Upgrading From Mobility XE Version 6.7 or 7.x to 8.0

Technical Note 2229

Last Reviewed 7-May-2008
Applies To
Mobility XE Server versions 6.7 and higher
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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 8.0 contains many additions and changes. Before proceeding with your upgrade you should review the Readme for a description of known issues, as well as the What's New document.

Important information you must know before upgrading:

1. Backwards compatibility

   Mobility XE version 8.0 only supports compatibility between clients and servers that are at least version 6.7. If you have Mobility clients and/or servers older than version 6.7, they must be upgraded to at least 6.7 or higher to connect to version 8.0 clients and/or servers:

   • NetMotion Wireless has not tested and does not support connecting pre-6.7 Mobility clients to a version 8.0 Mobility server. You must upgrade all pre-6.7 clients to at least version 6.7 before attempting to connect them to an 8.0 server. If you do try to connect a pre-6.7 client to a version 8.0 server, the server may cease to function normally.

   • NetMotion Wireless has not tested and does not support connecting version 8.0 Mobility clients to a pre-6.7 Mobility server.

2. Sun Patch 4

   Mobility XE version 8.0 requires that your primary and standby warehouses have Sun Patch 4 applied. The upgrade process does not apply the patch to your existing warehouses. However, your warehouse(s) must have Sun Patch 4 applied before the upgrade will complete. NetMotion Wireless strongly recommends you make sure your warehouses are patched before beginning the upgrade process. Use the information below to determine if you need to patch your warehouse(s).

   • If the warehouse was installed from version 7.00 or later, it has already had Sun Patch 4 applied. However, before you proceed with the upgrade you should verify this via the instructions in Tech Note 2195.

   • If the warehouse was installed from a pre-7.00 version of Mobility, it may not be patched. You must apply Sun Patch 4, which contains critical bug fixes and optimizations, before beginning the upgrade process. To determine if your warehouse has already had Patch 4 applied, and for instructions on applying the patch, see Tech Note 2195.

   • Once you have ensured Patch 4 has been applied, you may safely ignore any warning messages about the patch.

3. Configuration Wizard

   During the upgrade, the server machine will reboot. Immediately after Windows restarts, the Configuration Wizard will run. Your upgrade is not finished until the Configuration Wizard has completed. If the Wizard does not run, or if you cancel out for any reason, use the following procedure to run the Wizard:

   1. Open a command prompt and navigate to the NetMotion Server directory. The default location is C:\Program Files\NetMotion Server.

   2. Type the following case-sensitive command: nmcfgapp.exe cMMSWIZ

   Once the Configuration Wizard has run, your upgrade will be complete.

Upgrading from Mobility XE server version 7.x to 8.0

• License information:

  Upgrading to Mobility XE version 8.0 from earlier versions will require new Mobility XE licenses. Licenses issued for earlier releases are not valid for the 8.0 version of Mobility XE. If you have any questions about your licensing, please contact your sales representative.

  • The Configuration Wizard will create temporary (time-limited demo) license keys for all of your permanent servers, devices, and Policy if you have it. You will then have 30 days to obtain permanent 8.0 license keys and add them to the Licensing page of the console. If you let the 30-day time period expire without adding permanent license keys, none of your clients will be able to connect until valid license keys have been applied.

  • To add licenses, open the Mobility console and navigate to the Licensing page, click the Add License link, and copy in your 8.0 license keys.

• Warehouse information:

  It is good practice to perform a full backup of the primary 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 data are ever corrupted. For instructions on backing up the warehouse, see Tech Note 2129.

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

  • Mobility XE version 8.0 requires that your primary and standby warehouses have Sun Patch 4 applied. The upgrade process does not apply the patch to your existing warehouses. However, your warehouse(s) must have Sun Patch 4 applied before the upgrade can complete. Use the information below to determine if you need to patch your warehouse(s) before beginning the upgrade.

  • If the warehouse was installed from version 7.00 or later, it has already had Sun Patch 4 applied. Before you proceed, you should verify this via the instructions in Tech Note 2195.

  • If the warehouse was installed from a pre-7.00 version of Mobility, it may not yet be patched. You must apply Sun Patch 4, which contains critical bug fixes and optimizations, before beginning the upgrade process. To determine if your warehouse has already had Patch 4 applied, and for instructions on applying the patch, see Tech Note 2195.

  After you have successfully upgraded to version 8.0, you must perform one of the following procedures on your primary warehouse only:

  • If you have never previously done so, perform the Warehouse Optimization Procedure described in Tech Note 2224 to optimize warehouse performance.
  • If you previously ran the Warehouse Optimization Procedure, you should not run it again. Instead, run the reinitialization procedure described in Tech Note 2222.
• General upgrade information:

  • Mobility XE 8.0 servers will coexist with older Mobility XE servers in a server pool; you do not need to upgrade all servers in a pool at the same time. However, you should upgrade all of your servers as quickly as possible. You cannot add a version 7.x server to a version 8.0 pool.

  • 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 another server offline to repeat the process. See Tech Note 2191 for complete instructions.

  • 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 server version 6.7 to 8.0

Important: NetMotion Wireless has not tested and does not support upgrading Mobility servers older than version 6.7 to version 8.0. You must upgrade all pre-6.7 servers to at least version 6.7 before attempting to upgrade them to 8.0. See Tech Note 2147 for instructions on upgrading to version 6.7.

• License information:

  Upgrading to Mobility XE version 8.0 from earlier versions will require new Mobility XE licenses. Licenses issued for earlier releases are not valid for the 8.0 version of Mobility XE. If you have any questions about your licensing, please contact your sales representative.

  • During the upgrade the Configuration Wizard will create temporary (time-limited demo) license keys for all of your permanent servers, devices, and Policy if you have it. You will then have 30 days to obtain permanent 8.0 license keys and add them to the Licensing page of the console. If you let the 30-day time period expire without adding permanent license keys, none of your clients will be able to connect until valid license keys have been applied.

  • To add licenses, open the Mobility console and navigate to the Licensing page, click the Add License link, and copy in your 8.0 license keys.

• Warehouse information:

  It is good practice to perform a full backup of the primary 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 data are ever corrupted. For instructions on backing up the warehouse, see Tech Note 2129.

  • Mobility XE version 8.0 requires that your primary and standby warehouses have Sun Patch 4 already applied. The upgrade process does not apply the patch to already-existing warehouse(s), but it will not complete unless they have already been patched. To determine if you need to patch your warehouse(s) before beginning the upgrade, and for instructions on applying the patch, see Tech Note 2195.

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

  • After you have successfully upgraded to version 8.0, perform the Warehouse Optimization Procedure described in Tech Note 2224 to optimize warehouse performance.

    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 data are ever corrupted. For instructions on backing up the warehouse, see Tech Note 2129.

• General upgrade information:

  • Mobility XE 8.0 servers will coexist with older Mobility XE servers in a server pool; you do not need to upgrade all servers in a pool at the same time. However, you should upgrade all of your servers as quickly as possible. You cannot add a version 6.7 server to a version 8.0 pool.

  • 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 another server offline to repeat the process. See Tech Note 2191 for complete instructions.

  • If you are using Policy Management and your Mobility server is more current than your clients (the versions are out of sync), 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.

  • 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.

Client Operating System Support

Mobility XE version 8.0 clients are available for the following client operating system platforms:

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

• Windows XP (SP2 only)

• Windows 2000 Professional

• Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 (Classic, Standard, Professional)

• Windows Mobile 5.0 (Smartphone, Pocket PC)

• Windows Pocket PC 2003

• Windows CE 5.0

• Windows CE 4.2

Version 8.0 client software is not available for the following client operating system platforms:

• Windows 98

• Pocket PC 2002

• Pocket PC 2000

• Windows CE 3.x

Related Information

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