Moving and upgrading the Helix Plan server

The following information explains how to move a Helix Plan server to a new server computer and how to upgrade the server.

Before you start

Before you perform the move and upgrade, make sure that:

The new server computer meets the system requirements.
The same Helix Plan version is installed on source and target computers. See Installing the Helix Plan Server. If you do not have the installer for the version you need, contact Perforce Support.

You have a license key for the new server from Perforce and have added it. See Managing licenses.
The Helix Plan Server Administrator is installed on the source and target computers. The user that runs the Server Administrator must have read/write access to files.
You determine how to transfer data between the source and target computers.

If you have large databases that take a long time to back up, you may want to install and configure Using the Helix Plan Backup Service on the source computer.

Performing the move and upgrade

1. On the source computer, using the Helix Plan Server Administrator, set the database state to Loaded.

No users will be able to log in until the migration is complete.

Only continue to the next step once the State has changed from Going offline to Loaded.

2. Perform an Only reset transaction log (cannot be recovered) backup for each database.

This moves all changes in the transaction logs into the database file and leaves the transaction log empty. See Database backup types.

As with the previous step, do not continue to the next step until the State has changed to Loaded.

3. Perform a Full backup including history and documents backup for each database.

The resulting backup files are named 'Database' and include all data, and will appear in the directory specified in the backup settings. See Database backup types.

4. Move the backup files created in step 3 to the target computer in the location where you want to store the new database.

This is typically in the Databases directory where the Helix Plan server is installed.

Use the same database directory structure as the existing structure on the source computer unless there is a planned change of structure (e.g., moving the database to a separate drive).

5. Start the Helix Plan Server Administrator on the target computer.

6. Import the database backups you moved to the target computer. See Importing, exporting, and moving database files.

A copy of your production server is now available on the new server computer.

7. Set each database to the Loaded state.

8. Upgrade the new Helix Plan server to the latest Helix Plan version. See the following topics for more information:

9. Set the databases to the Online state.

The upgrade is complete. The old server can be shut down and all users can start using the new server.

10. Check the log files to make sure everything is running correctly. See Configuring logging options and email notifications.

11. Configure backups for the new server. See Scheduling automatic database backups.

If you have large databases that take a long time to back up, you may want to use the backup service. See Using the Helix Plan Backup Service.

12. Configure any server options for the new server, such as logging and email notifications. See Configuring server settings.

If you are using the LDAP integration, or other components, remember to install and configure them as needed.