ARCHIBUS Package and Deploy Wizard Overview

The ARCHIBUS Package and Deploy Wizard (available on the Process Navigator at System Administration/ARCHIBUS System Administration/System Administrator/Package and Deploy Wizard) provides an automated process for migrating your data, extensions, and settings when upgrading to a newer version of ARCHIBUS.

The Package and Deploy Wizard features offer the following advantages over manually migrating changes:

• Your back-up, prototype-to-production, and update processes can be consistent and repeatable.
• Your standard processes migrate without hand editing.
• Your data and extensions are automatically combined into Web Archive (WAR) files that can be backed up and transferred easily between computers and offices. You can then deploy these WAR files using the standard procedures supported by your application server.

Use the Package and Deploy Wizard to preserve the following when upgrading:

• Data: The wizard backs up your data files, such as enterprise graphics files (.swf, .json, and .emf) that reside on the application server.
• Extensions: The wizard merges your personalized extensions with the files provided with a new ARCHIBUS release. The wizard can migrate any applications that are coded to the ARCHIBUS best practice guidelines. See Application and Workflow Rule Guidelines.

• Settings: The wizard preserves ARCHIBUS configuration and authentication preferences unique to your site are preserved, while merging them with new preferences and defaults supplied with a newer ARCHIBUS version.

You can use the Package and Deploy Wizard for single-user and workgroup deployments, in which case all files reside on a single computer. You can also use the Wizard for enterprise deployments, in which case you will be merging files on a staging server for testing, then deploying them to the production server. The online help provides separate procedures for these deployments.

The Package and Deploy Wizard divides the ARCHIBUS product into groups of files that should be upgraded together. For instance, the ARCHIBUS core product contains related files, services, and third-party libraries that ARCHIBUS develops and tests as a unit. As such, you should always upgrade ARCHIBUS core files together as one unit.

Similarly, each individual domain area, such as the Space Planning & Management domain, has forms, reports, workflow rules, and services that support that particular domain. Again, you should always upgrade domain files as a unit.

Within reason, you can mix-and match different portions of the product. For instance, you can keep all of your application domains as they are -- with your personalized workflow rules and forms -- and upgrade only the ARCHIBUS core. Alternately, you may wish to preserve your personalized workflow rules and forms for just one domain, Building Operations for instance, but upgrade all other portions of the product.

Version Compatibility

The following summarizes the versions that are supported and not supported when using the deployment packager:

• Version 19.1 and later: The Package and Deploy Wizard can migrate properties for ARCHIBUS Version 19.1 and later.
• Version 17.3 and Version 18.x: You can also use the Package and Deploy Wizard on V.17.3 or V.18.x deployments. When upgrading from these versions:

  • You must copy the data and extension files manually to a staging server running V.19.1 or later (as these earlier versions did not contain the Package and Deploy Wizard ).

  • You must manually migrate preferences from your ARCHIBUS configuration files (for example, afm-config.xml and afm-secure.xml) to the newer V.19-and-later .preferences files.

  For detailed instructions, see Upgrading V.17.3 and V.18.x Applications.

• Upgrading Versions earlier than V17.3 is not supported: ARCHIBUS, Inc. tests upgrading V.17.3 applications to the newer core to verify compatibility with both V.1.0 and V.2.0 views and applications. While earlier versions use the same core features as V.17.3, ARCHIBUS does not specifically test them, and the Package and Deploy Wizard is not supported for these releases.

System Requirements

Your deployment must meet the system requirements for the core you are deploying. For instance, if you are deploying the ARCHIBUS Web Central and this core requires JDK 1.5 or later, your installation must have JDK 1.5 or later. Or, to take another example, V.17.2 supported Oracle AS. You cannot update the V.17.2 core Web Central to V.19.1, which does not officially support Oracle AS, without some risk. For the current system requirements, see System Requirements.

Using the Package and Deploy Wizard

You can use the Package and Deploy Wizard to manage your upgrade process. The wizard provides the simplest method for upgrading and can be used with any deployment type.

The Package and Deploy Wizard asks a series of questions, and based on the answers, it writes the application-update.properties file that describes how your existing files and the new files in an ARCHIBUS update should be merged. It then calls the appropriate deployment packager actions.

There are two main wizard-driven procedures:

• Running the Package and Deploy Wizard for Workgroup Deployments
• Running the Package and Deploy Wizard for Enterprise Deployments

If you are an advanced user, you can use the wizard interface, or run the Deployment Packager actions directly to package up data from production servers, extensions from staging servers, or entire deployment archives.

Use this table to locate the information you need:

See Also

How to Update your Customized Schema after Upgrading to a New Version of ARCHIBUS

How to Update a Non-Customized Schema after Upgrading to a New Version of ARCHIBUS