Siebel Anywhere Administration Guide > Retrieving, Installing, and Testing Upgrade Kits >

Testing Upgrade Kits

This topic describes how to test upgrade kits. This task is a step in Process of Retrieving, Installing, and Testing Upgrade Kits.

The recommended method for testing upgrade kits is to create and distribute an upgrade kit to a limited and controlled number of users. In this method, you can assign specific testing users to the Siebel Test Client configuration so your regular subscribers will not be allowed to install any upgrade kits in the testing phase. Distribute the upgrade kit only to the Siebel Test Client configuration. See Using the Siebel Test Client Configuration for Testing.

CAUTION:  When testing new upgrade kits, it is strongly recommended that you perform tests using both Developer and Mobile Web Clients. If for any reason Mobile Web Client users experience problems installing or downloading the new upgrade kit, then the problems will be significant.

After an upgrade kit has been thoroughly tested under the Siebel Test Client configuration, you can then distribute it to the appropriate production configurations.

To optimize the setup process for new users, it is recommended that you create a master installation image for each configuration your Siebel Anywhere subscribers use, and keep these images up to date. If all current upgrade kits are installed to create a current image, then you can use the image to set up new subscribers, so each new subscriber will not need to download and install many upgrade kits. This method also makes it safer to deactivate old upgrade kits, since new subscribers will receive the necessary software by means of installation images, rather than being required to install old upgrade kits.

NOTE:  Siebel Anywhere does not deliver Siebel Database Schema upgrade kits to individual Developer Web Client users, because they connect to shared databases. Test database extensions in the development environment.

Using the Siebel Test Client Configuration for Testing

Siebel Anywhere provides a special configuration called Siebel Test Client to serve as your test user. By default, the Siebel Test Client configuration is representative of the other subscriber configurations initially provided, but it can be modified to reflect your active configuration.

To test an upgrade kit

1. Create a user and assign this user with the Siebel Test Client configuration in one of the following ways:
   • Assign the user to the configuration, as described in Assigning Employees to a Configuration.
   • Install a client and set ComponentName to Siebel Test Client in the active CFG file.
2. Define, activate and apply the upgrade kit as an optional upgrade kit and distribute to the appropriate configuration.
3. Verify that the Siebel Test Client configuration contains the components being upgraded with the upgrade kit.
4. Notify the selected users assigned to the Siebel Test Client configuration to log in. Instruct them to use the procedures described in Retrieving and Installing Upgrade Kits to retrieve and install the upgrade kit.
5. After test users install the upgrade kit, have them test it by running the application that was upgraded.

   Have all test users report any unexpected behavior in the application. Give special attention to areas of the application that changed due to the upgrade.

   If the test is unsuccessful, then see Troubleshooting for Siebel Anywhere for possible solutions.

NOTE:  If you want to change your optional upgrade kit to be required after testing, then see Converting an Optional Upgrade Kit to a Required Upgrade Kit.