Server migration 6.x to 7.0

This chapter explains how to upgrade from ROB-EX Server 6.4 or older, to ROB-EX 7.0 or newer.

The ROB-EX Server has been completely rewritten for the 7.0 release and the 7.0 installer is not able to upgrade the software from a 6.4 or older ROB-EX server version. A few facts about the 7.0 release:

In the following we write 6.x, and it means either 6.2 or 6.4.

1. A GanttMultiuser database can be upgraded from 6.x to 7.0. The migration of the database is carried out every time a ROB-EX 7.0 server starts up (not as part of running the installer). I.e. on 7.0 server start, the server will itself verify the integrity of the database and do any migration needed.
   • The upgrade process has been tested to work from 6.2 or 6.4 to 7.0. If you upgrade from ROB-EX 6.0 or older, then make sure to first upgrade to ROB-EX 6.4, before upgrading to 7.0. As part of this, make sure the 6.4 server has been started up succesfully, before moving to 7.0.
2. The 6.x software installed in c:\program files (x86)\ROB-EX\ganttServer is not upgradable to ROB-EX Server 7.0. This means either uninstall the 6.x software first or (which is recommended) install the 7.0 software to a separate directory and wait uninstalling 6.4 until the 7.0 software is up and running.
3. The 6.x and 7.0 ROB-EX server are using different TCP/IP service ports. This means that it is supported to run both 6.x and 7.0 in parallel on the same server PC. As long as they connect to two different databases.
4. You must upgrade the ROB-EX Server and ROB-EX Client at the same time. The ROB-EX 7.0 server is not compatible with the 6.x Client.

We recommend that you follow this safe migration guide, where the 6.x server software and database is left disabled but unchanged.

1. Stop the 6.x ROB-EX service ( Run->services.msc )
2. From MS SQL Server Management Studio (MSSSMS) take a backup of the existing 6.x GanttMultiuser database and restore it into a new database copy GanttMultiuserG2
3. Start the 7.0 setup program SetupRobex_vx.x.exe
4. Installation options: Choose New instance. Click Next
5. Choose Components:
   • Select the Multiuser Server component. Notice that the installer automatically selects a Java Runtime that fits your OS.
   • Choose where to install the ROB-EX Server instance. Important: select default suggestion c:\program files (x86)\ROB-EX\ganttServerG2 (notice installs to a new directory)
   • Specifying instance: The last letter of the folder path specifies the instance. ganttServerG2 is interpreted as instance 1. For all other instance id’s post-fix your folder with _X, where X is the instance id. I.e. ganttServerG2_2 for instance 2, ganttServerG2_3 for instance 3, etc. Read here for more about different instances.
6. Database connection setup: Select the desired MS SQL database to install to.
   1. Server: The desired database server instance. Must be manually entered as <server-host>\<server-instance>. E.g. RBX02\SQLEXPRESS. Important: select the database server where new database copy GanttMultiuserG2 was restored to (point 2 above)
   2. Database: Enter the name of the ROB-EX Server database. Important: write GanttMultiuserG2
   3. Choose Username and Password for authentication against the MS SQL Server. Leave blank to authenticate with the currently logged in Windows user. Or specify valid native MS SQL username/password. The authentication details are only used to validate the database (i.e. not used during normal operation of the ROB-EX server).
   4. Click Install and the database information is validated. Important: In case of connection problems, you will be given the option to complete the server installation without database connection. If this is selected, you must manually configure connection settings after.
7. Completing Setup: The installation is complete. Do not enable the option Start Multiuser Server service to automatically startup the newly created ROB-EX Server G2 Instance # service. Click Finish
8. Now carefully follow these check points to ensure that you manually migrate all custom changes from the 6.x server to the new 7.0 server
   1. Make sure the new ROB-EX 7.0 service runs logged in as same user as the old 6.x service (i.e. logged in with Window AD account?)
   2. Make sure any custom changes to the service parameters are carried over from the old to the new server. This is checked using regedit.exe. Verify settings below HKEY-LOCAL-MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Apache Software Foundation\Procrun 2.0\<instance>\Parameters.
      As an example the memory max setting may be changed in attribute Java->JvmMx
   3. Verify the ROB-EX server configuration file c:\program files (x86)\ROB-EX\ganttServerG2\application.yml. Make sure db.server settings are correct. Especially that ganttAdmin login is correct.
   4. Important: if your existing 6.x ROB-EX server services runs logged on as Windows AD user, then specify blank login and password.
   5. Copy possible existing *.sql files from c:\program files (x86)\ROB-EX\ganttServer\server\gantt\conf\sql.init to c:\program files (x86)\ROB-EX\ganttServerG2\conf\sql.init. optimizing.sql should be ignored, as it is already part of the standard 7.0 server.
9. Finally startup the new ROB-EX 7.0 Server service from Run->services.msc (see more about starting the server here)

Note that the installer is able to automatically update the ROB-EX Client from 6.x to 7.0. So continue with normal client upgrade, but consider installing the 7.0 client to a separate location for the initial tests.