Upgrading Project.net 8.2.* in a Production Environment

  1. Upgrading Project.net 8.2.* in a Production Environment
    1. Overview
    2. Unpack the Project.net upgrade CD
    3. Upgrade the Project.net Oracle database
      1. Prerequisites
      2. Instructions
    4. Deploy the new version of the application on the application server
      1. Prerequisites
      2. Instructions
    5. Apply site-specific configuration changes
      1. Configure System Settings
        1. Instructions
      2. Modify the default configuration
        1. Instructions
    6. Restart the application server and test the application
      1. Instructions

Overview

This document guides a user through the process of upgrading a production installation of Project.net running on a Windows application (WebLogic) server from version 8.2 to a new version. This procedure will update both the application and its related database. The upgrade consists of the following steps:

  1. Update the Oracle database
    1. Turn off the application and backup the database.
    2. Apply any database table updates.
  2. Deploy and start the new version of the application on the application server.
  3. Set any site-specific configuration values.
  4. Restart the application server.

Unpack the Project.net upgrade CD

The upgrade package includes the Project.net user documentation, upgrade documentation and software in either a CD or zip archive file. The first step to upgrading Project.net is to unpack the software onto an accessible file location.

  1. If it does not exist, create a temporary directory to unpack the upgrade package, suggested, C:\pnet. These instructions will refer to this location throughout the steps.
  2. Unzip the zip file from your download or upgrade CD into the C:\pnet directory. This file is located in the Software\ subdirectory. Once unpacked, you will have c:\pnet\v8.2.1.

Upgrade the Project.net Oracle database

Before installing any upgrade to the Project.net system it is important to back up the Project.net database. This requires that you stop the application to prevent changes to the database during backup.

Prerequisites

  • Assumes Project.net has been deployed to a WebLogic server named PRM-1 and the database on an Oracle database server.
  • You will need to know the database server’s hostname and the system password for the Project.net database instance.
  • You will need your procedure for backing up the tables in a database.
  • A working copy of sqlplus. Normally, this is installed with the Oracle database, but if not, the Oracle instant client is sufficient.

Instructions

  1. Stop the Project.net application
    1. On your Project.net application server, start the Windows Services Monitor (Start / All Programs / Administrative Tools / Services).
    2. In the Windows Services console select the service named beasvc pnet_PRM-1.
      • This name will be different if you deployed Project.net on another WebLogic server than PRM-1
    3. Click the Stop the service link to the left.
    4. Confirm Project.net is no longer running by:
      1. Checking the Status column next to the beasvc pnet_PRM-1. It should say “Stopped” or the column will be blank.
      2. Attempting to open the Project.net login page from a browser will give a “Page not found” error.
  2. On your database server, follow the procedures to back up the Project.net database tables for users pnet and pnet_user.
  3. Update the database tables.
    1. On the application server, establish a local name for the database
    2. Confirm your connection to the database: tnsping <database SID>
    3. Open a command window and navigate into the C:\pnet\releases\installer\database directory
    4. run version_update pnet/<password>@<database SID> 8.2.0
      • You can see what database you are using from the WebLogic console under Services/DB JDBC Connection Pools.
      • Some errors are OK:
        • Public synonym not allowed (private only)
        • Unique constraint violations

Deploy the new version of the application on the application server

Prerequisites

  • You will need to know the location of the Project.net application EAR file (J2EE Enterprise Application Archive), most likely c:\pnet\v8.2.1.\weblogic\installer\application\pnet.ear.

Instructions

  1. On the application server, login to the WebLogic Console.
  2. Select Deployments / Applications from pnet tree in the left pane.
  3. Identify the currently deployed Project.net application in the table of applications and delete it by clicking on the trash can icon on the same line.
  4. Now, choose Deploy a new Application…
  5. Specify the location of the Project.net EAR (pnet.ear) file you unpacked with the archive in Section 3, usually c:\pnet\v8.2.1\weblogic. You may either:
    1. Enter the path in the set new Location text box (c:\pnet\v8.2.1\weblogic) and press [Enter], or
    2. Click on the links in the Location: path.

Note, if the archive is not located on the system you can use the upload your file(s) link hidden in the instructions to browse your local file system and upload the archive.

  1. Choose pnet.ear from the list, and then click Target Application.
  2. Check PRM-1 and click [Continue].
  3. Select Copy this application onto every target for me.
  4. Choose an appropriate name, such as "pnet-8.2.1-enterprise"
  5. Click [Deploy]
  6. The Deployment Status page will show Deployment Status Unavailable - this is OK because deployment is deferred
  7. Restart PRM-1 server from WebLogic.
    1. Pnet -> Servers -> PRM-1 -> Start/Stop -> Force Shutdown of this server…
    2. Click Yes
    3. Pnet -> Servers -> PRM-1 -> Start/Stop -> Start this server…
    4. Click Yes
    5. Wait until the Status for PRM-1 shows TASK COMPLETED.
    6. Review each of the logs available at Pnet -> Servers -> PRM-1 -> Remote Start Output
    7. "pnet-8.2.1-enterprise" deployment status

Apply site-specific configuration changes

Configure System Settings

When installing a new version of Project.net some of the configuration settings may reset to their default values and you may need to re-configure them. These values are set through the Application Administration interface.

Instructions

  1. Log into http://localhost:20000 as appadmin
  2. From the Personal Workspace, click "Application Space" on the lower left to enter the Application Administration interface.
  3. Select Manage / Doc Vault.

Verify the three "Path to Repository Root" values are correct for your installation.

  1. Select Manage / Sys Settings

Verify the following variables:

  • Variable: siteHost
    • New Value: The external name of the Project.net website.
    • Description: This variable defines the hostname and port number that Project.net uses when it constructs URLs containing the hostname and port of the web site. Typically used in email notifications, this variable should be set to the fully qualified name of your Project.net server. Example values: myserver.com, myserver.com:7001
  • Variable: supportEmail
    • New Value: Email address of support team.
    • Description: Specifies the email address listed in the Help pages for support queries. It is also used if a user submits an automated error report within the application. Example, support@project.net.
  • Variable: postDataTempDir
    • New Value: C:\temp
    • Description: This value is used as a temporary storage when uploading files. Make sure that the WebLogic user has access to write in the specified directory.
  • Variable: mpdImportTempDirectory
    • New Value: C:\temp\pnet-accessdb
    • Description: This variable specifies the location where MS Project MPD files will be uploaded before they are converted into Project.net schedules. It should be the directory where you mounted the Windows Compatibility Server share.
  • Variable: mpdImportTempDirectory
    • New Value: C:\temp\pnet-accessdb
    • Description: This variable specifies the location where MS Project MPD files will be uploaded before they are converted into Project.net schedules. It should be the directory where you mounted the Windows Compatibility Server share.

Modify the default configuration

Any values set in a site-specific configuration will not be affected by an application upgrade. The values in the default configuration, however, will be reset to their default values and must be modified.

Instructions

  1. From within the Application Administration interface, chose Manage / Configurations.
  2. Click on Project.net Configuration from the list of configurations.
  3. Choose Tokens from the menu on the left.
  4. Enter defaulthost in the Token Name: search field and click the Filter button.
  5. Change the Project.net Default value of prm.global.brand.defaulthost to the external name of the Project.net website. Usually, this is the same as the siteHost variable above.
  6. [Submit] your changes. They will not take effect until the server has been restarted from the WebLogic Console or the Windows Services Console.

Restart the application server and test the application

Instructions

  1. If possible, reboot the application server to verify the WebLogic application server and the Project.net application are automatically started when the system powers up.
  2. If not possible, stop the PRM-1 server from within WebLogic
    1. Pnet -> Servers -> PRM-1 -> Start/Stop -> Force Shutdown of this server...
    2. Click Yes
    3. Close the WebLogic console.
  3. On your Project.net application server, start the Windows Services Monitor (Start / All Programs / Administrative Tools / Services).
    1. In the Windows Services console there should be three BEA services (BEA WebLogic Platform, beasvc pnet_admin and beasvc pnet_PRM-1). Ensure all three services are running (started).
  4. Login to the Project.net application and test to validate the update was successful.