Upgrade Overview

The following table shows supported Sun Java System Application Server upgrades. In this table, PE indicates Platform Edition and EE indicates Enterprise Edition.

Upgrading from 8.1 SE to 8.2 EE only involves installing the HADB packages. You do not need to use the upgrade tool .

The Upgrade tool can be launched by issuing the asupgrade command or by choosing the Upgrade option in the Application Server Installer.

Upgrade Tool Interfaces

You can use the tool through the command-line interface (CLI) or the GUI.

To use the Upgrade tool in GUI mode, issue the asupgrade command with no options.

To run the Upgrade tool in CLI mode, invoke the asupgrade command with the --c/--console option. You can run the upgrade CLI in the interactive or non-interactive mode. If you supply all required arguments when invoking asupgrade on the console, the upgrade is performed in non-interactive mode and no further input is required. For a complete list of asupgrade options, refer Table 2–2. If you invoke the tool only with the --c/--console option, the tool enters the interactive CLI mode, where the user is asked for a series of inputs.

Upgrade Terminology

The following are important terms related to the upgrade process:

• Source Server: the installation from which you are upgrading to the new version.

• Target Server: the installation to which you are upgrading.

• Domains Root : the directory where the domains are created. This directory, by default, is the location specified as AS_DEF_DOMAINS_PATH in asenv.conf

• Domain Directory or domain-dir: the directory (within the Domains Root) corresponding to a specific domain. All the configuration and other data pertaining to the domain exists in this directory.

• Install Root: the directory where the Application Server is installed.

• Administration User Name: Name of the user who administers the server. This term refers to the admin user of the Application Server installation from which you want to upgrade.

• Password: Administration user’s password to access the Domain Administration Server (DAS)(8-character minimum) of the Application Server installation from which you want to upgrade.

• Master Password: SSL certificate database password used in operations such as Domain Administration Server startup. This term refers to the master password of the Application Server installation from which you want to upgrade.

Upgrade Tool Functionality

The Upgrade Tool migrates the configuration, deployed applications, and certificate databases from an earlier version of the Application Server to the current version. The Upgrade Tool does not upgrade the binaries of the Application Server. The installer is responsible for upgrading the binaries. Database migrations or conversions are also beyond the scope of this upgrade process.

Only those instances that do not use Sun Java System Web Server-specific features are upgraded seamlessly. Configuration files related to HTTP path, CGI bin, SHTML, and NSAPI plug-ins are not be upgraded.

Before starting the upgrade process, make sure that both the source server (the server from which you are upgrading) and the target server (the server to which you are upgrading) are stopped.

Migration of Deployed Applications

Application archives (EAR files) and component archives (JAR, WAR, and RAR files) that are deployed in the Application Server 7.x/ 8.0 environment do not require any modification to run on Application Server 8.2.

Applications and components that are deployed in the source server are deployed on the target server during the upgrade. Applications that do not deploy successfully on the target server must be migrated using the Migration Tool or asmigrate command, and deployed again manually. For information on migrating applications using the Migration Tool, refer Chapter 6, Migrating from Application Server 6.x/7.x.

If a domain contains information about a deployed application and the installed application components do not agree with the configuration information, the configuration is migrated as is without any attempt to reconfigure the incorrect configurations.

Upgrade of Clusters

While upgrading a configuration containing clusters inApplication Server 7.x, specify one or more cluster files or the clinstance.conf files. In Application Server 8.x, the clusters are defined in the domain.xml file and there is no need to specify separate clusters. Another notable difference is that in Application Server 8.x, all the instances within a cluster reside within the same domain and therefore, in the same domain.xml file. In Application Server 7.x, the instance forming a cluster could span more than one domain.

Transfer of Certificates and Realm Files

The Upgrade tool transfers certificates from the source certificate database to the target. The tool supports conversion of JKS certificates to NSS certificates. The tool transfers security policies, password files from standard, file-based realms, and custom realm classes. Refer Before You Upgrade for specific requirements for providing passwords for the certificate databases.

Upgrade Log

An upgrade log records the upgrade activity. The upgrade log file is named as the upgrade.log and is created in the domains root where the upgrade is carried out.

Upgrade Rollback

If an upgrade in progress is cancelled, the configuration before the upgrade was started is restored.