After another week of rebuilding a complete 7.1.00.002 environment to test an upgrade to 7.5.00.002, we had some measure of success upgrading the AR Server (no issues), the mid-tier and flashboards server (no issues), and the base AtriumCore on the AR Server (first time this has ever run successfully, although the AtriumConsole loads a blank page with the error popup "Authentication Error" "Send Failed" "OK" so it isn't much use).
Then I made the fatal mistake of trying to upgrade the AIE engine instance for the upgraded server to 7.5. Our AIE 7.1 engines for production, development, and failover/upgrade test are all on a separate server. They are all installed in C:\Program Files\BMC Software\BMC Atrium Integration Engine\ in folders for each server ( \SERVERNAME-PORT\ ). Any time we patch one of the engines, the 7.1 installer only modifies the appropriate \SERVERNAME-PORT folder; before AIE, EIE installed and upgraded individual instances by folder in the same manner. In preparation for the upgrade attempt, I had already run the 7.1.00.006 patch against the AIE instance in question since it was at patch 002, and the latest docs for AtriumCore 7.5 point out a problem if AIE is below 7.1.00.004. Friday evening I ran the AtriumCore 7.5.00.002 installer on the AIE server, and ONLY told it to upgrade AIE for the correct server, and pointed it at the C:\Program Files\BMC Software\BMC Atrium Integration Engine\, similar to selecting the Email server etc. in the other 7.5 installers. There is no documentation telling you where to point it exactly, and the default was one folder higher, so it was a guess based on working with the 7.1 patch installers. The installer added a number of folders to that directory and busied itself with all manner of activity, but in the end it decided to fail for some reason. It had been making changes to the appropriate SERVERNAME-PORT folder, as expected. When it died, however, it permanently deleted EVERY FOLDER in the entire \BMC Atrium Integration Engine\ directory, including the file folders for the development and production AIE 7.1 instances!!! Deleted...gone...destroyed. It left behind just three files; two little xml files and a zero-length log file. Needless to say, the production AIE instance immediately stopped working - there were no longer any executable files under the service. Then BMC Support and I spent about an hour learning how to rebuild the development instance folders from scratch, in case we couldn't get the folders restored from backup. Late last night (hindered by the fact that installing the incredibly outdated java required by ADDM 7.5 trashed the java required for the CommVault backup/restore console on his PC), Don restored the file folders from backup and I have the development and production AIE instances working again today. The test upgrade instance is completely trashed since the installer toasted the registry entries. Proof once more that (1) backups matter, and (2) java is a fundamentally flawed, unreliable architecture upon which to base anything important, especially as used by BMC. Just a warning to those of you starting to test upgrades from 7.1 to 7.5. I can hardly wait to try the ITSM and SLM 7.1 to 7.5 upgrades now; I hope someone else wrote the installers! Christopher Strauss, Ph.D. Call Tracking Administration Manager University of North Texas Computing & IT Center http://itsm.unt.edu/ _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org Platinum Sponsor:rmisoluti...@verizon.net ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are"
