Upgrading the server in silent mode

Use silent mode to upgrade without command-line prompts. To upgrade the server, stop the server, edit the properties file, and run the new installation program. These instructions apply to upgrades from versions 6.0 and later.

Before you begin

Before you begin

Depending on the version of HCL Launch you are upgrading, be sure to address these build-specific considerations.

Table 1. Build-Specific Upgrade Considerations
Affected Build Consideration
7.0.5 Upgrading to 7.0.5 enables compression of new VC entries that reduces the vc_persistent_record table growth rate. If you are using MySQL or MariaDB, then the upgrade may take longer due to the vc_persistent_record table changes. To avoid the delay on MySQL 5.6 or MariaDB 10.0 or later, run the following SQL statement before starting the upgrade: ALTER TABLE vc_persistent_record MODIFY persistent_data longtext null, ADD compressed_data longblob null, lock=none Note that you can run this command without shutting down the HCL Launch server. Attention: If the command fails, proceed with the upgrade and let the upgrade script make these changes. In such case, the upgrade requires downtime. It is recommended to run the command on a cloned HCL Launch database to get an estimate of downtime duration.

About this task

This task applies to upgrades of versions 6.1 or later. Contact HCL Launch support for all other versions.
Note:

During the upgrade, the contents of the appdata/patches directory (including all .jar files) will be appended with .off, preventing the existing test fixes from being loaded once the HCL Launch Server is started post-installation. All UI test fixes applied to the Tomcat directory will be wiped by the upgrade and will not be recoverable.

If a text fix received for a reported defect is not fixed in the upgraded version, you may need to open a Support Case to request a new build.

Note: The component version import logs are automatically cleaned up after 24 hours by default. Setting com.urbancode.ds.cleanup.sourceConfig.fullCleanupSkip property to True in the installed.properties file, skips automatic cleaning up of component version import logs.

Procedure

  1. If you have added custom keystores, certificates, or any other files to the server_install/opt/tomcat directory, back up those files before you upgrade. If you do not back up files that you have added to the server_install/opt/tomcat directory, those files are removed when the upgrade process runs.
  2. Download and extract the installation files for HCL Launch.
    These files are available for download from the HCL FlexNet Operations portal.
  3. Ensure that no application and generic processes are running.
    Open the Dashboard and confirm that no processes are running. If processes are running, you can wait for them to complete or by clicking Cancel in the same row as each process, cancel them. In versions 6.2.5.1 and later, you can use the Message of the Day feature (Settings > System > General Settings) to notify users of the planned upgrade, and request that they do not start new processes.
  4. Stop the server.
  5. Ensure that the server is stopped:
    1. Check to ensure that there is no file server.pid in the server_install/var folder.
    2. Check for running system processes.
      For example, on Linux™, you can use the netstat or ps commands. For example, if the server is running on port 8443, use the command netstat -nap | grep 8443. You can also run ps -ef | grep server and look for the server system process in the results.
    3. If any server processes are still running, stop them.
    If a server process is still running, when you install the new version, you see an error that says "A previously installed version of HCL Launch is running. Please shutdown the running HCL Launch and start the installation again."
  6. Back up the database.
  7. Optionally, upgrade the version of Java on the server to version 11 or later.
    See Changing or updating the JRE of servers.
  8. In the installation files, open the install.properties file in a text editor.
    • Make sure that the following mandatory parameters are updated.
    vendor.name=hcl 
        component.name=exampleComponent 
        component.directory=launch/server 
        version=7.1.2.4.1127014
    • Add the following line of code to the file.
    nonInteractive=true
      install.server.dir=/opt/applocal/launch 
      server.initial.password=admin 
      com.urbancode.ds.cleanup.sourceConfig.fullCleanupSkip=true
    For a detailed description about these properties, see Server installation properties.
  9. From the command line, run the server installer program. 
    install-server.bat -silent -install-dir <\install\dir>-java-home <\jdk\dir> -frontend
    • On Windows™, run the install-server.bat file.
    • On Linux™, run ./install-server.sh.
    • To install a FIPS-compliant server, add the switch -fips to the command, such as install-server.sh -fips.
      Note: If you install a FIPS-compliant server, cloud provisioning is not available. Your JVM connects to only FIPS 140-2 certified IBM® providers.
    Depending on your system settings, you might need to run this file as an administrator.
    The arguments in the command correspond to properties in install.properties, and if specified they will override them. Corresponding properties are as follows:
    Argument Property Note
    -silent nonInteractive=true Running with -silent and without an -install-dir results in an error.
    -install-dir /install/dir install.server.dir=/install/dir Setting an install-dir that already has server results in a server upgrade.
    -java /jdk/dir install.java.home=/jdk/dir Running with -java for a server upgrade results in an error.
    frontend Optional Distributed front-end server. For more information, see Installing the distributed front-end server
  10. Start the server, and verify that the server is upgraded.
    If you get error Shutdown file is present! Is the server running?, check that you are using Java 11. If so, remove the -Djava.endorsed.dirs=<PATH> from the JAVA_OPTS variable in the set_env file.
  11. Ensure that licensing is set up for the server.
    See Managing licenses.
  12. Optional: If you are upgrading the server from version 6.0.1.1 or earlier to a version later than version 6.0.1.1, upgrade the encryption key strength.
    See Upgrading encryption key strength.
  13. Optional: Upgrade the agents.
    See Upgrading agents. You must upgrade agents that use Java™ plug-ins, including most source configuration plug-ins. If you do not upgrade the agents, they will throw an IllegalCharsetNameException exception that refers to the variable DS_SYSTEM_ENCODING.

What to do next

What to do next

Upgrade all agent relays to the current version. Agents that connect through relays may not connect successfully until both server and relay are upgraded.