Upgrading the PPT Software

This chapter provides the procedure to upgrade Policy Provisioning Tool (PPT) application using GUI-based as well as the console-based methods.

IMPORTANT:

Only users with root level privileges can perform upgrade.

PPT application upgrade is an automated procedure to replace an existing version of PPT application by a later or higher version.This procedure is performed by PPT installer program. During upgrade procedure, if PPT application is already installed, then the installer displays appropriate message indicating version of existing PPT installation. In such case installer provides a choice either to continue with upgrade procedure or to abort it.

PPT application does not provide any automated mechanism to revert to its earlier version. This can be achieved by un-installing existing PPT application and installing the earlier version. Refer chapters Uninstalling PPT Software and Installing PPT Software for detailed instructions.

CAUTION:

Un-installing PPT application removes PPT database related files from the deployment. However, PPT back-up containing database dump and PPT configuration files, that are updated every mid-night by default, are not removed during un-installation process if they are located outside PPT installation directory. These backup files are compatible with version of PPT application and cannot be used with earlier or later versions of PPT application.

This chapter includes the following sections:

Unpacking the PPT Files

PPT installation package is archived as a single zipped file with a .zip extension. You need to copy this file on PPT server and then extract it.

Following task describes how to extract PPT installer:

  1. Access the directory in which the PPT installer archive is copied.
  2. Unzip the file by issuing following command: 
    unzip <file_name>.zip
    The file_name is name of the downloaded PPT installation archive. For Linux machine, the file name is ppt_<version_number>_rhel_x86.zip; and for Sun Solaris machine, the file name is ppt_<version_number>solaris_sparc.zip. PPT installation archive contains following files:
    • README
    • setup.bin
    • inst

Pre-upgrade Steps in Cluster Mode

The following steps should be performed before upgrading the PPT in cluster mode:

  1. Execute the following command to disable the resource on the standby node. This will make sure that the resource group does not failover in between the upgrade and result in any sort of data corruption. 
    $ hagrp -disable
<resource group name> -sys <node2>
  2. Execute the following command to verify that the cluster has been disabled. 
    $hagrp -state | grep
ppt-ha
    Expected output.
    ppt-ha State <node1> |OFFLINE|
    ppt-ha State <node2> |OFFLINE|
  3. Execute the following command to set the 'Critical' and 'Enable' attribute of the ppt-app resource to '0'. This will ensure that only the PPT application can be brought offline on the active node with the storage and network resources still online. 
    $ hares -modify
<resource-name> Enabled 0

    $ hares -modify
<resource-name> Critical 0
  4. Execute the following command to verify that the above changes have been done. 
    $ hares -state | grep
ppt-app
    Expected output.
    ppt-app State <node1>
OFFLINE
    ppt-app
State <node2> OFFLINE
  5. Execute the following commands to synchronize the main.cf file on both the cluster nodes. 
    $haconf -makerw
- to make in writeable

    $haconf -dump
makero - to sync the config and make it readonly
Refer to Performing the PPT Upgrade for further steps on how to upgrade PPT application.

Performing the PPT Upgrade

This section provides information about available upgrade methods and how to use them to upgrade an existing PPT application.

IMPORTANT:

Standalone PPT installation cannot be upgraded by cluster PPT installation and vice versa. Also existing standalone PPT installations cannot be added into cluster mode.

This section contains following sub-sections:

Available PPT Upgrade Methods

An existing PPT application along with its components such as Apache web server, PostgreSQL database engine, Notification sever and PsMon can be upgraded using either a GUI based or a console based method.

GUI-based Upgrade: This is commonly used upgrade method. Following are the requirements for GUI-based upgrade:
  • Administrative access to the PPT server and attached display terminal, with active X-Windows application such as Xming or eXceed.
  • Network connectivity to PPT server via Telnet or SSH, using some X-Windows client on remote workstation.

Console-based Upgrade: This upgrade method is used when either X-Windows application or remote network connectivity to PPT server using Telnet or SSh is not available.

Upgrading PPT Using the GUI based Installation Wizard

Following task describes how to upgrade PPT application using GUI based method:

  1. Access the directory where extracted PPT installation files are located.
  2. Execute the following command to start PPT setup: 
    ./inst
    The PPT Installer screen appears:
  3. Click Next to proceed. PPT installer checks for any existing version of the PPT software. If such version is found, then following dialog box opens:
  4. Click Yes if you want to continue with upgrade.
  5. Follow instructions displayed by PPT installer to configure and update required parameters. Refer GUI Based Installation Parameters table from Installing the PPT Software chapter, for descriptions of configurable parameters.
  6. Click Done to exit the GUI-based installation wizard. After completion of upgrade process, you can access PPT application GUI by entering following URL in the address bar of the browser in client machine:
    https://<ip_address>:<port_number>/

    https://<host_name>:<port_number>/
    where ip_address and host_name is the IP address of the machine where PPT server software is installed and port_number is the number of port to which apache is listening for the client requests. Installer assumes the default port if port_number is not provided with URL.

    IMPORTANT:

    Contact Cisco support for default Username and Password in order to login to the PPT application after the upgrade.

Upgrading PPT Using the Console based Installation Wizard

Following task describes how to upgrade PPT application using console based method:

  1. Access the directory where extracted PPT installer archive is located.
  2. Execute the following command to start setup file: 
    ./inst -i
console
    PPT installer displays a series of messages as shown below: 
    Extracting the JRE from
the installer archive...

    Unpacking the JRE...

    Extracting the installation
resources from the installer archive...

    Configuring the installer
for this system's environment...

    Launching installer...

    Preparing CONSOLE Mode
Installation...

         .   .   .

         .   .   .

         .   .   .

    PRESS <ENTER> TO
CONTINUE:
  3. Press the “Enter” key to proceed. A series of messages appear as shown below: 
    User Checking...

    Upgrade Checking...

    Version number <xx.x.xx.x>
of the software is already installed on the System.

         Do
you want to upgrade it? (Y/N):
  4. Enter “Y” (Yes) to proceed with upgrade.
  5. Follow the instructions displayed by PPT installer to configure and update required parameters. Refer GUI Based Installation Parameters table from Installing the PPT Software chapter for description of configurable parameters. After successful upgrade, PPT installer displays following messages:
    Install Complete

    ----------------

    Policy Provisioning
has been successfully installed to:

    /users/<ppt-install-dir>

    Installation log file
"/PolicyProvisioning_InstallLog.log" can be viewed
from the same location.

    Start Policy Provisioning
component as:

    cd /users/<ppt-install-dir>

    ./pptctl start

    ./pptctl stop
    After completing the upgrade process, you can access PPT application GUI by entering following URL in the address bar of the browser in client machine:
    https://<ip_address>:<port_number>/

    https://<host_name>:<port_number>/
    where ip_address and host_name is the IP address of the machine where PPT server software is installed and port_number is the port number to which apache is listening for the client requests. Installer assumes default port, if port number is not provided with the URL.

    IMPORTANT:

    Contact Cisco support for default Username and Password in order to login to the PPT application after installation.

Post Upgrade Steps in Cluster Mode

After completing upgrade on standby node shift the PPT application on active node.

Following task describes post upgrade steps in cluster mode:

  1. Run the script provided as part of PPT installer (install_postgres). This script will upgrade the database schema. This script should be run on active node.
  2. Execute the following command to set the Enable attribute of the ppt-app resource. 
    $ hagrp -enable
<resource group name> -sys <node2>

    $ hagrp -switch
<resource group name> -to <node2>
  3. Upgrade PPT on node which was previously active (node1).
  4. Execute the following command to set the Critical attribute of the ppt-app resource. 
    $ hares -modify
<resource-name> Critical 1
  5. Execute the following command to verify that the above changes have been done. $ hares -state | grep ppt-app Expected output. 
    ppt-app        State
                <node1> OFFLINE

    ppt-app            
State                 <node2> ONLINE