Upgrade Primary Server

This applies to upgrading from ENPS 9.0.0.230 or later. See Upgrade from ENPS versions earlier than 9.0.0.230 to upgrade from earlier versions.

Preparation

Before you start the upgrade process, make sure you do the following on the Primary Server:

  1. Check for Windows updates on the Primary Server, installing and then rebooting the server at a convenient time.

    Do not reboot both ENPS servers at the same time.

  2. Check the F:\Common folder for unexpected subfolders.

    AUDIT, BUDDY, C_SUPPORT, DBSCRIPTS, ELECTION, G_SUPPORT, and G_SUPPORTBACKUP are expected. Any other folders are should be deleted or moved to the C:\ drive.

  3. Create a backups folder on your desktop

  4. Copy the following files and folders to the backups folder:

    C:\inetpub\wwwroot
    E:\Search Server\data\enps\conf (if applicable - legacy from v8.2.X)
    E:\Search Server\SOLRJavaService (where applicable)
    F:\Common\G_Support
    F:\ENPS
    F:\NOM\nom.ini
    F:\NOM\AC
    F:\NWP
    F:\SearchServer
    F:\ServerName\S_SUPPORT
    F:\ServerName\S_PRIV

    The backups folder should now look like this:

  5. Switch users to the Buddy NOM by blocking the NOM on the Primary Server:

    Remind users that they will see failover messages throughout the upgrade process. Users can continue working without interruption.

    1. Open the NOM Buddy Maintenance tool on the Primary server.

    2. Ensure there is no queue in the top window.

    3. Open the News Object Manager (NOM) on the Primary server.

    4. Open Window > NOM Configuration/Status and ensure the Block Primary Access box is ticked.

  6. Confirm that users can work on the Buddy Server.

  7. Close all ENPS components on the Primary Server, starting with NOM Watcher.

  8. Purge the index in preparation for a recrawl:

    1. Open a command prompt.

    2. Enter the following:

      This command is case-sensitive.

      Note there is a space after .exe before the /

      F:\SearchServer\SearchCrawler.exe /deleteindex:enps

Update Corretto for Solr

ENPS requires Amazon Corretto OpenJDK. Ensure you only have Coretto version 11 installed.

First, uninstall any versions of Corretto other than version 11:

  1. Open Start Menu > Apps & Features.

  2. Search the apps list for Corretto.

  3. Click on each Corretto entry to check the version.

  4. Uninstall all Corretto installations that are not version 11.

    If you can't uninstall Corretto because it is still in use:

    1. Open Task Manager.

    2. Open the Services tab.

    3. Right-click SolrJavaService in the list and select Stop from the popup menu.

    4. Try deleting Corretto again.

    If prompted to restart your system:

    1. Remove the Watch.exe shortcut from the startup folders:

      1. Click Start, type Run and enter the following in the Run dialog to open the first startup folder:

        shell:startup
      2. Remove the Watch.exe shortcut from the folder if it exists.

      3. Click Start, type Run and enter the following in the Run dialog to open the second startup folder:

        shell:common startup
      4. Remove the Watch.exe shortcut from the folder if it exists.

    2. Click Yes to restart.

Once all other versions of Corretto have been uninstalled, install Corretto 11 if it is not already installed:

  1. Browse to https://aws.amazon.com/corretto.

  2. Download a Windows x64, .msi Corretto installer for Corretto version 11.

  3. Run the Corretto installer.

  4. Click Next, Next and Install to perform a default installation.

Finally, ensure that SolrJavaService is running:

  1. Open Task Manager.

  2. Open the Services tab.

  3. Ensure that SolrJavaService in the list has a Running status.

    If not, right-click SolrJavaService and select Start from the popup menu.

If the required version of Corretto is not installed, the Platform Installer will also alert you and provide a link to the download site.

For details about using Solr in ENPS, see Solr Search.

Enable Dynamic Compression

The Dynamic Compression feature allows the Internet Information Services (IIS) Webservice to compress data that is being sent to ENPS clients.

Turning on this feature brings a considerable increase in ENPS client performance, particularly for users on a weak connection to ENPS servers. For example, improvements should be noticed with client start time, search time, and general speed when working with rundowns.

To check that dynamic compression is enabled for ENPS desktop clients:

  1. Open Server Manager.

  2. Click Add roles and features.

  3. Click Next in the Add Roles and Features Wizard until you reach the Server Roles page, ensuring your server has been selected:

  4. Ensure that Web Server (IIS) > Web Server > Performance > Dynamic Content Compression is ticked:

  5. Click Next twice and then click Install.

  6. Click Finish when installation has completed.

Installation

Once all Preparation is complete, continue with installation:

  1. Right-click on the ENPS Platform Installer .zip file downloaded in Download Installer and select Properties.

  2. Ensure that the General tab > Unblock box is ticked if it exists, then click OK.

  3. Extract the ENPS installer from the ENPS Platform Installer .zip file.

  4. Run the extracted ENPS Platform Installer.

  5. On the Product Selection screen select the following for a typical ENPS installation:

    • ENPS Server Components - Upgrade

    • ENPS NOM Web Services - Upgrade

    • ENPS Elections API Ingest Service - Upgrade or Install

    Your screen should look like this:

    The installer will flag if the server does not have the correct version of Corretto installed.

    If you see this message, exit the Platform Installer and complete the steps in Update Corretto for Solr above. Then restart the Platform Installer.

  6. On the End User License Agreement screen, read the agreement and accept the terms.

  7. Click Next.

  8. Configure admin login using either:

    Alternatively, do not use auto login on this server.

    This option is not available if the server is already configured to use an admin login method.

  9. Click Next.

  10. On the Configuration > Search Configuration screen, enter a username and password for Solr and ensure that Override and configure SOLR specific settings is ticked.

    Do not leave User Name and Password blank as it may cause later connection issues with Solr.

  11. On the Configuration > IIS Settings screen, Webservice should be preselected with the correct Application Pool (NOMWebServicesAppPool).

  12. Click Next to start installation.

    Click Run in any prompts that appear.

  13. Wait for installation to complete successfully.

  14. Click Install Details.

  15. Click Finish.

  16. Recrawl existing data.

    This screen does not appear if you already have Corretto 11 installed. However, you will still need to perform a recrawl when instructed in the After Server Restart section below.

    Recrawling is required due to Solr being updated to a new version.

    Recrawling may take a long time depending on how much data you have and the robustness of your server. Due to this you may want to complete your upgrade first, then proceed with a manual recrawl afterwards.

    To recrawl after installation:

    1. Ensure that Re-crawling of data required is not ticked.

    2. Click Close.

    3. Perform the manual recrawl when instructed in the After Server Restart section below.

    To recrawl now:

    1. Ensure that Re-crawling of data required is ticked.

    2. Click Execute Selected Steps.

      The installer will open the News Object Manger in block mode, NOM Buddy Maintenance and NOM Maintenance and perform the recrawl.

    3. Wait for the recrawl to complete successfully.

      Do not continue with any other steps until complete.

    4. Click OK to close the popup.

  17. Click OK to close the installer.

    Do not start NOM Watcher.

Proceed to the Post-installation instructions.

Post-installation

Before Server Restart

After Installation is complete and before restarting the server:

  1. Open F:\NOM\NOM.ini in Notepad.

  2. Ensure that the following setting exists in the NOM section of the file. If not, add it and save the file:

    ContinueIfSOLRDown=1
  3. Open the backups folders created during Primary Server Preparation.

  4. Open the ENPS\v7\enpsclient.config file.

  5. Compare this file with the same file in F:\ENPS\v7 on the Primary Server, specifically:

    1. Check that the Primary and Secondary webservice settings are correct.

Continue with these steps:

  1. If this server ingests FTP wires, confirm if the FTP wire log files (.DC) are in the NWP folder.

    If not, restore them from the backup of the NWP folder created during Preparation.

  2. Edit the NomWebServiceAppPool application pool:

    1. Open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

    2. In the Connections pane, expand the server name and select Application Pools.

    3. In the Application Pools pane on the right, right-click NomWebServiceAppPool and select Advanced Settings.

    4. Set the Idle Time-out (minutes) option to 0 in the Advanced Settings popup.

    5. Click OK.

    6. Right-click NomWebServiceAppPool again and ensure that it is started.

  3. Delete the contents of the F:\NOM\MOS\OUT folder if it exists.

  4. Remove the Watch.exe shortcut from the startup folders:

    1. Click Start, type Run and enter the following in the Run dialog to open the first startup folder:

      shell:startup
    2. Remove the Watch.exe shortcut from the folder if it exists.

    3. Click Start, type Run and enter the following in the Run dialog to open the second startup folder:

      shell:common startup
    4. Remove the Watch.exe shortcut from the folder if it exists.

Now restart the server.

After Server Restart

After restarting the server:

  1. Launch the News Object Manager (NOM) in block mode on the primary server by entering this into a command line:

    F:\NOM\nom.exe /block

    There is a space after .exe and before /block.

    If your ENPS data drive is something other than F:\, use that drive letter instead.

  2. Open Window > NOM Configuration/Status and ensure the Block Primary Access box is ticked.

  3. Confirm that items are emptying to the Primary Server from the Buddy Server:

    1. Open NOM Buddy Maintenance on the Buddy server.

    2. Check that files are processing.

      If not, try regenerating the schema on the Primary Server by entering the following in a command prompt:

      F:\SearchServer\SOLRSchemaManager.exe /regenerate /reset:true
  4. Click Start, type Run and enter the following in the Run dialog to open the user startup folder:

    shell:startup

  5. Copy the Watch shortcut from the desktop to the startup folder.

  6. Open NOM Watcher, which starts the other processes on the Primary Server.

    Keep Block Primary Access checked for now.

  7. Confirm that all wires are ingesting as expected.

    If any FTP wires are not ingesting, deactivate the wire, re-enter the password for the FTP server, and activate the wire again.

  8. If your users do not have local admin rights on their workstations, you may enter credentials they can use for the upgrade in the application, F:\NOM\Setadmin.exe. These credentials should have local admin rights on all workstations.

    This will ensure that the ENPS Client can be upgraded on these workstations.

  9. Ensure there is not a queue in the Buddy Maintenance Process window on the Buddy Server.

  10. Unblock the Primary Server once the Buddy queue is empty.

  11. Try launching a client to check if it upgrades.

    If so, have one regular user close and relaunch ENPS.

    If the upgrade fails, try a different account in setadmin.exe. It’s fine if it’s an account with an expiring password. You only need setadmin credentials to be current on a day you’re upgrading ENPS.

  12. Launch a client on a machine without local admin rights to confirm that the client upgrades.

  13. Upgrade all control room and set machines at this time (recommended).

Solr Recrawl

If you didn't perform a Solr recrawl during Installation then you must perform a manual recrawl now.

To do so, open a command prompt and enter:

F:\SearchServer\SearchCrawler.exe

Recrawling data does not impact users. It simply means that searching in ENPS will gradually become available on the server as data is reindexed.

Next Steps

You have now upgraded the Primary Server!

Proceed to Upgrade Buddy Server if not already done. Otherwise proceed to Upgrade Mobile Server if applicable.