Upgrade

Supported Upgrade Paths

The following table list the supported upgrade path to Cisco Finesse Release 12.5(1).

Current Version

Upgrade Path

Release 12.0(x)

Upgrade to Release 12.5(1)

Note 

To perform an upgrade of Cisco Finesse to 12.5(1), you must first perform an upgrade to 12.0(1) from the previous versions and then upgrade to 12.5(1).


Note

Cisco Finesse ISOs are bootable. For example, if you must rebuild your secondary server, you can upgrade your primary server to the latest release and then perform a fresh installation with the Finesse ISO on your secondary server.

Aligned Partitions Support

Cisco Finesse Release, 12.5(1) supports aligned partitions with a fresh installation.

If you perform an upgrade from a previous release, the platform detects the unaligned partitions and displays the following error:

ERROR-UNSUPPORTED: Partitions unaligned

You can run Cisco Finesse with the unaligned partitions, as there is no functional impact to Finesse. However, you cannot experience the benefits of aligned partitions unless you perform a fresh installation.

To support aligned partitions following an upgrade, do the following:

  1. Upgrade Cisco Finesse to Release 12.5(1).

  2. Perform a backup on the primary Finesse server using the Disaster Recovery System (DRS) application. To access the DRS application, direct your browser to https://FQDN of Finesse server:8443/drf.

  3. Perform a fresh installation of Cisco Finesse Release 12.5(1).

  4. Access the DRS application and perform a restore from your backup.

For more information about DRS backup and restore, see the Cisco Finesse Administration Guide and the detailed online help provided with the DRS application.

Perform Upgrade

You must perform the upgrade on the primary Finesse node first, and then on the secondary Finesse node. Both the primary and secondary Finesse nodes must be running the same version prior to the upgrade.

Before you begin

  • Upgrade Finesse during off-peak hours or during a maintenance window to avoid service interruptions.

  • Perform a DRS backup on the primary Finesse server. To access the DRS application, direct your browser to https://FQDN of Finesse server:8443/drf. For more information, see the online help provided with the DRS application.

  • For large deployments, allocate extra vRAM and other resources to avoid impacting the performance of the upgraded version. For more information on the virtualization details, see https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/uc_system/virtualization/virtualization-cisco-finesse.html.

  • Place the Cisco Finesse ISO file on an FTP or SFTP server that you can access from your Finesse system or burn the ISO file to DVD.

  • From the Cisco Finesse release 12.0(1), the Administration Console has a new look and feel. If you have a custom desktop layout, save your current layout configuration. Sign in to the administration console on the primary Finesse node (https://FQDN of Finesse server:8445/cfadmin). Copy the layout XML file from the Manage Desktop Layout gadget on the Desktop Settings tab and save it as a text file on your local system.

  • Icons (both custom and in-built) that appear on the Finesse desktop and the left navigation bar are now customizable. Finesse specific tabs with no change in labels, will automatically display their respective in-built icons. Tabs which are created or modified will have a default icon. Customizing these icons can be done in the desktop layout through the administration portal of Finesse. Custom icons can be uploaded into the finesse 3rdpartygadget. For more information see, Default Layout XML section in Cisco Finesse Administration Guide at https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/customer-collaboration/finesse/products-maintenance-guides-list.html.

  • For upgraded layouts, the "hidden=false" attribute will be introduced for non voice state control gadgets. For example, the existing non voice control gadget URLs will be migrated to the new URL <gadget hidden="true">https://localhost/uccx-nvcontrol/gadgets/NonVoiceControl.xml</gadget>

  • For upgraded layouts, TeamMessage, Desktop Chat, and sample configurations for customizing desktop properties do not appear by default. The administrator must copy the XML from the View Default Layout and add to the respective custom layouts. For more information, see Cisco Finesse Administration Guide at https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/customer-collaboration/finesse/products-maintenance-guides-list.html.

  • maxRow is changed from being a query parameter to an attribute. During an upgrade it will be removed from the URL of the Team Performance gadget and will be added as an attribute. Post upgrade, the height of the rows in the Team Performance gadget remain the same.

  • In upgrade scenarios, by default, the first two call variables will be displayed in the agent call popover and supervisor active call details. You can modify the configuration of the popover variables to improve the agent and supervisor experience.

  • After upgrades, manually remove the Context Service gadgets from the Desktop Layout and Team Desktop Layout.


Note

After the successful upgrade, the CAs that are unapproved by Cisco are removed from the platform trust store. However, you can add them back, if necessary.

Procedure

Step 1

SSH to your Finesse system and sign in with the platform administration account.

Step 2

Access the CLI and run the command utils system upgrade initiate.

Step 3

Follow the instructions provided by the utils system upgrade initiate command.

If you choose to install from a remote source (FTP or SFTP server), provide the location and credentials for the remote file system.

If you choose to install from the local CD/DVD drive, ensure the drive is connected to the Finesse virtual machine (VM) as follows:

  1. Right-click the VM and choose Edit Settings.

  2. Click the Hardware tab.

  3. In the left pane, select CD/DVD Drive.

  4. In the right pane, under Device Status, check the Connected and Connect at power on check boxes.

  5. Under Device Type, select Datastore ISO File.

  6. Click Browse and navigate to the Finesse ISO file.

  7. Click OK.

Finesse also prompts you for SMTP Server information, but it is not mandatory. You can skip the SMTP prompt if you do not have an SMTP Server.

Step 4

At the Automatically switch versions if the upgrade is successful prompt, type yes. The upgrade is not active until a switch version is performed.

Note 

Once the switch version is complete, the system will reboot.

Step 5

At the Start installation (yes/no) prompt, type yes to start the upgrade.

Step 6

If you are installing from the local CD/DVD drive, when the upgrade enters the BIOS screen, on the Boot tab, move CD-ROM Drive to the top, save your settings, and exit.

Step 7

After the upgrade is complete, disconnect the CD/DVD drive.

  1. Right-click the VM and choose Edit Settings.

  2. Click the Hardware tab.

  3. Select CD/DVD Drive 1.

  4. Uncheck the Connected and Connect at power on check boxes.

  5. Click OK.

Step 8

Perform the preceding steps on the secondary Finesse server.

Step 9

Sign in to the Finesse desktop to verify that the upgrade was successful (https://FQDN of Finesse server:8445/desktop).

Note 

After Finesse restarts, wait approximately 20 minutes before you attempt to sign in to the desktop. Finesse services may take a few minutes to reach the STARTED state.

What to do next

After a system upgrade, make sure all agents, supervisors, and administrators clear their browser cache.

If you had a modified desktop layout before the upgrade, perform the following steps to ensure you obtain the latest changes:

  1. Sign in to the Finesse administration console and click the Desktop Layout tab.

  2. On the Manage Desktop Layout gadget, click Restore Default Layout.

  3. Click Save.

  4. Using the text file of the desktop layout that you saved before the upgrade as a reference, modify the layout to include the changes that you made to the previous layout.

  5. Click Save to save your changes.

In the Manage Reasons (Not Ready) gadget, check for Not Ready reason codes with code values that are not unique. Edit any that you find to give them unique values.

In the Manage Reasons (Sign Out) gadget, check for Sign Out reason codes with code values that are not unique. Edit any that you find to give them unique values.

Perform Rollback

If a problem occurs with the upgrade, you can roll back to the earlier release.

Procedure

Step 1

Perform a switch-version on the primary node.

  1. Access the CLI and enter the command utils system switch-version.

  2. Enter yes to confirm.

    The system attempts to switch back to the original version and reboots if the switch is successful.
Step 2

Repeat Step 1 on the secondary node.

Step 3

1 hour after the switch version is complete, use the following command on both nodes to confirm that the replication is successful: utils dbreplication runtimestate.

The replication is successful if the output shows a replication status of 2.

Note 

If the replication is unsuccessful, run the following database replication commands on the primary node:

utils dbreplication stop all

utils dbreplication reset all

After you enter these commands, wait again for 1 hour (or more depending on the volume of data) before again using the utils dbreplication runtimestate command to confirm the replication is successful.