Hi Everyone,

I wanted to post some information on the best way to be deploying MA CMMS onto your Business Servers. By following these steps each time you upgrade, it will not only save you time, but also ensure that you are happy with your CMMS installation prior to making it live.

It is always important to remember when you are deploying any software product into a production environment you do not disrupt your current installation, which most likely, is a stable deployment. This is a good rule to keep in mind for deploying software in businesses both small and large. Think of it this way: how many times have you installed an upgrade to a product that just didn't work, and you need to go through the painful process of uninstalling and restoring the previous version. Or, how many times when you are upgrading products of this size, does something go wrong during the installation and next thing you know your business is offline for hours or days? By following the steps I will outline below, you can be sure that you are satisfied with your upgrade installation before taking your stable installation offline, and your bosses and co-workers will love you. Maybe you'll even get a promotion, or win employee of the year!!

The process below applies to MA CMMS Installation when upgrading a previous installation:

Remember

1. It is always good to do an installation of new production software when there is limited or no usage of your currently running production product, like for example, on a Sunday morning. For the sake of the installation outlined below, it will also ensure that your data is all up-to-date when you finally deploy the new installation.
2. For the following example, remember that a software product deployed and used by everyone in your company is called your "Production" installation. A product deployed for the sake of testing, prior to moving into production, is called your "Staging" installation.
3. The example below will show installation on Windows, but the process remains the same for all operating systems.
4. The example below will show the most common installation and registration steps. You always have the option to do an advanced installation, while still using the concepts of "Staging" and "Production" installation as outlined below.
5. this example will refer to the previous Production version as V3.3.4, and the new Staging version as V3.3.5

Scenario

Your company is running MA CMMS V3.3.4, and you have been notified that there is a new version ready for download, available on the Maintenance Assistant website. You decide that you want to download and install the new version because the new features are just too good to resist, but you're worried that your current system is running just fine, and you don't want to throw a wrench into productivity at your company.


Step 1 - download and install

1. On your Production Server (the computer where your V3.3.4 is already running), download the new version available on the Maintenance Assistant website. With your current V3.3.4 Production copy still running (do not stop your V3.3.4), run your newly downloaded installation script. And follow the installation instructions, accepting all the defaults.
2. At the end of the installation, and before your browser opens to setup your CMMS, you will be displayed a dialog box that explains your new CMMS installation will now run on a different port. click OK on this dialog, and your web browser will open and take you to the setup screen for your new CMMS installation.

Step 2 - setup

1. Take note that the URL at the top of your web-browser is not http://localhost:8080/, as this installation has chosen another port to take you through the setup, while not disrupting your Production version running on 8080.
2. If you have a previous CMMS installed (which for the purpose of this writeup, you do), the first screen that appears will ask you to import your data from a previous installation. Select the CMMS installation that is currently running in your Production environment and click next.
3. The CMMS will import all of your data from the Production version, and when finished, will take you immediately to the login screen. Your new installation is now configured and is running as your Staging version.

Step 3 - run staging tests

1. As the administrator, run through any screens in your Staging version, and make sure the CMMS is good to go into Production. 
2. Once you are satisfied with your Staging version replacing your Production version move onto Step 4.
3. If you have made too many changes to the data you imported or added garble data in your testing process, you can always run a backup from your current Production version and import it into your Staging at any time during your testing process. It will ensure also, that if time has passed since you have installed your Staging version, that you import the most recent Production data before replacing your Production version.

Step 4 - moving Staging into Production

1. The first thing you need to do is to stop your current Production version from running, or uninstall it completely. 
2. To stop your current Production version, and not uninstall it just yet (note: this is would provide an added level of safety should your new installation not work for whatever reason after you have moved it into Production), go to start > settings > control panel >administrative tools > services. scroll to Maintenance Assistant cmms v3.3.4 and stop the service. Then right click and go to properties. Set Startup Type to Manual, and click Save
   
3. To uninstall your current Production version, go to start > programs > Maintenance Assistant cmms v3.3.4 and click on Uninstall Mainten.... 
4. Once you have Stopped, or Removed your current Production version, you can switch your Staging version to now be available as Production. In your Staging version, log in as administrator, and go to system > network settings. Under General Network Settings > Http Server, set http port to 8080, and click Save. You must now restart your Staging installation to now make it available on port 8080.
5. Restart your Staging version by going to start > settings > control panel >administrative tools > services. scroll to Maintenance Assistant cmms v3.3.5 and stop the service. Once the service is stopped, Start the service.
6. You are now running your new installation in Production, and all CMMS users can access it as they did the previous installation!

Followup

1. Once you are satisfied with your new CMMS upgrade, you can remove your old versions at any time by uninstalling them from the start menu.
2. Should you wish to roll-back to a previous installation, and provided you have saved a previous installation by just turning it off in your list of services, you can always do so quickly, but making a backup from your Production version. Stopping the Production version service, starting your previous installation service, and importing the database that you backed up.
3. You do not need to run your CMMS on port 8080, this is default out of the box, but you can choose to run http and https on any port that you wish.

By following the steps above, you will be sure that as a result of the installation process you a) do not disrupt your production running application, b) upgrade with all of your production data intact, c) maintain your Business Community registration information across all future installations. I hope this has been of help in showing the best way to deploy the MA CMMS on your production servers!

Tim