris Mackenzie]

You need to install v5.0, in a new area and import all your functions and
then apply changes as recommended in the release notes

then export import to a new v5.5 area.

Any other approach may cause problems.

site id remains the same

new keys are required

[Cleve Haynes]

Chris

I hope you have a good reason for doing it that way (4.6 -> 5.0 -> 5.5). Otherwise it sounds like wasted effort.

The test system here was upgraded from 4.6 to 5.5 directly, with only some minor issues.

Cleve

[Rob Donovan]

Cleve,

The recommended way I think it to go via 5.0... but I could be wrong....

You may not have had so much of a problem because you are not GUI... The upgrade 'fixes' are to do with GUI things.

Rob D.

[Andy Jones]

yeah you are Rob

There is no reason to go via 5.0 as 5.5 was an evolution of 5.0. (addition of ActiveX etc)

The upgrades required between 4.6 and 5.x code are done automatically by Import, so just import into 5.5.
Bringing old code into 5.x also requires a mandatory Re-Gen of all functions - so DO NOT just copy/ISIN your application bootstraps to a 5.5 area or try to run 4.6 bootstraps with a 5.x kernel. It will try to regen LOGON - and then you won't be able to log in!

If you do somehow manage to bring old function source into a 5.x area without using the proper Import routines, then you'll need to run the two tools in the 'Additional Utilities' menu @UM2 - Convert Radio Buttons and GUI Attributes Conversion - to fix up your functions. As I say these utils are only required if you didn't bring your code in via Import.


One potential problem area can be very large screen functions breaking function size limits under 5.x.
This is due to the addition of object tags and properties which increases the function size - I believe this has been covered in other topics on this site.

[Chris Mackenzie]

After checking I see that 5.5 import does handle import
from 4.6 - but you should still read/follow the v5.0 release
notes at least

[Fred Marker]

Thanks for the info about import/export and genning the functions, however, I am more concerned about the ProIV serialization/activation key issue of dealing with a production server.

I don't want to do the upgrade and get the serialization/activation "screwed up" such that it forces us into evaluation/emergency mode while waiting for new codes. The applications we're running require multiple transparent processes running in the background that don't work in evaulation/emergency mode!

FYI: I have already successfully genned the 4.6 functions using 5.5 and all went well.

[Chris Mackenzie]

Well, I'd say just make sure that the new activation and installation
keys are obtained from pro4 prior to upgrading the production server...

[Fred Marker]

Well, if the site ID for 5.5 is the same as 4.6 then that is possible to get codes in advance.

However, if the site ID is different for 5.5, then it's a "which came first - chicken or egg?" situation because we don't want do anything to corrupt/disable our existing ProIV 4.6 license on the production server!

[Rob Donovan]

Hi,

The site ID will not change between 4.6 & 5.5

The site ID is based on things like the CPU types, disk types etc.

Rob D.