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EV 6 to EV8 MIgration

twyd2009
Level 4

Hey All-

So I'm looking to do a migration from EV 6 to EV 8, using new hardware...I understand that this needs to be done incrementally, so ive got to go from 6 to 7 to 7.5, etc...I'm just curious if there are some documented procedures, or best practices to follow.  Like is it best to backup/restore to new hardware and then start upgrades??  The other way around.??

 

 TIA!!!

10 REPLIES 10

rick_krieger
Level 5
Employee Accredited

It depends on whether or not you are in the "I want the new servers to be fresh installls and not upgraded" camp or not.

Take a look at the UpgradeInstructions htm that is in each version along the way of the upgrade (for upgrade guidance) and then review the Recovery chapter of the EV 8.0 Admin Guide... more specifically check out the "Recovery of Enterprise Vault using data-only backups" section.

Paul_Grimshaw
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified

The upgrades each make various metabase changes to the SQL databases you need to upgrade from 6 to 7 to 2007 to 8.

As explained the upgrade process for each upgrade s the same which is essentially a case of installing the binaries for that version and running the configuration.

You need to bear in mind your clients as well as you are on EV6 so if you go all the way to EV8 then you will put your clients into an unsupported situation as you will see from our compatibility charts.

There have been many changes and new features implemented from EV6 to EV8 so I would make sure that you have read all of the documentation for each version at the very least and really what you should do is go through some formal training.

Also there is the opportunity for you to engage our professional services department who can assist you in many ways.

Liam_Finn1
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified

The upgrade is possable. I suggest you take your time. Upgrade each version at seperate times. and implement the necessary updates to your clients at the same time. Give a month between each version upgrade to let the dust settle before moving onto the next phase.

 

If you have paid for support then implement each upgrade step with support on the phone and webexed in to ensure that if any issues arise they see the issue and then work with you to resolve it on the spot. That way the impact to your users is minimal.

 

We went from 5 - 6 - 7 - 7.5 and it was not 100% painless so have support there with you when you are making these changes

Paul_Grimshaw
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified

Just to answer some points from Scanner:-

1. Upgrade each version at seperate times. Although obviously this is possible I have performed many of these upgrades and it is not really necessary. There are 2 schools of thought here which my clients had which were:-

a. How scanner has advised which is to do upgrades at seperate times. Some clients would not do this due to organising downtime etc,

b. (The one I would do) Lets go belt and braces and do the whole lot in one go. Whats the worst that can happen? If it goes belly up and you run out of downtime you restore to where you started.

Also support is not here to sit on the phone whilst you do the upgrade and this will not happen. If you want that sort of assistance you would be looking at engaging our professional services department. If you have an issue during the upgrade at any point then of course support will assist you but we as a support department do not sit on the end of a phone and watch a webex whilst you upgrade.

 

Judy_Glazier
Level 6
Partner

I will be doing exactly this upgrade at the end of the month.

In preparation, I have asked the customer to upgrade their end-users workstations with EV2007 user extensions.  (Be sure that if you are using Full-Client extension currently that they use the same version when upgrading.) 

EV2007 user extensions are backward compatible to EV 6.0 and will work with EV8.0 as well.  This means that during the entire upgrade the users will still be able to access their data.  (We plan on doing the upgrades after hours)  It will also give the customer time to upgrade to EV8.0 user extensions after we are finished upgrading their servers.

Extra bonus - EV2007 user extensions will load the EV Forms locally, meaning you don't have to upgrade the extensions on any of the Exchange Servers.  One step out of the way.

I also have asked the customer to ensure that the Enterprise Vault servers meet the additional software requirements for EV2007 outlined in the pre-req's documentation in the Installing and Configuring pdf file.  If the servers are ready for an upgrade to EV2007, they will also be ready for the uprade to EV7.0 and EV7.5.

I have done this upgrade in the past and didn't see long periods of time between the versions after running the Configuration.  We will complete a few tests of accessing email, searches, archive explorer etc.after each upgrade.

OWA access will be on hold until we complete the EV8.0 and then it will be configured at that time.  A complete uninstall and reinstall is what we are planning.

We should be able to get everything done in a window of say three days.  That is working after hours only.  I plan on providing a good knowledge transfer after we have upgraded to EV8.0. 

Good Luck with your upgrade, it will a good experience for you and it will go well.

Judy

 

Liam_Finn1
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified

Paul,

 

When you said that support will not sit at the other end of the phone when you upgrade....This is untrue. We went from 6 - 7 - 7.5 with support on the phone all the way. We started at 9am and finished an 3PM with a 1 hour break for lunch.

 

So statement like support wont do this is untrue.

Paul_Grimshaw
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified

Very strange how you got that level of support as we are break fix and not a professional services department but hey glad you got that extra level :)

Liam_Finn1
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified

If you ask you get. Yes it is great to get that level of support.

 

I have to admit, the EV support groups are excellent. The forum at present may need work but if you call support you are going to get great service

Actually Paul I think you and I or you and another member of my group have worked on some issues

Paul_Grimshaw
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified

Hi Liam,

No offence but hopefully you or your colleagues will not need to work with me again as that would mean that you do not have a major issue :)

Thanks for your comments about the level of support you receive and I also personally believe after working for a few companies that the support infrastructure here and the investment that has gone into EV has been and is excellent

Cheers

Liam_Finn1
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified

Dear Paul,

I too hope I dont work with you because when we have to deal with your level at support we are in trouble and we all hope that does not happen again.. I say hope but we both know at some stage it will :).

hmm... dont you just feel the love in the forums right now hahahah