Upgrading from 6.2 to 7.5

[sginter]

I’m preparing to upgrade our SalesLogix deployment from v6.2 to v7.5   The setup is:

old server:  Windows 2000 + SQL2000 + SLX 6.2

new server:  Windows 2008 (32-bit) + SQL2008 + SLX 7.5

I want to do something like the following:

1.  Upgrade DB on old server to new format

2.  Backup and restore existing SLX DB from old server to new server, while leaving the old server running

3.  Test all picklists and customizations on the new server before installing new client to the users

Am I on the right track with this upgrade?  Are there any suggestions out there for how best to accomplish this task?

Thanks,

Steve

[RJLedger]

Have you read ALL the upgrade documentation as provided by Sage SalesLogix? If not.. read it.. make notes read it again... It will help.

[sginter]

Ok, I guess I should take it one step at a time:  I've read the planning and implementation documentation and I don't see a procedure for moving a SalesLogix 6.2 Server deployment from one server to another.

How can I accomplish this?

-steve

[DanCarvin]

The upgrade documentation assumes you are not migrating to a new server machine or SQL instance. However, many customers want to do hardware & software upgrades at the same time. This makes it a little more complex and adds a few gotcha's. Here's what I do (In addition to everything in the upgrade PDF):

It sounds like you want SLX to continue to be available to users (probably read only) while you perform the upgrade and testing. If that's the case, do not upgrade the production database on the old server since once you begin, the 6.2 client will no longer work. These steps also assume you moving the SLX Services to a new machine

1) Backup the production DB. Announce to users that SLX should be considered Read Only until their workstations are upgraded. Have someone run around and tell them in person because someone always shows up after the upgrade and wants to know what happened to all the stuff they entered after the "SLX is Read Only!" email was sent.

2) Restore the backup on the same SQL instance and set it up in Connection Manager using different name.

3) Run the first database upgrade step on the copy you set up. This has to be done on a machine with the 6.2 provider installed.

4) Make a backup of of the upgraded copy and restore it on the new server.

5) If you are also moving the logging and documents folders, copy these to the new server.

6) After installing the Admin workstation as described in the PDF, launch Admin and set the logging and document paths to the new location.

7) Proceed with the upgrade as described in the Upgrade PDF.

8) After upgrading the workstations, shut down the SLX Server service on the old server. If any workstations were forgotten, you want them to call right away, not work for two weeks in the old DB and then wonder why no one can see their changes.

9) If there are remote users, be prepared to cut new databases. I have successfully upgraded 6.2 to 7.5.1 remotes without cutting new remotes when using the same server, but whenever I've migrated to new servers while installing an upgrade, the remotes were all corrupted and had to be recut. If anyone has figured out how to do that please post how.