UPGRADE WHILE ACTIVE (UWA) - AN UPGRADE TOOL WORTHY OF PRAISE
In previous years, it used to be a very time consuming and painful experience to do
upgrades on the MedSeries4® software. The process had to be performed with all
users off the system for an extended length of time. In December 2003, Siemens shipped
a product called iTera Upgrade While Active™. This product enabled
MedSeries4® customers to do upgrades with a minimal amount of user downtime.
Saving about 30 – 45 minutes of normal downtime per upgrade turns into increased
productivity! The product allowed users to perform most of the upgrade tasks and test
them prior to booting users from the system. Upgrade While Active (UWA) is divided into nine
processes. Most of the steps may be done while users are still using the
system.
The nine processes are:
- Environment Maintenance
- Release Maintenance
- Object Location Maintenance
- Combine Release
- Stage Release
- Dress Rehearsal/Stage Audit
- Monitor Conversion
- Start Conversion
- Go Live
Environment Maintenance
The Environment file identifies all of the various environments that will be
upgraded. Users may have a production, train and a test environment; users may have
multiple entities running on the same machine, and have production, train and test environments
for each. The Environment file allows you to define the library naming convention and
the applications installed in each environment.
Customers are responsible for setting up and maintaining their Environment file. MS4
has specific requirements defined in the Upgrade While Active Users Guide.
Release Maintenance
The Release file identifies the release libraries sent by MS4.
Each MS4 release contains a method of updating the Release Maintenance file with
information specific to the release so users will not have to build the records manually.
After the file has been updated for a release, users will set a Skip flag on any
release application components that are not installed at the user site.
Object Location Maintenance
The Object Location files identify into which library release objects are to be installed,
and whether the objects replaces the existing one, or in the case of files, whether the data is
to be converted or merged.
Each MS4 release contains a means of updating the Object Location files with the information
specific to the release so users will not have to build records manually.
Combine Releases
The UWA tool allows customers to install multiple MS4 releases at the same time. For
example, if the users has not installed the Payroll/Human Resources quarter 1 and quarter 2
updates by the time quarter 3 was released, UWA can be set up to combine and install all three
updates in a single process.
It is the customer’s responsibility to review each release document, to ensure all
prerequisites are installed and to make any necessary modifications in the install instructions
and test all of them before installing the releases into a live environment.
Stage Release
This process creates a library for each variation of environment and application being
upgraded. There are no MS4-specific changes to this process.
Dress Rehearsal/Stage Audit
This process creates the install programs that will be used during the Go Live process.
There are no MS4-specific changes to this process.
Monitor Conversion
This process defines how data in files is to be converted.
Each MS4 release contains a means of updating the Conversion Mapping file with the
information specific to the release so users will not have to perform the field mapping
manually.
Start Conversion
This process actually converts data from the environment being upgraded to files in the
staging library.
There are no MS4-specific changes to this process. Users will have to sign off the
applications being upgraded if the customer does not have a license for iTera’s Convert
While Active product.
Go Live
This process moves the upgraded objects from the stage environment to the environments being
upgraded. Objects replaced in the target environments are copied to a backup library.
All users need to be out of the application during this step.
There are no MS4-specific changes to this process.
iTera Upgrade While Active™ was a wonderful addition to the MS4 family of surround
solutions. If you haven’t taken advantage of it or if you have any questions on
the use of UWA, please feel free to contact Bob Landers,
blanders@getvitalized.com.