Today Interprise released a new version of its Interprise Suite software and eCommerce engine, and with that brings responsibility for all of us. Interprise is a purely data driven system. The screens, permissions, and transactions are all data driven. In this blog, I want to point out the basic steps to backup Interprise before you upgrade. And as we know, Interprise is a full accounting, ERP, CRM, and eCommerce system with hundreds and thousands of transactions and man hours of effort in the data. I highly suggest anyone upgrading from a previous version of Interprise to the latest version of our software follow some basic principals.
1)Backup database before you do anything
2) Backup the current installed Interprise folder on one machine that is trouble free
3) Backup your website and web services directory if applicable
Then put all of these files on DVD or a memory stick for safe keeping. You may not know for days, weeks or months when you might need a copy of that database and working environment to go back to.
It is also worth noting that if you use the ISSIDEMOUS or ISSIDEMOUK database for testing, the new version of Interprise will overwrite that database during the installation process on the server. If you have data you don't want to lose in a demo db, back it up, upgrade the software, restore the db, then upgrade your test db with the DBMC tool provided for free with your Interprise software.
[added9/7/2010] Just adding an update based on support tickets. If you have customized your database in any way outside of the Data Dictionary tool, you can expect problems. The DBMC upgrade process uses the new model database to do table, view, and stored procedure validations and if they do not match up, there can be problems. Send me an email if you are having these types of issues.
Backup your database
Before you start installing anything, I suggest you backup the following two databases.
-Your company database. This database name was assigned when first creating the company database
-The ISSIMODEL database that matches the instance of your version of Interprise.
Just as buying insurance for your car is not the responsibility for Ford, making backups copies of your demo and live databases is not the responsibility of Interprise.
He is a pretty decent video that I found online that gives a good overview of backup concepts. There are literally hundreds of videos that explain how to backup a SQL Server database thru SQL Server Management Studio. Make sure you are comfortable backing up and restoring your databases before you upgrade. Not doing so can cause lost data that cannot be reversed.
By default, SQL Server Express does not install the management tools. These tools can be downloaded free of charge from the Microsoft website. Search Google for the keywords “sql server management studio 2005 download” or whatever version you are using.
Having a backup of your installation folder
You may never need to use the files backed up in this step, but it is still good practice to have them. There may be custom files or data that is written out to a plug-in folder that may be handy if restoration is needed.
Backup your website and web services directories
You should make sure that before you install Interprise on a server that you have the default location of the website and web services backed up. Losing data due to it being overwritten by a system restore would be unfortunate.
If you have any questions about having backups be more automated or questions about software we use at Interprise feel free to leave a comment. If you are one of the planners in the crowd that have mastered the art of OSQL statements and want to share your scripts, I would love to hear from you.
Curt Rice
VP of Technical Services
Interprise Software Solutions, Inc