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Best Practices in Planning, Installing and Upgrading IBM Connections • Susan Bulloch • IBM Connections Support • IBM 1 #engageug
Best Practices in Planning, Installing and Upgrading IBM Connections
• Susan Bulloch• IBM Connections Support• IBM
1#engageug
•Agenda•Planning• Installation•Upgrade/Migration
Best Practices for Planning Connections
•Plan the plan•Write the plan•Execute the plan•The end
Best Practices for Planning Connections
•This is hard• Yes, it is• Connections is a minimum of 5 and up to 10 + individual programs• Each requires installation• Each requires configuration
• It’s easy to make a mistake•So Don’t
RTFM
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Best Practices for Planning Connections
•The best defense is a good offense • Before installing, migrating, upgrading or changing anything about your working system• READ!• All of the steps• Use highlighters
Reading a Wiki
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Best Practices for Planning Connections• But reading is not easy
• This is also true• Product documentation is in a wiki• And sometimes hard to follow• And impossible to print
• Let’s look at supplemental material
Where to Find it• IBM Redbook: Installing and Deploying IBM Connections • http://www.lotus.com/ldd/lcwiki.nsf/dx/
PDF_of_IBM_Redbookscol_Installing_and_Deploying_IBM_Connections
• That’s a Redbook with Step by Step instructions installation, planning, etc
• The link is to the pdf and it prints nicely• There will be newer information in the wiki version, so
always double check
Where to Find it• IBM Redbook: Making the move to IBM
Connections 4.5 and IBM Connections Content Manager
• http://www.lotus.com/ldd/lcwiki.nsf/xpViewCategories.xsp?lookupName=IBM+Redbooks%3A+Making+the+move+to+IBM+Connections+4.5+and+IBM+Connections+Content+Manager
• That’s a Redbook with Step by Step instructions for CCM
Where to Find it• Documents from the wiki’s Community Article
section• These are pdfs and print nicely
• How to install Connections V4.5 on Windows• http://www.lotus.com/ldd/lcwiki.nsf/dx/
How_to_install_Connections_V4.5_on_Windows• How to set up embedded Connections Content Manager
with IBM Connections 4.5• http://www.lotus.com/ldd/lcwiki.nsf/dx/
How_to_set_up_embedded_Connections_Content_Manager_with_IBM_Connections_4.5
Where to Find it• Other pdf files
• http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/lcwiki.nsf/xpViewCategories.xsp?lookupName=Deployment%20Scenarios
• Business partner contribution• With helpful background included• Developed with Domino admins in mind• http://www.connections101.net
Plan for a Real System
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Best Practices for Planning Connections• Plan for a real system• If you think you’re building a test or pilot system
• You are wrong• Never, ever put all the programs on a single server
• Unless its on an image on your desktop • One that nobody in the world but you can access• Because it will go into production otherwise
Use a Worksheet
Best Practices for Planning Connections• Read this Worksheet
• http://www.lotus.com/ldd/lcwiki.nsf/dx/Worksheet_for_installing_IBM_Connections_ic45
• Then fill it out• Here’s a handy spreadsheet version
• http://www.vanessabrooks.com/download/connections_checklist_details_45.xlsx
Best Practices for Planning Connections• Plan for 3 systems
• They will be virtual servers• Test system• Development system• Production system
Best Practices for Planning Connections• Clean up your LDAP
• One email address per person• Fight for enough RAM
• “When Connections is starved for memory, strange things happen” - Gabriella Davis
Best Practices for Installing Connections
Best Practices for Installing Connections
•Plan Well•Practice•Learn from others
Best Practices for Installing Connections• Practice• This is a great learning tool• http://www.slideshare.net/FrankAltenburg/ibm-
connections-45-installation-from-zero-to-social-hero-201-with-domino-ldap
• Print and READ this• Install a server in ONE image on your laptop
• Then destroy it and do it again• And again
• NOTE: Do NOT use this to design your production system
Practice
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Best Practices for Installing Connections• After building your system locally, try one in a lab
• With several servers• With real data• With code downloaded to different places• Its not as easy as before
• Test your lab system• Change user names• Create one of everything• Test these changes
Download and Unzip
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Best Practices for Installing Connections• Download all the packages you will need at the same
time• Copy and unzip the software to the servers where
you will do the installation• This is a lot of data and very time-consuming
• Plan 24 hours for this step (no joke)• Don’t use path names that include a space
• Even for the expanded files• Launchpad does not like this
Snapshot Everything
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Best Practices for Installing Connections• Learn to take snapshots
• As you install, snapshot after each successfully installed package
• Snapshot all servers involved• If your servers are not virtual
• Backup the WAS profiles directory after each successful install
Best Practices for Installing Connections• Follow the system requirements to the letter
•System Requirements are real• Only documented configurations will work
• Assuming that the latest version is better• Is a sure way to break what you have
Best Practices for Planning Connections• Do ALL Pre-Installation tasks
• Pre-installation tasks are real
• Do them all• Post installation tasks must be done
• Configuration is normally handled here
Best Practices for Upgrading Connections
Upgrading/Migrating• The term Migration is used in most documentation• Two methods are acceptable
• In Place Migration• Side by Side Migration
• Side by Side is safest• With less down time
• In place is needed for CR or iFix application
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Use Your Test System• Install CRs and iFixes in Test• Snap shot your test system first• After this works, apply the fix to
production
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A Few Notes About Migration• If you are upgrading older systems
• You may need to upgrade iteratively• Backup and Save customizations• You’ll need to do your part of the change
• Often, your DBAs will need to run scripts• Read all of the technotes about the migration
• Plan the upgrade with everybody involved
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Summary• Read• Practice• Be careful out there!
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