Overview of the Siebel CRM Upgrade Factory On Premises

Upgrade Factory On Premise enables a simpler, faster, more predictable upgrade process. Once the Siebel CRM application is upgraded, customers can take advantage of the latest innovations and adopt monthly updates via the continuous release model.

Key benefits include:

Makes the transition of Siebel CRM 7.8.2 and higher to the latest release easier.
Enables customers to easily perform an Upgrade.
Speeds deployment time with quick setup of a development environment.
Identifies conflicts and fixes that are needed before the upgrade.
Completes an upgrade in a few clicks with as little human intervention as possible.

Supported Database Platforms, Operating Systems and Versions of Siebel CRM

With Upgrade Factory – On Premises, you can run Upgrade in a platform-agnostic way. It supports various OS/Db combinations across many operating system (Oracle Linux 7, Solaris, Microsoft Windows, IBM AIX) and database platform (Oracle Database, Microsoft SQL, IBM DB2 UDB).

Note: IBM DB2 for z/OS is currently not supported.

Upgrade Factory On Premises enables the efficient transition from Siebel CRM 7.8.2 and above to the latest Siebel CRM release update.

Prerequisites

These are the few prerequisites to keep in mind before you begin installing the upgrade factory On Premises:

Minimum supported application version Siebel CRM version 7.8.2 and above.
License to a Siebel CRM BaseApplication.
System requirements: Any Operating System and Database Platform supported by Siebel CRM as documented on My Oracle Support.

Note: IBM DB2 for z/OS is currently not supported.

Preliminary Setup

Before you start the Upgrade, you must complete these prerequisites:

Install Siebel on the server (Windows/Linux/AIX/Solaris).
Single server installation (install Enterprise, Siebel Server, and both Application Interfaces on a single server environment).
Ancestor repository file corresponding to the existing Siebel version to be upgraded, placed on server (dbsrvr/common/sia folder).
Execution server should have connectivity to database server and Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) connection must be established before the kickoff.
All files provided in the input payload should be accessible on the server box.

The Upgrade Process Flow

Here's the upgrade process flow in a sequence:

Prepare the customer DB server and Upgrade server for Siebel setup.
Install Siebel using installation and setup wizard.
Deploy Siebel Gateway and Enterprise using SMC.
Preparation
Upgrade Factory Trigger via REST API (executes UpgRep).
Launch Web Tools for Conflict Resolution.
Complete Upgrade (UpgPhys).
Launch the upgrade applications to verify the database upgrade completion.

The following figure explains the upgrade process flow.

Source: My Oracle Support (MOS)
Download, Unzip and Install the desired Monthly Update
Use the Siebel Management Console (SMC) to Bootstrap the Enterprise
Configure Gateway, Enterprise Server and a Siebel server.
Note: The Siebel Server will later be deleted; it is only used for the Upgrade Factory

Note: This prepares the server with all the required environment variables and server setting.
Upgrade Factory is a REST Resource configured in AI.
Bring down all the Siebel Services (applicationcontainer_internal, gateway and applicationcontainer_external), check the ODBC connectivity on the server and, then bring up the applicationcontainer_external.
Trigger Upgrade Factory REST API POST Request with Payload.
Monitor the progress using Upgrade Factory REST API GET Request.
Take a database backup after merge.
Start Siebel Services, deploy Siebel Server with Web Tools and any other required AOMs enabled.
Deploy External Application Interface Profile with Web Tools and other AOMs enabled.
Launch Web Tools to review and resolve conflicts.
Resume the Process using REST API PUT request after conflict resolution to proceed with Full Publish and UpgPhys completion.
Launch the upgraded applications to verify the database upgrade completion.

API Endpoints

You can perform operations with different REST APIs. Here are the available APIs:

POST: To post an Upgrade request with required input payload

https://<ServerIP or
                host>:<port>/siebel/v1.0/upgradefactory/upgrade

GET: To get the Upgrade execution status at any point in time

https://<ServerIP or
                host>:<port>/siebel/v1.0/upgradefactory/upgrade

PUT: To re-trigger the process from any failed point

https://<ServerIP or
                host>:<port>/siebel/v1.0/upgradefactory/upgrade

DELETE: To clear the instance

 https://<ServerIP or
                host>:<port>/siebel/v1.0/upgradefactory/upgrade