Upgrading SCT Banner
Upgrading SCT Banner


The process of maintaining SCT Banner involves
frequent upgrades for both enhancement and error
correction purposes
These tasks will involve using:

ActionWeb

Patches

Upgrades
2
ActionWeb - Services


ActionWeb is SCT's web site for:

Information on the SCT Banner products

FAQs

Finding information on defects

Finding and downloading patches

Entering technical request contacts
You must be a valid SCT customer
3
ActionWeb - Account


Requires setting up an account

Specific username and password

Uses reverse IP lookup
To set up an account:

Start at http://www.sct.com

Click on Client Support


In the ActionWeb Users box, click where prompted ("If
you do not have a valid User ID and Password, then Click
Here to continue.").
Click the ActionWeb FAQs link below, if needed
4
ActionWeb - Options


After logging into the account, the ActionWeb
home page displays several options
On the main page there are entries for:

Recent News

Instructions for downloading patches

How to sign up for SCT listservs

SCT Banner Release Schedule

SCT Banner FAQs
5
ActionWeb - Menus

On the left side of the main page are a set of
menus:

Profile - This is your personal profile

Contacts - Contacts opened by your institution

Extended Search - Extensive search of the SCT databases

Known Issues - Defect searches

FAQs - Various SCT Banner FAQs

Upgrades - Request SCT Banner documentation and upgrades
6
ActionWeb - Support

ActionWeb is one of the available avenues to
report SCT Banner problems



ActionLine is also available
Both ActionWeb and ActionLine go into the same
helpdesk pool
ActionMail
7
SCT Banner patches and
upgrades


Except for major upgrades, most enhancements and
patches will be downloaded off the ActionWeb
As issues are resolved and error corrections developed,
these fixes will be bundled into patch sets and posted on
the ActionWeb's electronic download site

These patch sets are compressed and encrypted

Must use a special program to decrypt (edread)
8
Finding patches



The first step is to use the Known Issues search
engine to locate defect and associated patch
numbers
New patch postings are also broadcast on the SCT
listserve BPOST
Once the proper patches are located, invoke the
download gadget to retrieve them
9
Downloading patches



There is a web gadget that allows for easy
packaging and downloading of patches and the
decryption program
Follow the directions on the main ActionWeb page
for downloading patches to set it up
Set up a directory structure to download and
decompress/decrypt these patches
10
Installing patches


Once the patch is downloaded, decompressed,
and decrypted, review the install instructions
Most downloads involve new software or database
objects, which will need to be:

Migrated to proper software directory

Compiled as needed

Installed into the database as needed
11
Managing patches



Patch management is one of the most challenging
of the SCT Banner maintenance duties
A methodology and conventions for storing,
testing, and applying patches should be developed
Patch installation does not necessarily coincide
with upgrade installations
12
SCT Banner Upgrades


SCT Banner upgrades come in two types:

Cumulative

Interim
Upgrades are applied in two parts:

Upgrade applied to the database

Upgrade applied to the software
13
Upgrade dependencies




Each SCT Banner product has its own upgrade
procedure
These upgrades must be applied in a particular
order to build dependencies properly
There is a dependency matrix for all upgrades in
the SCT Banner general FAQ section
Read Page Five of the Upgrade Installation Guide
14
Database Upgrades


GOSTAGE is a PL/SQL program that builds a
database upgrade script based on two SCT Banner
upgrade tables:

GUBSMOD
- Holds Modification
Identifier

GURSSQL
- Holds Modification SQL
Creates and runs a file called DOMOD.SQL which
will apply all of the upgrade changes to the
database
15
Software Upgrades




The upgrade to the software happen in sync with
the database upgrade
All changes to source code is migrated to the
software tree during this stage
All Pro*C, Pro*Cobol, and Forms executables are
compiled and moved to the appropriate executable
trees
Forms executables probably need to migrate to
other servers
16
Managing Upgrades

How many upgrades - the bare minimum

Remember the O/S and Oracle

The database server is not the only upgrade

Timing the upgrades

READ THE UPGRADE DOCUMENTS

Media verification
17
Step One

READ THE USER RELEASE NOTES!

Distribute them

Make copies

Users will make upgrade timing decisions based upon them
18
Step Two

Backups


The databases

Make sure you have a cold backup

Check on disk space if in archivelog mode
The SCT Banner directories

This will replace the existing files
19
Step Three

Restricting access

Revoke user access

Change user passwords

Restricted Mode

Stopping the named listener

Change the port number so you can access the
database while doing the upgrade
20
Step Four

Position to the correct directory

Make sure you are doing the correct upgrade

Make sure the paths are set

DO IT EVERY TIME YOU RESTART THE UPGRADE!
21
Step Five

Edit the login.sql file


DO IT FOR EACH DATABASE!
Create a subdirectory for each database within the upgrade for
the SPLPREF variable

Change the passwords?

PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE TABLE SIZING!!

Site-specific changes may be affected
22
Step Six

Nruready.sql

Modification tables

GUBSMOD

GURSSQL

Possibly a set of these tables for each product

The import error message

Verify the import
23
Step Seven

You are provided several lists of changes that should
be reviewed before any upgrade.

You may need to resize tablespaces and quotas

Items can be deleted, increased, added of modified


Tables

Indexes

Views

Stored objects
Objects, options and menus are now modified as part
of GOSTAGE
24
Step Seven (cont.)

Changes the database structure
The GOSTAGE Process
GUBSMOD
GURDMOD
GOSTAGE
GURSSQL
domod.sql
xURVERS
domod.sql
25
Step Eight

Migrate from stage to permanent directories



Check that you are pointing to the correct SCT
Banner code tree
Extra migration step for the forms
Unix users should verify which type of link is used
(soft vs. hard)
26
Step Nine


Compile the COBOL programs

Uses the make file or com file

Run in the background
Not required for subsequent databases
27
Step Ten


Compile the C programs

Uses the make file or com file

Run in the background
Not required for subsequent databases
28
Step Eleven


Baseline data changes

Dynamic help

Role level security objects

Rule codes

Graphs
Data conversion

Performed after structural changes

Each one is specific

Very seldom used
29
Steps Twelve and Thirteen

Forms and Reports

Now done on the forms server

Review each file for necessary include files

Make site-specific changes

Passwords

Connect strings
30
Step Fourteen

Letter generation/population selection variables
need recompilation

When necessary, the instructions are very explicit

Not done very often
31
Step Fifteen

Referential Integrity created in Step 7

This step may disable some of the constraints
32
Step Sixteen

If there are any reports that involve changes to the
database or data dictionary, this step lists the
reports and how to create the output listings
33
Step Seventeen

The final run of the GOSTAGE process

Renames the original domod.sql and listab1.lst files

Drops all obsolete tables

Drops temporary objects

Updates xURVERS table
34
Step Eighteen

Verify the upgrade

Part A


Part B


The GURALTR script finds all invalid objects owned by
the BANINST1 and recompiles them
Re-synchronize any changes to classes
Part C

Run Xrudone.sql
35
End of Session
Any Questions?
36