Upgrading Process

Yahoo Archive
1
Documentation about Changes in Vantage 5.1

Changes in features: http://support.epicor.com/v/downloads/support/vantage/51readme.wri
Changes in modules, VB Buttons, & Security: http://support.epicor.com/v/downloads/support/vantage/whatsnew.doc
Changes in Tables: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/Vantage%20Admin/Table%20Changes%20in%20Vantage%205.doc
Installation Instructions: http://support.epicor.com/v/downloads/support/vantage/real-installprgs.rtf


NOTE: Links may be broken up by the Egroups filters, but cut and paste should help them work.

Troy Funte
Liberty Electronics


----- Original Message -----
From: bstenglein@...
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, October 05, 2001 8:43 AM
Subject: [Vantage] Re: Upgrading Process


Nora,

This is my biggest concern, because I am the report writer around
here. However, I think my Boss, the MIS Admin, doesn't think that
this upgrade is going to involve major changes because it is going
from 5.0 to 5.1. Is there any way to get a list of schema changes
from Epicor? It would be excellent to know what changes they are
making to which tables ahead of time.

Thanks,

Brian Stenglein
Clow Stamping Company

--- In vantage@y..., "Nora Story" <Nora_Story@s...> wrote:
> In addition to the things others have talked about, there are
usually table
> changes that could make some of your invaluable Report Builder and
Crystal
> reports unavailable until you have reworked them to match the new
Vantage
> table locations.


Yahoo! Groups Sponsor



Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must have already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
(1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
(2) To search through old msg's goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
(3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
2
This is a question for you veterans of the Upgrade Process. My
company went live in May with 5.0, we had purchased Vantage when 4.0
was out, so we've gone through one upgrade, but we we're using the
system except for testing, which is a big difference. I've seen many
different suggestions to other users about testing the upgrade on
another server, etc... I told my boss about what I've heard and he's
not sure why that is necessary. He said we should go ahead and load
the upgrade and put out any fires that may arise as they happen.
When he asked me what I thought we should test I couldn't give him a
good answer, only to say that I know a lot of you suggest it. Could
you give me some ammo to bring to him for why testing is a good idea
and what specifically you are looking for during an upgrade? He
thinks it will be a big waste of time.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Brian Stenglein
Clow Stamping Company
3
So you are already on 5.0 and using it? Does that mean you are going upgrade to 5.1 and need to test it?

Troy

----- Original Message -----
From: bstenglein@...
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2001 4:23 PM
Subject: [Vantage] Upgrading Process


This is a question for you veterans of the Upgrade Process. My
company went live in May with 5.0, we had purchased Vantage when 4.0
was out, so we've gone through one upgrade, but we we're using the
system except for testing, which is a big difference. I've seen many
different suggestions to other users about testing the upgrade on
another server, etc... I told my boss about what I've heard and he's
not sure why that is necessary. He said we should go ahead and load
the upgrade and put out any fires that may arise as they happen.
When he asked me what I thought we should test I couldn't give him a
good answer, only to say that I know a lot of you suggest it. Could
you give me some ammo to bring to him for why testing is a good idea
and what specifically you are looking for during an upgrade? He
thinks it will be a big waste of time.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Brian Stenglein
Clow Stamping Company


Yahoo! Groups Sponsor



Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must have already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
(1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
(2) To search through old msg's goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
(3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
4
Brian,
I was glad I tried the process on a test server.
I found I needed CVAP008.r (conversion failure fix) Convmap.cp error
document.
This was the first time I did a conversion by myself, so I got to practice
all the procedures, find out how to work in a Dump&load and a change to a
Multi volume database with out crashing the live system. I made notes how
long certain procedures ran. And notes to clear up any missing or poor
directions. It also gives the users a chance to look at the new version,
before they have to use it.
Nancy Dunn
Winco Industries

-----Original Message-----
From: bstenglein@... [mailto:bstenglein@...]
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2001 4:24 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Upgrading Process


This is a question for you veterans of the Upgrade Process. My
company went live in May with 5.0, we had purchased Vantage when 4.0
was out, so we've gone through one upgrade, but we we're using the
system except for testing, which is a big difference. I've seen many
different suggestions to other users about testing the upgrade on
another server, etc... I told my boss about what I've heard and he's
not sure why that is necessary. He said we should go ahead and load
the upgrade and put out any fires that may arise as they happen.
When he asked me what I thought we should test I couldn't give him a
good answer, only to say that I know a lot of you suggest it. Could
you give me some ammo to bring to him for why testing is a good idea
and what specifically you are looking for during an upgrade? He
thinks it will be a big waste of time.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Brian Stenglein
Clow Stamping Company



Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must have
already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
(1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and
Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
(2) To search through old msg's goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
(3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
5
As the Vantage administrator it makes good sense to have another box at
least comparable to the live database box that you can use for testing. I
strongly suggest duplicating your current live environment and doing a mock
upgrade - the whole nine yards - just so you have a good feel for what steps
are required, time frames, any gotchas, etc. Any fires that arise in the
live environment quickly become infernos when you have a whole shop of
users - including the President - standing around outside your door watching
you sweat. 'Nuff said.

Terry L. Williams I.S. Manager Chipsco, Inc. 9936 Liberty St. Ext.
Meadville, PA 16335 p.8143336331 x236 f.8143372548 tlw@...
<mailto:tlw@...> www.chipsco.com <http://www.chipsco.com/>

-----Original Message-----
From: bstenglein@... [mailto:bstenglein@...]
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2001 4:24 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Upgrading Process

This is a question for you veterans of the Upgrade Process. My
company went live in May with 5.0, we had purchased Vantage when 4.0
was out, so we've gone through one upgrade, but we we're using the
system except for testing, which is a big difference. I've seen many
different suggestions to other users about testing the upgrade on
another server, etc... I told my boss about what I've heard and he's
not sure why that is necessary. He said we should go ahead and load
the upgrade and put out any fires that may arise as they happen.
When he asked me what I thought we should test I couldn't give him a
good answer, only to say that I know a lot of you suggest it. Could
you give me some ammo to bring to him for why testing is a good idea
and what specifically you are looking for during an upgrade? He
thinks it will be a big waste of time.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Brian Stenglein
Clow Stamping Company




Yahoo! Groups Sponsor

<http://rd.yahoo.com/M=212180.1660613.3195489.1269402/D=egroupweb/S=17050071
83:HM/A=812075/R=0/*http://www.verisign.com/cgi-bin/go.cgi?a=b17834980005700
0>


Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must have
already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
(1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and
Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
(2) To search through old msg's goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
(3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service
<http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> .


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
6
Brian, I feel sorry for you having to explain the need of testing before
upgrading. There are quite a few scenario's in the archives of this group
of "things-that-make-you-go-uh-oh" when it comes to upgrading.

The path used should be;
-know what you are about to do
-test outside of network; make sure all custom programming and reporting
plays nicely with the new goodies
-back up (and do a system "snap shot")
-implement

This is just good computing practice, and applies not just to Vantage
upgrades. Be very wary of the "renegade" or "vigilante" type of user when
it comes to your network/ERP. If things go wrong this type usually hides in
a cave until you have spent countless hours of fixing their mess. On top of
that, they will usually try to blame you for their mistakes as well.


Good luck,



Paul


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
7
In addition to the things others have talked about, there are usually table
changes that could make some of your invaluable Report Builder and Crystal
reports unavailable until you have reworked them to match the new Vantage
table locations.
8
I would advise that you always test an upgrade on a copy of your system.
Everyone's Vantage installation and usage is different, and there are no
guarantees that any upgrade will go smoothly. We have always had upgrade
problems and we started on Vantage 3. Finding out the problems first before
you go to the live upgrade will save your nerves & probably the health of
your company.

David Sloan
IT Manager Entech Integrated Technologies

----- Original Message -----
From: <bstenglein@...>
To: <vantage@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, October 05, 2001 5:53 AM
Subject: [Vantage] Upgrading Process


> This is a question for you veterans of the Upgrade Process. My
> company went live in May with 5.0, we had purchased Vantage when 4.0
> was out, so we've gone through one upgrade, but we we're using the
> system except for testing, which is a big difference. I've seen many
> different suggestions to other users about testing the upgrade on
> another server, etc... I told my boss about what I've heard and he's
> not sure why that is necessary. He said we should go ahead and load
> the upgrade and put out any fires that may arise as they happen.
> When he asked me what I thought we should test I couldn't give him a
> good answer, only to say that I know a lot of you suggest it. Could
> you give me some ammo to bring to him for why testing is a good idea
> and what specifically you are looking for during an upgrade? He
> thinks it will be a big waste of time.
>
> Any help will be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Brian Stenglein
> Clow Stamping Company
>
>
>
> Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must
have already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
> (1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and
Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
> (2) To search through old msg's goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
> (3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
9
Nora,

This is my biggest concern, because I am the report writer around
here. However, I think my Boss, the MIS Admin, doesn't think that
this upgrade is going to involve major changes because it is going
from 5.0 to 5.1. Is there any way to get a list of schema changes
from Epicor? It would be excellent to know what changes they are
making to which tables ahead of time.

Thanks,

Brian Stenglein
Clow Stamping Company

--- In vantage@y..., "Nora Story" <Nora_Story@s...> wrote:
> In addition to the things others have talked about, there are
usually table
> changes that could make some of your invaluable Report Builder and
Crystal
> reports unavailable until you have reworked them to match the new
Vantage
> table locations.
10
At 12:43 PM 10/5/2001 +0000, you wrote:
>doesn't think that this upgrade is going to involve major changes because
>it is going from 5.0 to 5.1. Is there any way to get a list of schema
>changes from Epicor? It would be excellent to know what changes they are
>making to which tables

Every version of Vantage has the DB definition files in Vantage\DB as
{VersionNbr}.DF eg: 5.1 should have a 510-000.DF file out there with the
changes from the last release. The DF files are a Progress format thing
that defines all the adds & changes to be applied.

Anyone know - are the DF files supplied with Vantage enough to reconstruct
the DB from scratch? Or was there some Verserion 1.0 DB that you need to
start with?

-Wayne Cox
11
WOW!!,
Brian my heart bleeds for you. When you wrote "I told my boss about
what I've heard and he's not sure why that is necessary. He said we
should go ahead and load the upgrade and put out any fires that may
arise as they happen" I thought your boss was a CEO or President that
probably didn't really have a clue. Now I see that your boss is "the
MIS Admin"....WOW!! This person surely should know better. I guess
if you're looking for "some ammo to bring to him for why testing is a
good idea" I would just ask this person how much it would cost in
dollars and integrity to have the system down for an hour, a day or a
week. Also, this is the same guy who will probably look at you and
ask "why is the Vantage system not working" and then tell his boss
that it's all your fault. This of course is just my opinion
but...WOW!! I think if you hang around long enough there might be an
opening for a MIS Administrator at your company.

P.S. I've been in IT for about 10 years, that's why I'm so sarcastic!

---Original Message---
Message: 23
Date: Thu, 04 Oct 2001 20:23:57 -0000
From: bstenglein@...
Subject: Upgrading Process

This is a question for you veterans of the Upgrade Process. My
company went live in May with 5.0, we had purchased Vantage when 4.0
was out, so we've gone through one upgrade, but we we're using the
system except for testing, which is a big difference. I've seen many
different suggestions to other users about testing the upgrade on
another server, etc... I told my boss about what I've heard and he's
not sure why that is necessary. He said we should go ahead and load
the upgrade and put out any fires that may arise as they happen.
When he asked me what I thought we should test I couldn't give him a
good answer, only to say that I know a lot of you suggest it. Could
you give me some ammo to bring to him for why testing is a good idea
and what specifically you are looking for during an upgrade? He
thinks it will be a big waste of time.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Brian Stenglein
Clow Stamping Company