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Knowledge Sharing - Best practices for installing service packs for BlackBerry Enterp

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Old 08-16-2009, 10:13 PM   #1 (permalink)
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Arrow Knowledge Sharing - Best practices for installing service packs for BlackBerry Enterp

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Article Title: Best practices for installing service packs for BlackBerry Enterprise Server software
Article Number: KB04882
Link: View Document

Complete the following tasks to install service packs for BlackBerry Enterprise Server software:

1. Download the latest service pack for BlackBerry Enterprise Server software.

2. Confirm and back up configuration settings and client access licenses (CALs).

3. Back up the BlackBerry Configuration Database.

4. Stop BlackBerry Enterprise Server services and record logon account information.

5. Install the service pack.


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Old 08-17-2009, 01:43 AM   #2 (permalink)
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It would also be interesting to have a document for BES 5 upgrades in a High Availability situation. You have the possibility to upgrade without downtime (this is at least possible for Maintenance Releases, probably not for Service Packs that change the DB structure).
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Old 08-17-2009, 02:35 AM   #3 (permalink)
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You would want your servers in the HA to be the same version. Hence, a scheduled downtime window for the HA servers is required for a service pack upgrade (where usually there will be a DB schema update). Hope this helps.
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Old 08-17-2009, 03:10 PM   #4 (permalink)
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Yeah that KB article leaves a lot to be desired... I would add the following between steps 4 and 5:

Make a Backup Copy of the following:
HKLM\Software\Research In Motion
HKCU\Software\Research In Motion

%ProgramFiles%\Research In Motion\BlackBerry Enterprise Server - (excluding the Logs file)

%CommonProgramFiles%\Research In Motion

Rename %ProgramFiles%\Research In Motion\BlackBerry Enterprise Server\Logs\yyyymmdd (latest log folder) to say yyyymmdd.preservicepack. Then when the BES Services start for the first time post the SP installation a clean log file folder will be created, and it will make analysing logs a whole lot easier.

Optional: Retrieve the MDS-IS Admin & Publisher passwords (if they're not known) from the [BESmdss].[SERVER] table as these will be required during the service pack install if MDS-IS is being used.

That's my 5c (NZ) worth



Quote:
Originally Posted by noname View Post
Article Title: Best practices for installing service packs for BlackBerry Enterprise Server software
Article Number: KB04882
Link: View Document

Complete the following tasks to install service packs for BlackBerry Enterprise Server software:

1. Download the latest service pack for BlackBerry Enterprise Server software.

2. Confirm and back up configuration settings and client access licenses (CALs).

3. Back up the BlackBerry Configuration Database.

4. Stop BlackBerry Enterprise Server services and record logon account information.

5. Install the service pack.


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Old 08-17-2009, 08:20 PM   #5 (permalink)
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Actually you can have what RIM calls "limited downtime upgrade" with an HA pair. You simply turn off auto failover then upgrade the standby node. The DB can be live on the primary BES and delivering mail. It's only schema additions. No disruptions in DB connectivity. Once the standby node is updated and by virtue of this, the DB, you can failover to the updated server. The only downtime is the time it takes the users to come up on the upgraded node. Depending on user count, it could be just a min or two. Either way, it isn't technically downtime from an SLA perspective as service is running at all times. Creative way to get around maintenance windows for sure. You can fail back and forth if you need at this point. When ready, fail to the new server and upgrade the second then put them back in HA failover mode. Good to go.
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Old 09-10-2009, 09:17 AM   #6 (permalink)
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Theoritically only. Any actual real experience from the rest who already are on BES 5.0 HA?

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Originally Posted by besadmin23 View Post
Actually you can have what RIM calls "limited downtime upgrade" with an HA pair. You simply turn off auto failover then upgrade the standby node. The DB can be live on the primary BES and delivering mail. It's only schema additions. No disruptions in DB connectivity. Once the standby node is updated and by virtue of this, the DB, you can failover to the updated server. The only downtime is the time it takes the users to come up on the upgraded node. Depending on user count, it could be just a min or two. Either way, it isn't technically downtime from an SLA perspective as service is running at all times. Creative way to get around maintenance windows for sure. You can fail back and forth if you need at this point. When ready, fail to the new server and upgrade the second then put them back in HA failover mode. Good to go.
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