Going from Basic Vault 2012 to Vault Pro 2014

[tahdesign1]

So I am unclear on the proper path here. We have Vault Basic 2012 running and I have a full backup file to work with from that (less the content stuff).

I have a brand new server built with Vault Professional 2014 installed and ready to go. So I was going to restore to that to test out all of my softwares setups.

However, I read two paths that this can take from two different information sources.

From the Vault Installation Help:

It states that if you are going to a higher product edition (basic to pro), you should first upgrade the release of the current product edition (Basic 2012 to Basic 2014).

So this means I would have to install Vault Basic 2014 on my new server to restore a backup from Vault Basic 2012 before moving to Pro 2014.

I search the NG for this and found where an ADSK had replied to someone in my same situation (new server) and said to just restore to the Pro 2014 on the new server from their backup. However this users was going from Pro to Pro. Since I am going from Basic to Pro I need to be at the same release to do that?

What is the proper path here????

[mdellunto]

I believe what that means is you need to be on the same year version to upgrade from basic to pro (ex:2014 basic to 2014 Pro not 2012 basic to 2014 basic) (I could be wrong)

First off always create a backup using the ADMS console to go back to in case something goes wrong.

If you’re like me and want to keep your original vault intact so you can quickly revert back to the original. I suggest you take this path. Always have a fall back plan.

Create your Vault 2012 Basic backup and copy it to your new server.

Inorder to get to 2014 you need to run a migrion on the 2012 basic server. You cannot simly just backup and restore to a newer version.

Go to your new server and uninstall Vault 2014 Pro. Install Vault 2012 Basic on the new server. Restore your 2012 Basic backup to the new server. Next upgrade from 2012 basic to 2014 basic. Then upgrade from 2014 basic to 2014 pro. You cannot restore a 2012 basic or 2012 pro backup to a vault 2014 basic or 2014 pro ADMS server. They have to be the same year version. Even if you’re off by a service pack the restore will fail.  

I always create a test environment when doing vault upgrades. For example if you’re using VM's it is easy to copy servers. I do a p2v on my physical production server then upgrade the copyed VM version. This way I always have the original vault to go back to. Make sure you run your ADMS Full backup before doing anything.

Once upgraded and the server has been running for a week. Plus I am happy with it ( running smooth). I archive the old physical server and wipe it. Next I install a fresh copy of windows and the lastest vault I upgraded to. I then do a ADMS backup off my vm server and restore back to the physical server. Basically I use the VM as an migration helper server.

This way has a lot more steps and waiting for servers to copy but the question is how smooth do you want this upgrade to go.

I would highly suggest if you have the hardware resources do a test upgrade in a test environment. It is risky to do on live servers.

Cheers and good luck!

[tahdesign1]

Yeah I was afraid of that.

So the difference here is all of my servers are in the VM world. So I just need to uninstall pro and go down the basic path first.

So a couple of questions here (Hopefully an Autodesk person can chime in also):

Current Server running Vault 2012 Basic Server:

Windows Server 2008 Standard

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 (what comes with the Vault)

New Server that will run Vault Pro 2014

Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard

Microsoft SQL Server 2012

So does the difference in these VM servers have any effect on the following plan and does the following plan sound valid:

1. Go to New Server and uninstall Vault Pro 2014 but leave SQL 2012 installed
2. Install Vault Basic 2012 on the new Server.
3. Move a full backup from the Old Server to the New Server and restore to that installation.
4. Test and verify the functionality of this restored backup with my local software.
5. Upgrade New Server from Vault Basic 2012 to Vault Basic 2014.
6. Test and verify the functionality of this upgrade with my local software.

At that point I will do a copy of the new VM Server as my test/backup. Then upgrade all of my client software base to 2014 release.

Then I will work on upgrading the Vault from Basic 2014 to Pro 2014.

Once that is done and stable (VM copy also) I will upgrade from Pro 2014 to Pro 2015.

So a couple of specific question:

• My current Vault Basic Server is running the SQL thats comes with it. Is there any issue on the restore of the backup from the old server to the new with the new one running SQL 2012? It appears the New Server has SQL 2008 on it as well just not the Native Client.

• Can an upgrading installion of Vault Pro 2015 work with 2014 clients? Once I am at the proper level of Vault Pro I would like my upgrade method to be Vault then Clients..

[mdellunto]

2014 client will work with 2015 vault server

That is right you need to upgrade your 2012 to 2014 at some point in your process.

You cannot install ADMS 2012 with SQL 2012.(only 2008) see system requirements for vault 2012. ( meaning you will have to do a SQL upgrade if you take your current upgrade path) you can avoida SQL upgrade if you just make a copy of your old server and do all your upgrading on that machine.

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/vault-products/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/...

Since all you servers are VM I would shut down your live production vault VM. Make a copy of it via data stores or vm clone option. Any VM backup tool will do. Just make sure the server is offline. ( copying a server that is online with sql ADMS iis running may not copy right and you may end up with a corrupt database.)

Once the copy is done power on your VM copy of your Vault 2012 old server. upgrade it to 2014 basic. and then to 2014 pro. Then create a backup using ADMS console. Copy the ADMS backup to your new server with 2014 pro and SQL 2012. then restore it. This way you shouldn't have to do a SQL upgrade.

Where did you want to end up at the end of all this. On vault 2014 or 2015? I am not sure if your doing everything right with SQL on your new server. You need to follow the 2014 ADMS advance config guide and the path they use to pre installing sql before installing the ADMS server. ( if autodesk doesn't detect a pre setup SQL instance then it will install its own SQL 2008 )If you don't take this path then even if you install sql 2012 vault will not detect it and install SQL express.

http://download.autodesk.com/us/vault/2014/2014_Advanced_Config_Guide-2014.pdf

check out the page where they pre install sql

[tahdesign1]

First of thank you for all this information.

So my new server was build STRICTLY following the guide you had posted. So much so that I had a thread on the boards about a page that was not correct (had to do with IIS install). I posted and asked about clarification. An ADSKer quickly reponded and posted 3 corrected pages for the issue. They had said the guide would be updated but in following the link you had posted it does not appear to have been. Just incase someone else is following this thread and pulls that guide I wanted to direct them to the thread for those corrects.

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/vault-general-discussion/guide-for-installing-iis-on-windows-server-20...

So now back to my plans. So my new Server was built well and running ADMS Pro 2014 (no Vaults just installed and ready to go). I wish I had though of the path you are suggesting earlier since I un-installed ADMS  2014 Pro from it today. However I am sure I can just Re-install it to get it back where is was. Then I have a VM server Build using Windows 2012 and SQL 2012 with ADMS 2014 installed ready to use. I can leave this one alone while I get us up to the correct level on the current Vault.

So please review what I plan to do now and tell me if there is anything wrong with this:

1. Take my current server off line and do a VM Clone. Will have to run customization wizard on the clone to change name/ip/etc because I want to use this one to do the upgrade on while still running my current one. So then this clone will go through the upgrade process and I will use my station to test a verify my client software setups.
2. I intend to verify my upgrade to ADMS Basic 2014 and then upgrade my clients. Once "my house" is running 2014 I will work on moving my ADMS from Basic To Pro. Even once at Pro I will just use it like the Basic Vault until I get to the current level (Not define states, etc.)
3. So now I have a ADMS Pro 2014 server and 2014 client base. I will then work on upgrading my ADMS from Pro 2014 to Pro 2015. Please correct me if I am wrong but from what I understand a one year higher ADMS install can handle a one year lower client install, correct?
4. Once I have my server at ADMS Pro 2015 I will upgrade by client base to 2015.
5. Now I am on current level and will work on developing the use of ADMS pro.

So as you can see it seems it is going to take me a lot of steps top get where I need to go. However once I am there I intend to stay current moving forward so should only have to go through this pain once. 

[mdellunto]

I wouldn't change your hostname if you have ADMS & SQL installed. I have tried it myself on a test server and it basically broke my vault. Didn't spend a lot of time trying to recover it. I just gave up.

If you want both your production and production clone to be running at the same time I would just create a isolated network for your test servers.

This way you can run them all at the same time and not have to mess anything up by renaming/changing ip etc.. and still be able to transfer files between your VM clone and your new server while keeping your prodcution server running untounch. You can isolate them by using VSwitch's in your VM environment. If you know how to do vlaning and have the equipment then testing shouldn't be a problem to vlan your isolated network to your client machine for testing.

If you don't want to do all that I don't blame you. Upgrading a vault plus clients 4 versions is hard enough. I guess you can rename the server etc.. I have never done it successfully and am not sure it is possible to change a host name a on server with both ADMS and SQL. I know there is away to do it for SQL but not sure about Vault.

Other than that it looks like you're on the right path. For us I always stay one version behind the latest release. I wouldn't upgrade to 2015 until a service pack is out for both server and clients. Basically until 2016 comes out. I don't have the time for beta testing a product. Also after reading a lot about the new item system in 2015 and items disappearing etc has turned me off 2015 for now. Who know maybe people are just adding items wrong and the vault is working the way it should. Also if you're going to turn on content indexing I would read my post of a problem I ran into. Took me 4 months to find a solution.

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/vault-general-discussion/thin-client-service-unavailable-subscription-...

By the way. Nice find on the IIS in the advanced config guide.

One more thing. I also don't upgrade my dot net frame work to 4.5.1. I keep it on 4.0.( I hear problems about 4.5.1) And if I where to uninstall sql from 2012 to 2008 I would just reinstall my whole server. I just feel better moving forawrd with a freash clean server who knows what MS leaves behind). With a VM cluster it shouldn't take that long to setup a new server.

One other thing is i am not 100% sure if what i said was right about backuping up from a 2008 sql server and restoring to a 2012 sql server. I know it works if you go from SQL 2008 32bit to sql 2008 64bit. Maybe autodesk can answer that one for us. Now that i think about it you may have to run a sql upgrade no matter what. ( I just don't wantto lead you in the wrong direction. I just don't have the time and resources to test it my self :P) I would not both upgrading to sql 2012 untill your done with ADMS. The only real reason to upgrade sql versions while doing a vault upgrade is if the vault server your moving to doesn't support your current version of sql. I would just save your sql upgrade for a different time. Get the vault upgrades out of the way first or your going to over load your self with work. 

Hope this helps let me know if you have anymore questions Cheers!

[mdellunto]

Hi Boss,

If you still need help this may help you out.

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/vault-general-discussion/upgrade-vault-2012-to-vault-2014/td-p/4296105

[tahdesign1]

Read through that tread....I was in it.

I am also the one in the thread you are talking today.

Thanks

[mdellunto]

LoL i see that now.

Autodesk really needs to create a vault upgrade matrix. So we know what we can and can't do so we don't get mix impressions.