Upgrading From Mobility XE Version 6.x or 7.x to 7.21

Technical Note 2206

Last Reviewed 24-Apr-2008
Applies To
Mobility XE versions 6.00 through 7.20
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Summary

Please pay careful attention to all the instructions and information in this tech note. In order to ensure a successful upgrade you must follow these instructions exactly.

Mobility XE version 7.21 contains many additions and changes to both the client and the server, which are detailed in What's New.

Important: NetMotion Wireless has not tested and does not support connecting Mobility clients older than version 6.00 to a 7.21 Mobility server. You must upgrade all pre-6.00 clients before attempting to connect them to a 7.21 server. If you do try to connect a pre—6.00 client to a 7.21 server, the server may cease to function normally.

Upgrading from Mobility XE version 6.x to 7.21

• Important: See the version 7.21 readme for a description of known issues with this release.

• Upgrading an existing system does not require installing the Mobility warehouse. You should select Server Only (Requires existing warehouse server) from the NetMotion Mobility XE Server Installation screen.

• Important: Mobility warehouse configuration. The first two items below must be completed before upgrading from version 6.x to 7.21. The last item should be done after the upgrade has successfully completed.

  • If you are running an unpatched version of the warehouse you must apply Sun Patch 4, which contains critical bug fixes and optimizations, before starting the upgrade process. To determine if your warehouse has been patched, and for instructions on applying the patch, see Tech Note 2195.

  • License information: Upgrades to Mobility XE version 7.21 from version 6.x releases require new Mobility XE licenses. Licenses issued for pre-7.x releases are not valid for 7.x versions of Mobility XE, and devices will not be allowed to connect until valid licenses (temporary or permanent) have been applied. If you have any questions about your licensing, please contact your sales representative.

  • After you have successfully upgraded to version 7.21, perform the Warehouse Optimization Procedure described in Tech Note 2224 to optimize warehouse performance.

• Adding a version 7.21 server to a version 6.x pool

  You cannot add a version 7.21 server to a version 6.x pool unless one of the following conditions has been met:

  1. At least one of the version 6.x servers in the pool has already been upgraded to 7.21.

  2. New (7.x) license keys have already been added to the Licensing page of the console. To add licenses, open the Licensing page, click the Add License link, and copy in your 7.x license keys.

• Upgrading a 6.x server (standalone or the first server in a 6.x pool) to 7.21

  • If you have already obtained version 7.x license keys, add them to the Licensing page of the console, then go ahead and perform the upgrade.

  • If you do not already have version 7.x license keys, during the upgrade the Wizard will offer to create temporary (time-limited demo) licenses. If you agree, you will have 30 days to obtain permanent 7.x licenses and add them to the Licensing page of the console. WARNING: If you let the 30-day time period expire without adding permanent license keys, the entire pool will cease functioning and none of your clients will be able to connect.

  • If you choose to Cancel instead of letting the Wizard create temporary keys, the server will not start. In order to continue you must open Startup Settings and select the option to create temporary license keys, or point the server to a different warehouse.

• If your 6.x demo license has expired

  If you currently have an evaluation copy of an earlier version of Mobility, and the evaluation period has expired, you must uninstall the expired version, including the warehouse, before installing version 7.21. You will not be able to upgrade to version 7.21 on top of an expired copy of Mobility. For instructions on uninstalling the warehouse, see Tech Note 2136.

Mobility XE 7.21 servers will coexist with older Mobility servers in a server pool; you do not need to upgrade all servers in a pool at the same time. If your Mobility warehouse is colocated with a Mobility server, upgrade the other servers in the pool before you upgrade the colocated server.

It is good practice to perform a full backup of the warehouse before you upgrade the first server in a pool, and another after you upgrade the last server in the pool. This will allow you to recover if the schema is ever corrupted. For instructions on backing up the warehouse, see Tech Note 2129.

Generally we recommend upgrading your Mobility server(s) first, then upgrading your clients as you have time. However, both the Mobility XE 7.21 clients and server are backwards compatible with Mobility XE 6.x, so it's safe to upgrade the clients first if you need to.

Mobility XE 7.21 uses FIPS-compliant encryption libraries, but you must have at least Mobility XE version 6.61 installed on both the server and the clients for FIPS compliance. A setting in Mobility X7.21, Security—FIPS Required, can be used to block non-FIPS-compliant (pre-6.60) clients from connecting. This setting is turned off by default on the server upgrade, enabling older clients to connect until you have a chance to upgrade them. For full FIPS compliance, upgrade all of your clients to 7.21 and re-enable this setting.

If you are using Policy Management and your Mobility server is more current than your clients (the versions are out of synch), the newer policy features will not be available for those clients. You have two choices regarding older clients:

• To prevent older clients from connecting if they've been assigned a Policy they don't support, select Policy—Disconnect if client incompatible in the Mobility console, Server Settings (this is the default). This option is useful when a Policy is being used for security purposes and you don't want users connecting without it, for example if clients are being blocked from reaching certain network resources.

• If Policy—Disconnect if client incompatible is not selected, the older client is allowed to connect, but the server does not send the incompatible policy.

If you have more than one Mobility server and do not want to interrupt client connections during the upgrade, you can take a server offline a day or so before upgrading it. This allows clients to naturally migrate to the other server the next time they connect. After you've upgraded one server you can bring it back online and take your other server offline to repeat the process. See Tech Note 2191 for complete instructions.

WARNING: Do not add Mobility XE version 6.0x servers to a pool that includes a version 6.50 or higher server. Doing so corrupts the Mobility warehouse schema.
Adding a version 7.21 server to an existing Mobility server pool updates the Mobility warehouse schema. After the warehouse schema has been updated to version 7.21, you cannot add new Mobility XE 6.00 or 6.01 servers to the pool without corrupting the warehouse. If you must replace one of your Mobility XE 6.0x servers (for example, when recovering from a crash), and you have already added a version 7.21 server to the pool, contact technical support for help in restoring the warehouse schema.

The Mobility server(s) must be rebooted after the upgrade. This will disconnect any active client sessions, however they should automatically reconnect after the server comes back up.

Upgrading from Mobility XE version 7.x to 7.21

• Important: See the version 7.21 readme for a description of known issues with this release.

• Upgrades from Mobility XE version 7.0x and higher do not require new Mobility XE licenses. (Upgrades from version 6.x, however, do require them—contact your sales representative.)

• The Mobility XE Warehouse has not changed since version 7.00 and does not need to be upgraded: select Server Only during setup.

• It is good practice to perform a full backup of the warehouse before you upgrade the first server in a pool, and another after you upgrade the last server in the pool. This will allow you to recover if the schema is ever corrupted. For instructions on backing up the warehouse, see Tech Note 2129.

• Mobility XE 7.21 servers will coexist with Mobility XE 7.0x servers in a server pool; you do not need to upgrade all servers in a pool at the same time. If your Mobility warehouse is colocated with a Mobility server, upgrade the other servers in the pool before you upgrade the colocated server.

• If you have more than one Mobility server and do not want to interrupt client connections during the upgrade, you can take a server offline a day or so before upgrading it. This allows clients to naturally migrate to the other server the next time they connect. After you've upgraded one server you can bring it back online and take your other server offline to repeat the process. See Tech Note 2191 for complete instructions.

• After you have successfully upgraded to version 7.21, perform the Warehouse Optimization Procedure described in Tech Note 2224 to optimize warehouse performance.

Operating System Support

Mobility XE version 7.21 clients are available for the following client operating system platforms:

• Windows Vista (Business, Enterprise, Ultimate versions only)

• Windows XP (SP2 only)

• Windows 2000

• Windows Mobile 5.0 and 6.0 (Smartphone, Pocket PC)

• Windows Pocket PC 2003

• Windows CE 5.0

• Windows CE 4.2

Version 7.21 client software is not available for the following client operating system platforms:

• Windows 98

• Pocket PC 2002

• Pocket PC 2000

• Windows CE 3.x

Mobile devices running any of these operating systems can run Mobility XE version 6.01 client software and connect to a version 7.21 server, although many of the new features available in version 7.21 will not be available.

Related Information

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