Upgrading WorldServer

When you upgrade to a newer version of WorldServer, your users will not have access to the program for a certain period of time. Plan that period in advance and inform users before you upgrade.

Before you begin

The following file types have been removed starting with WorldServer 11.7:
  • HTML 4
  • Embedded Content HTML 4 Processor
  • Microsoft Excel 2000-2003
  • Microsoft Excel 2007-2013
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2007-2013
  • Microsoft PowerPoint XP-2003
  • Microsoft Word 2007-2013
  • Microsoft Word 2000-2003
  • SubRip
  • Rich Text Format (RTF)
Before you upgrade to WorldServer 11.7 or later, make sure you do the following:
  • Remove the deprecated file types from your MIME types (Management > Administration > Customization, and then select MIME Types in the Custom component type list).
  • Remove the deprecated file types from your file type groups, project types, AIS properties, as well as from any other objects that use them.
  • Wait until all the active projects have been completed. Active projects that use deprecated file types will no longer work post-upgrade and you will not be able to complete them.
Then, after you have upgraded successfully, configure the same objects to use the newer counterparts of these file types.

About this task

First, perform the upgrade procedure on a staging system, and then use that system to test the new functionality before actually upgrading your production system. A full upgrade of WorldServer also involves changing the underlying database schema.

This procedure describes a basic WorldServer upgrade. For information about upgrading in clustered mode, see the appropriate topic in the related topics list.

Procedure

  1. Install the supported Java version.
  2. Download the version of WorldServer that you want to upgrade to.
  3. Stop WorldServer.
    You can stop and start WorldServer from the application server on which it is deployed.
  4. Back up the appropriate files and components, including the WS_CONFIG folder.
  5. Set the appropriate environment variables, including JAVA_HOME, WS_HOME, WS_CONFIG, as well as variables specific to the application server.
  6. Test the current database schema, and then upgrade the WorldServer database schema.
  7. If you are not using the WorldServer installer to install Apache Tomcat and Java, make sure you have the supported Tomcat and Java versions installed.
  8. Upgrade the WorldServer software.
    Perform this step only once, regardless of the version you are starting from.
  9. If you are upgrading from a WorldServer version earlier than 11.5, run the data migration tool as part of the upgrade to WorldServer 11.5 to make sure that the data in your WorldServer database is stored appropriately. If you are upgrading from WorldServer 11.5 or later and you have already migrated your data, you do not need to repeat this procedure.
  10. Validate your upgrade.

What to do next

If you are upgrading from WorldServer 11.6 or earlier and you use automatic action samples, make sure that you remove their existing versions from your environment and import their newer versions. You can find them in the WorldServer SDK under samples\dist, in an archive called autoaction_samples.zip.

You can now start WorldServer and verify if it works as expected.