Upgrade HCL Compass Web Server features: considerations and best practices

When you upgrade, or move, to a new WebSphere® Application Server profile, HCL Compass Web Server, Full Text Search, and Reporting features are installed in the same WebSphere Application Server profile. All of these features must be upgraded, or moved together.

Before you upgrade or apply fix packs, review important information that affects the upgrade, configuration, and administration processes for HCL Compass Web Server features.
Important: , If the HCL Compass environment includes the Full Text Search and Report Launcher features, you must install WebSphere Application Server 32-bit edition. These features are not supported on WebSphere Application Server 64-bit edition. For more information, see Technote 1512059.

Use these links or scroll down the page for information about upgrading HCL Compass Web Server features.

HCL Compass Web Server

Table 1 provides an overview of the upgrade paths for the HCL Compass Web Server.

The HCL Compass Web Server upgrade instructions by version topic provides an overview of the upgrade process for the HCL Compass Web Server by the version you are upgrading from.
Table 1. HCL Compass Web Server upgrade instructions by version
Installed version Upgrade overview
ClearQuest® version 7.x In HCL Compass, the WebSphere Application Server is installed separately from the HCL Compass Web Server. The separate installation enables the WebSphere Application Server and IBM® HTTP Server environments to be managed independently of the HCL Compass environment. See Prepare the WebSphere Application Server environment for HCL VersionVault HCL Compass web servers.
For more detailed upgrade instructions including a compatibility matrix for supported installation, upgrade, and rollback paths, see technote 1634465 on the HCL Support website.

Important information about upgrading the HCL Compass Web Server

  • Before you upgrade, review the HCL Compass Release Notes® to learn about any known problems or limitations that are related to installation and upgrade.
  • Be careful when overriding default port number assignments during the upgrade process. During upgrade or installation operations, default port numbers are assigned to ensure that each port is unique. For example, if the default port for the WebSphere Application Server version 7.x profile AppSrv01 is port 9080, when you upgrade to version 8.0.x, the default port that is assigned to AppSrv01 is 9081. If you override the default port number, you risk introducing port number conflicts.
  • You cannot modify profile security settings during the HCL Compass upgrade process. Use the WebSphere Application Server console to manage WebSphere Application Server administrative security.
  • Restart IBM Installation Manager between successive operations if you are not prompted to restart the system.
  • After a HCL Compass Web Server upgrade, notify ClearQuest Web client users to clear their browser cache and delete cookies and temporary internet files. Clearing the browser prevents HCL Compass problems that result from HCL Compass client/server communication that is based on cached data instead of current data from the HCL Compass Web Server.

HCL Compass Report Server and reporting features

HCL Compass version introduces a new reporting strategy that might affect your upgrade process. If your upgrade plan includes updating or adding support for HCL Compass reporting, see Reporting on data sources for information about these changes.

Important: If the HCL Compass environment includes the Report Launcher features, you must install WebSphere Application Server 32-bit edition. These features are not supported on WebSphere Application Server 64-bit edition. For more information, see technote 1512059.

The Report Server for Crystal Reports and Report Launcher for Web Server features are installed in the same WebSphere Application Server application server profile as the HCL Compass Web server. As a result, you must upgrade reporting feature at the same time that when you upgrade the Web Server.

Full-Text Search Server

Before you upgrade or apply fix packs to a HCL Compass Web environment with full-text search, back up the full-text search configuration and data. Depending on how the full-text search feature was installed initially, other tasks might be required when you upgrade your environment.

You must back up Full-Text Search Server configuration and data before you upgrade WebSphere Application Server and the HCL Compass Web Server.

Update LDAP configuration to TLS 1.2 for HCL Compass user authentication

Update the HCL Compass version and LDAP configuration to add support for National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-131A guidelines.

HCL Compass version 8.0.1.1 adds support for the NIST SP 800-131A guidelines that provide information about managing cryptographic keys. The guidelines cover the following areas:
  • Key management procedures.
  • How to use cryptographic algorithms.
  • Algorithms to use and their minimum strengths.
  • Key lengths for secure communications.

To comply with these guidelines, you must use LDAP with Transport Layer Security 1.2 protocol (TLS 1.2) for authenticating HCL Compass users. This configuration requires updating the LDAP server and the HCL Compass LDAP configuration to support TLS 1.2. For details, see technote 1646724.