Upgrading from an Existing Version

For an upgrade, most of the data needed will be fetched from the system databases, and does not need editing in the setup. Any discrepancies are outlined below.

• The Forstasoftware is only available via Octopus deployment. If your site is not already using the Octopus deployment system a conversion is required from the installer setup. This is only available from v20 and v21 Frozen. Assistance is required by the Forsta Operations team to complete this process.
• Upgrading from Forsta versions 19 and older is not supported. Please contact your account manager or [e-mail] to discuss upgrade options.

For all upgrade assistance and inquires please contact [e-mail] or your account manager.

Note: Windows Server and SQL versions can change between the release versions of Forsta Plus.

Forsta Licensing

Forsta Plus is protected software and requires a license file to work. Forsta Plus is not installed with a standard license.

In order for Forsta Technical Services to provide you with a valid license file, a Site ID value for the site you are installing on is required (go to ObtainingAndInstallingALicenseFile for more information).

If you are upgrading from a version that already uses a license, the existing license should continue working with Forsta Plus. Licensable add-ons introduced in newer versions than the one you are upgrading will not be enabled automatically; a new license file enabling these add-ons will have to be installed, even if those add-ons are included in the contract or are provided free of charge with a new version.

Note: In a virtual environment, make sure that the server clocks on all hypervisors are in sync before syncing time with virtual machines. If the clock on a VM rolls back, this may invalidate the license as it will be perceived as tampering to extend the license period.

Keeping Existing Settings

If you upgrade an existing version of Forsta Plus, .NET configuration files (web.config files for web applications), <servicename>.config files for system services, and web folder configuration) will be overwritten by the setup. If you have edited the files to include custom settings (for instance referencing installed custom code), you should back up the files from their original locations and take note of the IIS configuration (or back up your IIS metabase) before proceeding with the upgrade.

Note: All configuration settings in the Forsta Plus system configuration will be kept during an upgrade. These will have been entered into the Octopus variable set before first installation by the Forsta Operations team assisting with the installation.

Important
As some new settings have made their way into Forsta Plus’s .config files (for .NET applications) these files should not be replaced with older versions. Instead, it is recommended to edit the new files and paste in the configuration changes required from older ones, such as session state handling, links to custom code libraries, custom error documents, etc.

SSL Requirements

Upgrading to the current Forsta Plus requires SSL settings to be defined in Octopus (Confirmit.Site.SSLEnabled = TRUE/FALSE). If the site is already using SSL for HTTPS this variable should already be set to TRUE. However if the site does not use HTTPS then it should be set to FALSE.

If this variable is not defined the site the Identity Provider will reject non secure connections and the upgrade will fail during deployment. See Appendix C for a full list of variables used in Octopus.

Important
If you change this variable, you will need to update the snapshot variables for the release and force redeploy of the packages. If this is not done, the updated variable will be persisted when the next release is loaded onto the Octopus server.

Back-up System Databases

System databases should be backed up before an update in case a rollback is required (go to SQL Server Databases for more information). Survey databases are not touched during an upgrade; schema updates occur when the survey is launched after upgrade.