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This page is for system administrators who are upgrading an existing PhixFlow instance from one release to another. This page explains the standard steps that you should always follow.

Warning

Some releases contain special instructions.

When planning an upgrade, please check the special instructions for each intermediate release and follow the additional steps as indicated.

Planning your Upgrade
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preparation
preparation

Check Supported Versions and Special Instructions

Please read the System Requirements and Compatibility page. Check for any special upgrade instructions between your current and target versions of PhixFlow.

Ensure that your versions of:

  • the database
  • Tomcat
  • Java

are supported in the planned upgrade.


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Note

If any of these items need updating, please contact your IT team several weeks in advance of the planned upgrade.

Check Java and Database Connectors

If Java needs upgrading, you must verify that any JDBC connectors you have installed to non-standard databases are still supported. The standard databases supported by PhixFlow are Oracle, MS SQL Server and MySQL/ MariaDB. The drivers needed to connect to these databases are shipped with PhixFlow, and connections to external databases through PhixFlow data sources are supported by these drivers; see Datasource.

However, if you have connections to external databases other than these - for example, Netezza, Teradata, DB2 - then you will have installed JDBC drivers for these in the folder [tomcat home]/lib. You must check that your current version of each installed driver is compatible with the new version of Java, and if not, obtain a new version of the JDBC driver from the supplier.


How to Upgrade

Step 1  Backup your Database

Ensure that you have a recent, full backup of your PhixFlow database. If you need to rollback (see "Rollback Upgrade" below), your PhixFlow configuration and data will revert to this point.

Tip

We also recommend that you:

  • Review your installation for any remaining uses of the discontinued features mentioned in the release notes. All data related to the use of these features will be removed when PhixFlow is migrated to the new version.

  • Backup all tables except those whose names begin with a 'zz'. This backs up the data tables that do not contain table data.

Step 2  Stop Tomcat and Delete the Work Directory

  1. Stop the Tomcat service.

    Note

    PhixFlow will not be available to users until the upgrade is complete and you restart Tomcat.


  2. Delete the Tomcat <tomcat base>/work directory. For example in a Linux installation, enter:

    Code Block
    rm -r /opt/tomcat/work


Step 3  Upgrade the Environment

If necessary, upgrade to supported versions of Java, Tomcat and your database: Oracle, SQL Server or MySQL / MariaDB. See Planning your Upgrade, above.

Remember, if you are Upgrading Tomcat, to restore any JDBC drivers needed for any data sources that use database technologies or versions not supported for PhixFlow's own connections. Make sure that any additional JDBC drivers you use are placed in:

Code Block
[tomcat home]/lib

See also:

Step 4  Unzip the PhixFlow Release

Unzip the PhixFlow release package into a temporary directory.

We will refer to the new PhixFlow release directory as $RELEASE and its corresponding Tomcat directory as $TOMCAT.

Step 5  Install the New Webapp into Tomcat

Move the live PhixFlow installation directory, $TOMCAT/webapps/phixflow, to an archive location.

For example on Linux: mv $TOMCAT/webapps/phixflow $ARCHIVE/phixflow-<current date>

Copy $RELEASE/webapp/phixflow to $TOMCAT/webapps.

For example on Linux: cp $RELEASE/webapp/phixflow $TOMCAT/webapps/phixflow

In the archive of the live installation, go to the  $TOMCAT/webapps/phixflow/WEB-INF/classes/ directory. Copy the following file into the corresponding directory in the new PhixFlow webapp: 

  • phixflow-instance.xml  

For example on Linux:cp $ARCHIVE/phixflow-<current date>/WEB-INF/classes, to $TOMCAT/webapps/phixflow/WEB-INF/classes

In the <util:properties id="instanceProperties"> section, add the line:

<prop key="apiKeySecretName">phixflow-api-key</prop>


If you have configured PhixFlow to show your company logo, also copy $TOMCAT/webapps/phixflow/gui/images/customerLogo.svg. from the archive to the corresponding directory in the new PhixFlow webapp.

As part of the recommended PhixFlow installation, soft links are created from $TOMCAT/webapps/phixflow/datalink → [PhixFlow file system]/phixflow/datalink. For further details go to Install the PhixFlow Webapp, but if you have followed the recommended installation, you can use one of the following commands to re-create the link ($WEBAPP is the name of the installed PhixFlow, in most cases just "phixflow").

Windows

Code Block
mklink /D C:\app\tomcat\webapps\$WEBAPP\datalink C:\app\phixflow\data\$WEBAPP\datalink

Linux

Code Block
sudo ln -sf /opt/phixflow/data/$WEBAPP/datalink /opt/tomcat/webapps/$WEBAPP/datalink


Step 6  Configure a Keystore

If you have not already done so, Configure a Keystore and Aliases. Use phixflow-secret.xml to specify the keystore details.

Step 7  Upgrade the Database

Run all migration scripts in sequence from the starting version to this version.

Note
titleAbout Migration Warnings

Some of the scripts can generate warning messages, such as Caution: Changing any part of an object name could break scripts and stored procedures. Generally, warning messages do not indicate a problem. However, if you see any error messages, please contact your PhixFlow support team.

Example for migrating Oracle

Code Block
cd $RELEASE/install/schema/oracle/migration/X.Y
sqlplus myUsername/myPassword @migrate_schema_from_x_y_z_to_X_Y_Z.sql

Example for migrating SQL Server

Code Block
cd $RELEASE/install/schema/sqlserver/migration/X.Y
sqlcmd -S myServer\myInstance -U myUsername -P myPassword -d myDatabase -i migrate_schema_from_x_y_z_to_X_Y_Z.sql

Example for migrating MariaDB (MySQL)

Code Block
titleE.g. for MariaDB users
cd $RELEASE/install/schema/sqlserver/migration/X.Y
mysql -h myServer -u myUsername -p -D myDatabase
source migrate_schema_from_x_y_z_to_X_Y_Z.sql


Warning
titleMariaDB Privileges

Some MariaDB PhixFlow migration scripts create or use privileged functions and/or procedures. If you have followed PhixFlow's recommended installation, running non-deterministic functions will be permanently allowed by a setting (global log_bin_trust_function_creators) in my.cnf (see Install MariaDB).

If you have not permanently set this in my.cnf, you will need to turn this on in the session you are using to perform the upgrade with the command:

Code Block
set global log_bin_trust_function_creators = 1;

Alternatively, ensure that that the database user performing the upgrade has SUPER privilege.

Step 8  Complete any Special Upgrade Instructions

Complete the Special Upgrade Instructions for all the intermediate releases between your current version and the version to which you are upgrading.

Step 9  Restore Soft Links and Re-start Tomcat

If you have configured soft links (also called symlinks or datalinks) between PhixFlow and Tomcat, recreate them; see Configuring Soft Links.

Restart the Tomcat service.

Step 10  Republish PhixFlow Table Data

After upgrading, PhixFlow may need to republish data to its database. If you have very large tables this can cause slow initial performance. To ensure users are not affected, we recommend that you publish table data immediately after upgrading.

  1. Log on to PhixFlow.
  2. Select 
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     → Other Options → Publish Tables.
  3. Wait for the popup notification that publishing is complete.
Note

If you do not republish altered database tables, PhixFlow will automatically start publishing data when the first user attempts to use a table. This may cause slow performance until publishing is complete.


Your PhixFlow upgrade is now complete and users can access the new version of PhixFlow.

For details about configuring PhixFlow once it is installed, see Administration.