Running the vFire Patch Tool
Once you have installed the vFire Patch Tool and run the Screens Pre-upgrade, you run the vFire Patch Tool to upgrade your system.
Before you start
Ensure you have created a backup or snapshot, as described
Close the vFire Core Server Console and any other windows on the server, before running the upgrade otherwise errors may occur.
Ensure that your system meets the prerequisites outlined in the Prerequisites Guide.
Familiarize yourself with the information in the Installing or Patching section,
Familiarize yourself with the Screen Pre-upgrade feature, as described
If you are upgrading from a version lower than 9.2.0, it will invalidate your existing license key. You must have an updated license key to run vFire Core. Contact your Account Manager for more details if necessary.
Oracle databases are not supported for vFire 9.9 and above. Attempting to patch an Oracle database system to 9.9 or above will error and fail.
Select the appropriate link to view a PDF version of the 9.11 Prerequisites, the Installation Guide, or the Upgrade Guide .
- Install the vFire Patch tool (Installing the Patch Tool). If you have already installed it, simply run through the wizard again.
- The Alemba vFire Patch Tool window is displayed.
- Complete the details.
- Select Start to commence the upgrade.
- If you have not selected Stop services and upgrade database without prompting, or if you have not already stopped services, you will be prompted to stop IISAdmin and vFire services. Select Yes.
- If you do not ensure that the console is closed before you begin (as mentioned
- The patch tool will upgrade the databases. You will receive a confirmation dialog box warning you of this if you have not selected Stop services and upgrade database without prompting. Select Yes to upgrade the databases. Selecting No will cancel the installation process, as the database upgrade is an essential step in the upgrade installation. If you select No, you will need to run the process again.
- The patch tool will update reports that ship with vFire Core. If you have not selected Overwrite all modified reports without prompting, or if you have modified the shipped reports, you will be asked whether to overwrite the modified report. Select Yes to update and restore the report to default. Selecting No will skip the report meaning modifications are retained but the report is not upgraded and therefore may no longer function properly after upgrade.
- Once the upgrade has been completed, you will see the following window.
- Select Close to exit the wizard.
- You should now download and run the DatabaseChecker file. This is advised to ensure that your database does not contain any corruption that may prevent smooth running of Resource Manager.
- Locate the email that you were sent when you ordered the upgrade.
- Use the link that was provided in the email to navigate to the portal download page.
- Download DatabaseChecker.zip.
- Extract and run the exe.
- Check the output. If you receive a message stating that the DatabaseChecker "found invalid fields", your database administrator should investigate further. On completion of any changes, you should run the DatabaseChecker again.
- On receipt of the "OK" message, the check is complete and the database is ready for use with Resource Manager.
| Screens pre-upgrade only | Select this checkbox if you want to pre-upgrade your screens in preparation for an upgrade at a later time. If you have already run the screen pre-upgrade, or do not need one, make sure that this box is unchecked. When the Screens pre-upgrade checkbox is selected, your system is not upgraded. You can find out more about screens pre-upgrade |
| Stop services and upgrade database without prompting | If you want to run the patch tool in silent mode, meaning you will not be prompted for input while the patch tool runs, select this and the following checkboxes. If not selected, the upgrade will pause and present a prompt requesting permission to stop the IISAdmin service and vFire services, and later on another prompt asking if you want to upgrade the database. If selected, Yes is automatically selected at both prompts. |
| Overwrite all modified reports without prompting | If you want to run the patch tool in silent mode, meaning you will not be prompted for input while the patch tool runs, select this and the previous checkboxes. If not selected, the patch will pause and present a prompt asking if you want to overwrite modified reports. Selecting this check box will automatically select Yes at this prompt. |
| Overwrite locally customized system files |
If you have customized files, select this option to move the customized files into a System/Customizations folder as part of the upgrade, and upgrade all of the files in the system to the latest version. You can then re-apply the customizations to the upgraded version of the files. Prior to 9.9.4, all customized files were merged unchanged as part of an upgrade process. Customers with customizations were, effectively, running systems combining files with different release versions. A large number of files were upgraded in the base system as part of the 9.9 release, which could potentially cause problems for customers running systems with files from previous releases. For this reason, it is strongly recommended that if you have customized files, you select the checkbox and re-apply customizations where necessary when the upgrade is complete. If the upgrade detects that a file in the System folder has been changed/customized, the file will be moved into the Customizations folder. It will not move folders, or files that do not require replacement or updating. Any htm\javascript files copied from the maintenance package will be treated as a customization if it is not also copied into the original folder. Any unknown files will be ignored. Blank custom files are unaffected. If you run several upgrades, selecting this option each time, customized files found in each of the upgrades will be added to the same Customizations folder. For this reason, it is a good idea to archive the contents of this folder after each upgrade/before the next, to declutter the folder. |
You need to make sure that the Server Console is not in use on that web server (either by the current windows login or another).
Applying the License Key
If you are applying a patch to a system version lower than 9.2.0, you will need a new license key, which will be provided by Alemba Support or your Account Manager.
- After the patch is complete, open the Server Console.
- Select your system name and then select Properties from the Actions column on the right hand side to open the properties window.
- Select the Licence tab.
- Paste the new license key in the box and select Decode. Check that the license information is correct, and then select OK.
Should the need arise, roll back the upgrade as described
Upgrading Officer & Portal
You need to ensure that your version of Officer & Portal is compatible with the version of vFire Core. Any version of vFire Core 9.x will be compatible with any 9.x version of vFire Officer & Portal, regardless of the third release digit, unless otherwise stated in the release notes.