FileNet Platform upgrade from v5.1 to v5.2.1

FileNet Content Engine Upgrade From v5.1 to v5.2.1

Recently I got an opportunity to work on FileNet upgrade. We have upgraded FileNet P8 v5.1 to v5.2.1. I would like to share my experience.

FileNet Environment Details:

Unix, SQL Server, AD, WAS ND

FileNet Upgrade Approach:

There are two ways to implement the upgrade

1.  In-place upgrade
2. Clone & upgrade

We have chosen the clone & upgrade path.

Pros:

• It will not disturb the existing setup

Cons:

• Need to spend more on infrastructure
• Need to spend more efforts in cloning the environment

FileNet Upgrade Execution:

We can divide the tasks into.

1. Cloning the environment -

• Copy the CE, PE and AE folders 
• Copy the CE, PE databases 
• Configure and deploy the applications
• For PE need to change the pointers from a source server to a destination server

2. Verify the cloned environment

• start the CE, PE and AE
• Check the functionality is working as expected

3. Install the FileNet v5.2.1

• Follow the installation instructions and install the 5.2.1 on the destination server
• Configure and deploy the CE

4. Upgrade Content Engine

• Upon starting the CE the platform will run the auto-upgrade tool
• The progress is monitored using   http://server_name:port/FileNet/AutomaticUpgradeStatus 

5. upgrade Process Engine

• IBM provided peupgrade tool for PE upgrade. 
• Prepare the PE databases for upgrade
• Open the tool and provide the details.
• Run the tool. PE upgrade will take a while compared to CE upgrade.