Upgrade scenario from PCE6 via PCE7 to PCE8

This article describes the procedure for upgrading from ProCall 6 Enterprise to ProCall 8 Enterprise as an example.

Each customer environment must be considered individually, so that the procedures may differ depending on the products used, the system environment or its configuration.
In this article only ProCall Enterprise will be discussed.

These instructions are intended exclusively for experienced administrators, ideally estos certified and trained partners. Performing an upgrade of ProCall Enterprise at major release change requires detailed expertise and authorizations.

Before performing an upgrade, check the system requirements.

Initial situation

There is a system with ProCall 6 Enterprise and an upgrade to the latest ProCall 8 Enterprise version is to be made.

Preparations

It must be clarified in advance whether a server change is to be carried out at the same time or not.

Based on this decision, there are several ways to map the upgrade process. (This list is not complete)

1. Inplace upgrade on the same machine
2. Inplace upgrade on the same machine + subsequent server change
3. Reinstalling ProCall 8 on a new machine

Basic information

Upgrade for major release change

• https://support.estos.de/en/procall-enterprise/migrationspfade-bei-procall-enterprise-updates-upgrades
• https://support.estos.de/en/procall-enterprise/best-practice-procall-8-enterprise-upgrade-verfahren-bei-major-release-wechsel

Online licensing since PCE8

Another important point to consider when upgrading to ProCall 8 is online licensing:

• https://support.estos.de/en/procall-enterprise/online-lizenzierung-procall-8-enterprise

Licenses

For an upgrade scenario from ProCall 6 Enterprise to ProCall 8 Enterprise, no upgrade licenses for ProCall 7 Enterprise  are required for the intermediate step via ProCall 7 Enterprise.

Data export/Save data

Data export

It always makes sense to perform a complete data export beforehand:

• Data export via the UCServer administration

Database on SQL Server

If the database is located on a Microsoft SQL Server, it must also be backed up in advance.

If the database is located on a SQL server, it must also be backed up in advance. (During the upgrades of the UCServer, the database version or the schema of the database is changed and is therefore no longer usable for older UCServer versions) To be able to perform a rollback, the SQL database must be backed up beforehand.

User management in Active Directory

If the users are managed in the Active Directroy, no extra backup of the AD has to be performed, since normally an AD is designed redundantly over several mutually replicating domain controllers.

ProCall clients

If a higher major release version is used, the ProCall clients used must also be upgraded, as no downward compatibility is ensured.

Therefore, before upgrading, it must be ensured that the new ProCall 8 clients are distributed as quickly as possible after the server upgrade.

Personal advice

If you are unsure, you can also book a personal meeting with us. We will gladly take 1 hour to advise you personally.

Please book an appointment for this under the following link: https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/estosProductSupport@estos.de/bookings/s/4I5aSmIBykm7NRBHLfq1cw2

Procedure

Inplace upgrade on the same machine

An inplace upgrade on the same machine always follows the same pattern.

1. Perform data backup/export
2. Update to the latest PCE 6 release.
3. Upgrade from there to the latest PCE 7 release. (No license necessary)
4. Then upgrade to the latest PCE 8 (license for PCE 8 must be entered in the appropriate server account in the UCConnect portal before).
5. After server start check if all settings are available.
6. Update client quickly, because the old clients cannot connect to the new UCServer.
7. Upgrade other products. (MetaDirectory, ECSTA, ProCall Analytics)

Inplace upgrade on the same machine + subsequent server change

Here are some points to consider when upgrading to ProCall 8.

1. Perform data backup/export
2. Update to the last PCE 6 release.
3. Update from there to the latest PCE 7 release. (No licenses necessary)
4. Then upgrade to the latest PCE 8 (license for PCE 8 must be entered before in the UCConnect portal in the appropriate server account).
5. After server start check if all settings are available.
6. Export data again from PCE 8
7. Logout of UCConnect on the "old" PCE 8 UCServer
8. Install PCE 8 on new server.
9. Import data export from "old" PCE 8 server.
10. Update client quickly, because the old clients cannot connect to the new server. (In case of software distribution via a separate tool, the new FQDN or IP address of the new UCServer must be communicated).

Reinstalling ProCall 8 on a new machine

Here we start on a "blank slate" and there are no special features to consider.

1. Import online licenses in the UCConnect portal in the correct server account.
2. Installation of the latest PCE 8 release.
3. New setup of the locations and other required configurations
4. Activation of the required users/groups/computers (In case of Active Directory as user management, the users/groups/computers become inactive at the moment of activation on the "old" UCServer)
5. Roll out ProCall client 8

Further articles

An example of a migration from PCE 6 to PCE 7 with server change has been documented here:

Project example: Upgrade ProCall 6 to 7 and server change Windows 2012R2 to 2019