Upgrade Buddy 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 Buddy Server:

  1. Check for Windows updates on the Buddy 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\server\solr\enps\conf (if applicable)
    E:\Search Server\SOLRJavaService (if 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. Close all ENPS components on the Buddy Server, starting with NOM Watcher.

  6. Stop the SOLRJavaServer service:

    1. Open the Server Manager tool.

    2. Browse to Local Server > Tools > Services.

    3. Stop the SOLRJavaServer service.

Corretto for Solr

ENPS requires Amazon Corretto OpenJDK Coretto version 17, which will be automatically installed by the Platform Installer.

All versions of Corretto other than version 17 must be removed now. Do not install any higher or lower versions of Corretto.

To uninstall versions of Corretto other than version 17:

  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 17.

    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 uninstalling 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.

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

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 contents of the Platform Installer zip file to the root of the ENPS Work Drive, which is usually the F: drive:

    Do not extract to a different location, such as the Downloads folder. If extracted to another location such as the Downloads folder, the Platform Installer may crash or get stuck when run.

    This creates the following files/folders at the root of the F drive:

  4. Run the PlatformInstaller.exe file from that location to start the Platform Installer.

    If the Platform Installer crashes or gets stuck, do not restart it. Contact Us immediately.

    If the following popup appears then click Yes.

    If you are running Windows Server 2019 or older you may see an error that the operating system does not support .NET 4.8.1. If so, click OK and manually download and install .NET 4.8 (not 4.8.1) from here: https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet-framework/net48

    Then return to this step to re-run the Platform Installer.

  5. Select ENPS on the Server Type screen.

  6. 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 meet certain prerequisites, such as the required version of Corretto installed.

    As of ENPS 9.6.1, this now ensures that all server Roles and Features prerequisites are met.

    If you see this message, click Install Requirements. If you are instructed to reboot before continuing then exit the Platform Installer, take Watch out of startup, reboot the server, then re-run the Platform Installer.

    Click Next if all prerequisites are met:

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

  8. Click Next.

  9. Configure admin login using either:

    Alternatively, do not use auto login on this server.

    The actual screens shown in this step depend on what you already have configured. The Do not auto login to this server option is not available if the server is already configured to use an admin login method.

  10. Click Next.

  11. On the Configuration > Search Configuration screen, you will see one of the following sets of options depending on which version of ENPS you are upgrading from:

    • Ensure that Override and configure SOLR Specific settings is ticked if you see this screen:

    • Enter a username and password for Solr and ensure that Override and configure SOLR specific settings is ticked if you see this screen:

      Do not forget the User Name and Password as they are required to connect with Solr.

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

  13. Click Next Step.

  14. Click Next.

    Click Run in any prompts that appear.

  15. Click Continue to start installation.

  16. Wait for installation to complete.

  17. Copy the G_SUPPORT files:

    If your Primary Server is NOT your Central Server, meaning you have a separate Central Server, provided that has been upgraded, then skip this step.

    This step is only necessary if your Primary Server is also your Central Server.

    1. Open File Explorer on your newly upgraded Buddy server.

    2. Copy the following files in the F:\Common\G_Support folder:

      G_Fielddef

      G_Langen

    3. Paste them to same folder on the Primay/Central Server.

  18. Click Install Details.

  19. Click Finish.

    If prompted to restart the server, select No.

  20. Click OK to close the installer.

    Do not start NOM Watcher.

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

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.

Now restart the Buddy server.

After Server Restart

After restarting the Buddy Server:

  1. Wait for Solr to start if prompted.

    After a restart it can take several minutes for Solr to become fully functional. The NOM may indicate as such.

    You can proceed once this screen has disappeared and the NOM has fully launched.

  2. Open the NOM Buddy Maintenance tool on the Primary Server.

  3. Regenerate the schema by entering the following at a command prompt.

    F:\SearchServer\SOLRSchemaManager.exe /regenerate /reset:true

  4. Open the News Wire Profiler on the Primary and Buddy Servers, and ensure that wires are coming in on both.

    For any wires not coming in, try unticking and reticking their Active box.

  5. At a convenient time, fail users over to the upgraded Buddy Server for a time with live shows to make sure it is fully functional.

Solr Recrawl

Perform a recrawl only if you are upgrading from 9.5.0 or earlier. Do not recrawl your server if you are upgrading from 9.5.1 or later.

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 Buddy Server!

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