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29 Replies Last post: Jul 28, 2008 4:46 AM by Paul Hoffmann 1 2 Previous Next

James M F

50 posts since
Dec 31, 2007

Feb 21, 2008 2:10 AM

Upgrade from 8.7 to 8.8

Morning all,

We are currently running mamagement version 8.7 and are looking to go to 8.8. Whilst we have been told our support contract team will do the upgrade, they also want to charge up close to £8k! Not happening!

Question is, does anyone have a guide, white paper etc... for the upgrade?

Regards

James

Paul Hoffmann

970 posts since
Dec 11, 2007

1. Feb 21, 2008 3:00 AM

in response to: James M F

Re: Upgrade from 8.7 to 8.8

The upgrade is generally very simple.

1. Make sure you have a FULL backup of:

- Your 8.7 Core

- Your 8.7 Database (if it's on another server)

2. Shove in the 8.8 CD

3. If you want, kill all the Intel/LANDesk Services manually

-- Ideally, make sure you have TWO separate backups - paranoia is a good thing --

4. Run Setup - and just watch the screen.

Not much to it really. The main thing is having a rollback point, as most problems arise (as per Murphy's law) when people do NOT have those, If things should go wrong during the install, look at the logs in the %TEMP% directory, and see where the hold up is. If the 8.7 installation has been done properly, you shouldn't have any problems, really.

Paul Hoffmann

LANDesk EMEA Technical Lead.

Dave Zubrowski

770 posts since
Dec 14, 2007

2. Feb 21, 2008 6:23 AM

in response to: Paul Hoffmann

Re: Upgrade from 8.7 to 8.8

Paul raises good points. Here is a doc on 8.7 that is also applicable to 8.8 upgrades/installs Best Known Methods for Installing or Upgrading LDMS 8.7

Some other items (not in order)

Also read the LDMSrelnotes.htm
I copy all the 8.8 installation files,prereqs (.net 2, etc...), post patches, etc,,, to each core server under a folder called source. That way they are always handy on the core.
As Paul indicates BACKUP - use the PDF to see what needs to be backed up.
Make sure all LANDesk services are stopped
I stop all Virus Scanning processes and set the services to manual.
Run dbrepair to clean up your custom data and then run core dbutil rebuild components.
Defrag your SQL server internal/external. Internal- External is just a normal drive defrag.
Make sure your LANDesk documentation is up to date, in case you need to recreate your existing environment. Love those screenshots!
We do ours on a weekend for a lot of recover time.
TEST, TEST, TEST, TEST, TEST, TEST - Hopefully you have a test environment.
If you have a test environment - DOCUMENT the upgrade process. Easier looking at a document with easy steps than just winging it. Raises your comfort level.
Ask you ESP to be available just in case things go bad.

Paul Hoffmann

970 posts since
Dec 11, 2007

3. Feb 21, 2008 6:09 AM

in response to: Dave Zubrowski

Re: Upgrade from 8.7 to 8.8

Important reminder - whenever using DBREPAIR, please make sure that at the very least the Inventory Service is stopped.

Rick Davies

374 posts since
Dec 14, 2007

4. Feb 21, 2008 8:39 AM

in response to: Paul Hoffmann

Re: Upgrade from 8.7 to 8.8

LANDesk has a little utility called Terminate.EXe that is very useful when doing upgrades. It is attached. Run this just before you Run Setup for LDMS. This will ensure that there are no LANDesk Threads running that can cause Database Corruption during the install.

Attachments:

Terminate.zip (35.0 K)

Dave Zubrowski

770 posts since
Dec 14, 2007

5. Feb 21, 2008 9:20 AM

in response to: Rick Davies

Re: Upgrade from 8.7 to 8.8

Rick,

I know you are busy - LOL. Can you post terminate as a document? I think it will be easier to find rather than buried in a thread. I'm going to hook it, but others may want to test it out. and use it. Does it just terminate the taskhandler threads?

Rick Davies

374 posts since
Dec 14, 2007

6. Feb 21, 2008 10:21 AM

in response to: Dave Zubrowski

Re: Upgrade from 8.7 to 8.8

To be honest its a great tool and it works perfectly, it writes a log in the directory it runs from and it came from LANDesk when SP3 was released. But i dont believe I would be comfortable publishing it (beyond what I have already done obviously) It would be good if LANDesk choose to do that.

Tim Morris

4 posts since
Dec 21, 2007

7. Apr 1, 2008 10:28 AM

in response to: Rick Davies

Re: Upgrade from 8.7 to 8.8

I found terminate.exe in "\Program Files\LANDesk\ManagementSuite\.

I'm guessing everyone who has LDMS installed has a copy. That's probably why LANDesk support hasn't published it.

Damir Bozic

5 posts since
Apr 2, 2008

8. Apr 2, 2008 3:29 AM

in response to: James M F

Re: Upgrade from 8.7 to 8.8

Hi folks,

well I do not have a "howto" but I have since Feb. 4 half a dozen Support cases due to an upgrade to 8.8. Not resolved yet.....

Here a part of the "case history" (copy/paste from self service portal):

No1.----

Thema:

Upgrade to 8.8 failed

Beschreibung:

During the weekend, we upgraded to LDMS 8.8. The upgrade failed upon database migration. We were not able to connect with the new console, but old 8.7 sp4 consoles were still perfect. Manual installation/migration with sqlexpr.exe (in the distribution) failed. We had to download SQLEXPR32.exe from MS downloads. Installlation worked perfect. We downloaded the new DBRepair8.8.zip and run it. Afterwards we run CoreDbUtil.exe (Build Components) and CoreDataMigration.exe with success. Console (8.8) started without any problem. Desktop takeover with Mac Client worked also. Old client/console ( 8.7) does not work any more, so I installed on my workstation the new 8.8 console (prior to installation the old client and console were uninstalled + workstation rebooted). Following error now:

DBNETLIB[http://ConnectionOpen (Connect()).]SQL Server does not exist or access denied.

Invalid connection string attribute

Creation fo a MSSQL System DSN (port 1173) was done, and the connection is available. But still no connection wit the additional console possible. In addition (from the server side console) , we cannot use the remote desktop utility since connections are denied.

We are now working 4 days for a "simple" server update. This is REALLY PAINFULL now

Resolution:

Customer resolved the problem on his own. Try to wait for a similar case for duplication

Here the additional comments:

Hallo Herr Bosic,

wie besprochen moechte ich diesen Fall schliessen da die beschriebenen Probleme nicht mehr auftauchen, Ich werde das aber weiterhin im Auge behalten und wenn nocheinmal ein solcher Fall vorkommt werde ich versuchen dieses nachzustellen.

In der zwischenzeit moechte ich Ihnen noch meine direct nummer geben so das Sie mich erreichen koennen falls Sie Probleme gleicher Art haben.

Mit frendlichen Gruessen

08.02.2008 14:22 | Damir Bozic

This problem is due to a corrupt/non functional installer from Landesk. It has been solved now. Even the fact, that when you log in, an empty console window appears can be explained by this. We tested this now on a few freshly installed Workstations, and each time we are able to repair the console functionality. This is clearly a LANDesk fault.

07.02.2008 08:40 | Damir Bozic

I meanwhile believe, that this must be a database problem. I have the impression that after the migration to SQL Express 2005 the database changed the communication port. When I set up a System DSN, I have to use port 1173 to authenticate against the lddb database. This works, but for me it seems that the Console.exe is still trying to communicate via 1433.

06.02.2008 17:23 | Damir Bozic

Following procedure was applied:

-Installation on a fresh VMWare Console : failed DBNETLIB[http://ConnectionOpen (Connect()).]SQL Server does not exist or access denied.

Invalid connection string attribute

new ghost image with applicationf (Pre 390): failed DBNETLIB[http://ConnectionOpen (Connect()).]SQL Server does not exist or access denied.

Invalid connection string attribute

new ghost image with minimal applications (Pre 390): failed

DBNETLIB[http://ConnectionOpen (Connect()).]SQL Server does not exist or access denied.

Invalid connection string attribute

installation on a Precision 340 : failed DBNETLIB[http://ConnectionOpen (Connect()).]SQL Server does not exist or access denied.

Invalid connection string attribute

upgrade on an iMac Windows without uninstalling previous Version: worked

Hi Damir,

please try to install the console on a fresh machine and let me know the result.

kind regards,

In order to keep the admin-machines functional folllowing "hack" needed to be applied to a fresh "additional 8.8 console" install:

One has to include following registry :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSSQLServer\Client\SuperSocketNetLib\LastC onnect

"Your-Server-Name

LDMSDATA"="-33423352:tcp:Your-Server-Name,1173"

So we were able to patch and deploy again.

so.... next case

No.2----

Thema:

Provisioning template updates fail

Beschreibung:

Downloading of provisioning templates (Europe) works. Import does not work. Following error appears:

An internal error has occurred with the management product. Template name is "System - Migration - Capture Profile 64bit". Action name is "". <action-type>Map_drive</action-type>

Cause:

Resolution:

Agreed to try to reinstall all in a SIDE-BY-SIDE migration.

Additional Comments:

hello,

I'm closing this case inactive for now and I'm opening the other one about the side-by-side migration.

Kind regards,

21.02.2008 18:28 |

Hello,

I know this issue.

It is already logged and entered in the CR database as a defect.

The other part of the problem affecting the customer is escalated to the PSE but I think that for this particular core should be a nice idea to do a side by side migration or a fresh install. ~~c-main~~

I'll update the case as soon I'll have news from the engineers.

Kind regards,

14.02.2008 18:25 |

Hello,

I'm escalating this case to the USA engineers.

I'll keep update on the progress on it.

Kind regards,

We checksummed all files within the installation directory and sent it to LANDesk. They found out that there was a mixture of 8.7 and 8.8 files. At some point the installer simply stopped without giving a installation failure warning.

___________________________________No3_____________________

Thema:

The ldlogon\Mac folder is empty after an implace migration from LDMS 8.7

Beschreibung:

The ldlogon\Mac folder is empty after an implace migration from LDMS 8.7

It is no possible to create MAC agent configurations.

Cause:

Resolution:

Provided the MAC files from another 8.8 core and copied in the MAC folder.

Then pressed the button Rebuil all to rebuild the agent packages.

_________________________________________________________________

So.... we had to do a clean fresh install - including database migration. Now I am just waiting for a possibility to include my old certificate into the new core......

My suggestion is: DO NOT even think about upgrading to 8.8

Regards

Damir

Paul Hoffmann

970 posts since
Dec 11, 2007

9. Apr 2, 2008 4:17 AM

in response to: Damir Bozic

Re: Upgrade from 8.7 to 8.8

Installing an old certificate is something that takes 30 seconds - assuming the certs have different names (certs MUST be named uniquely - do not even THINK about renaming them). I've scribbled the steps up several times already on the community - have a search. If you can't find it - post here, and I'll dig up the steps.

As for upgrades going awry - read my very first comment to this case.

Backup the Core

Backup the Database

With those things done, things usually go smoothly (Murphy's Law doesn't usually apply). If it does not, it's pretty easy to:

- Roll back

- Provide us with the needed stuff (image ++ database)

- and we can then look at it.

We take migration issues very seriously, and have not had a lot of them reported to us. Basic precautions have the beneficial side-effect of us being able to try and duplicate what you experience, and thus identify where things are going wrong.

Just ploughing through logs usually only helps in a "Yep - you have a problem" determination, but not to root-cause, that usually requires a "before / after" setup, thus an image + DB backup to work with.

Paul Hoffmann

LANDesk EMEA Technical Lead.

Damir Bozic

5 posts since
Apr 2, 2008

10. Apr 3, 2008 4:36 AM

in response to: James M F

Re: Upgrade from 8.7 to 8.8

Perfect, that's what I wanted to hear. Thanks to Veritas the system has been recovered to the state of 20.Jan (allthough the side by side migration meanwhile worked). The playground is now open for your engineers, but following side conditions exist: You are not allowed to do a side by side migration - you MUST upgrade, you have to use the provided original LANDesk installer and experiences have to be posted to this forum.

Regards

Damir

Jared Barneck

484 posts since
Nov 19, 2007

11. Apr 3, 2008 9:42 AM

in response to: Damir Bozic

Re: Upgrade from 8.7 to 8.8

The installer has improved greatly and we have actually NOT had many complaints come into support. So that means that despite the few that have seen problems, there have been fewer problems than in past upgrades.

Also we have improved the ability to troubleshoot the Core Server installation.

The installation has been broken down into multiple parts and some of those parts have been pulled from the MSI and are done after the MSI.

When you run setup.exe, if first installs the MSI and then goes through these steps:

PreDBConfig

DBConfig

PostDBConfig

PostAddOn

PostMSI

When a section completes successfully, it is written to this registry key string:

HKLM\software\LANDesk\LANDeskSoftware

String: LastInstalled

On a failure, if you fix the failure and restart the install, it picks up after the section that is in the LastInstalled string, so it doesn't repeat what it has already done successfully.

Many logs are in %TEMP%.

The MSI log is in %TEMP% if you fail during the MSI portion. You can open the log with WiLogUtil.exe from the windows installer portion of the Microsoft Platform SDK.

The LANDeskSetup.exe.log is in %TEMP%.

The PostSetupConfig.exe.log is in %TEMP%.

Other important files are in ManagementSuite\InstallOnlyFiles

You have the PostSetupCOnfig_mmddyyyy_hhmmPM.xml.bak that shows you what commands are going to be run in each section.

So for example, if you install and it fails and you look a the registry in the LastInstalled string and you see DBConfig, then you know that the DBConfig was the last section to work. So you can open PostSetupCOnfig_mmddyyyy_hhmmPM.xml.bak and skip past the DBConfig section and see what command are goign to run in the next section. We can troubleshoot those commands by running them manually. If you get them to work, you can your self manually change the LastInstalled string to PostDBConfig and restart setup and it will finish the final sections assuming no errors.

Damir Bozic

5 posts since
Apr 2, 2008

12. Apr 3, 2008 9:57 AM

in response to: Jared Barneck

Re: Upgrade from 8.7 to 8.8

Wow, a new installer. This in fact means that LANDesk initially submitted a corrupt or (to be politically correct) "partiallly functional" installer to customers. We keep working on this for weeks to realize this. Sorry folks, but now we feel really pis...

No regards

Damir

Paul Hoffmann

970 posts since
Dec 11, 2007

13. Apr 3, 2008 10:12 AM

in response to: Damir Bozic

Re: Upgrade from 8.7 to 8.8

I'm not quite sure how you read "LANDesk has improved the installer" to mean "We've distributed a corrupt installer in previous versions".

That's not the case.

If it were, then:

it would have been impossible to install previous versions of LANDesk (and we're talking 10+ years of product here).
it would have been impossible to upgrade from previous versions of the product (again - spanning years).

What it DOES mean is that we've found a few additional areas of the install where specific information of type X, Y or Z is greatly beneficial, and this has been added.

The installer for the product has continuously been evolving through the different versions of the product.

It's easy to say (as you do in your comment as it stands) "Why didn't you just write a proper one to begin with" - it's not that simple. It's a very complicated matter in fact to install several 100's MB of software, while dealing with a whole slew of upgrading and registering components left, right and center. The simple case of "We don't know what we don't know" applies - it's a gradual process.

We write installer version X - it does everything we need it do.

As time passes, some (usually only a small handfull) of issues come up, and it becomes clear in the post-mortem that "Oh, it would've been great if we've had information A, B or C - that would've saved time".

So - version X of an installer becomes version Y - which includes/logs data on items A, B and C as much as possible (the "as much as possible" also can be a separate matter. Not everything that you'd WANT to log CAN actually be logged).

And the process repeats.

It's impossible to account for every eventuality. I challenge you to prove me wrong on this count - if you do, you've just earned yourself a golden egg in the software industry with a perfect installer. There isn't such a thing, and there never will be (realistically).

The installer as it is, is better than it has been in previous versions. And over the last few years, there's been focussed effort on making it even better than it has been in the past. And we're intending on keeping it that way.

If you regard us looking at things and seeing what we could do better as a bad thing, or even "submitting a corrupt" installer, then I do apologize, but your perspective is rather skewed.

Simple realism alone dictates - if we'd put out a product that doesn't work (or - let alone - doesn't install) - the nature of the market would dictate that LANDesk would have been out of business years ago, wouldn't it? Or do you have customers paying for products that do not install? I doubt that.

Paul Hoffmann

LANDesk EMEA Technical Lead.

Jared Barneck

484 posts since
Nov 19, 2007

14. Apr 3, 2008 11:04 AM

in response to: Paul Hoffmann

Re: Upgrade from 8.7 to 8.8

dbozic.

phoffman is correct. Your logic is flawed. By you logic, every piece of software that has ever been improved means that the company admitted it was "corrupted" which is why they improved it. That is simply not that case.

Also when someone jumps in and give you some good help and good information in a post, that takes time and it should be respected. Your twisting my post to imply LANDesk's installation in previous version was corrupt is very disrespectful of the time I took to provide you with the information I provided.

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This Question is Possibly Answered

Feb 21, 2008 2:10 AM

Upgrade from 8.7 to 8.8

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