Part 1 of 4: Pre-migration considerations

This blog is an effort to explain some of the pre-migration considerations through post-migration steps to make the overall migration experience a sweet one. As you may be aware, migration can be very complex and time consuming. I hope this post helps you avoid some of the pitfalls.

This blog is split into the following 4 parts to keep it simple and compact:

• Part 1: Migrating from WebSphere Process Server V7.0.0 Fix Pack 4 to a remote IBM Business Process Manager Advanced V8.0 environment
• Part 2: Migrating from WebSphere Process Server V7.0.0 Fix Pack 4 to a remote IBM Business Process Manager Advanced V8.0 environment
• Part 3: Migrating from WebSphere Process Server V7.0.0 Fix Pack 4 to a remote IBM Business Process Manager Advanced V8.0 environment
• Part 4: Migrating from WebSphere Process Server V7.0.0 Fix Pack 4 to a remote IBM Business Process Manager Advanced V8.0 environment

It focuses on migrating a typical WebSphere Process Server Network Deployment v7.x golden topology on source machine to an IBM Business Process Manager Advanced v8.0 Remote Messaging, Remote Support pattern deployment environment on target machine running the same operating system as the source system. Note: These steps are applicable only if you are migrating to the remote target system. We would love to hear your feedback and appreciate you sharing your own experience with us.

Before migrating, you need to backup the whole source environment and prepare the remote target environment. Follow these steps:

1. Check the following link to ensure your database version is supported and, if need be, upgrade your database and test it out:
   http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27023005
    
2. Install the migration target product, IBM Business Process Manager Advanced V8.0,  with required interim fixes on a separate machine running the same operating system as the source system.
   For fixes, see: http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27025131
    
3. Create a default WebSphere Application Server profile on the system that has the new version installed and the same operating system as the source system.
   
   Use the Profile Management Tool or the manageprofiles command on IBM Business Process Manager Advanced V8.0 machine. For example:
   c:\BPM80\bin>manageprofiles -create -profileName TestAppSrv -nodeName TestNode -serverName Testserver -cellName TestCell -hostName vmwbil2w7d -winserviceCheck false -templatePath C:\BPM80\profileTemplates\default
   Note: Provide the full computer name for the -hostName parameter.
   Note: This profile is created to export the remote machine's details through the BPMCreateRemoteMigrationUtilities command and profile itself is not used for the IBM Business Process Manager Advanced environment.
   You can delete this profile after the migration process is completed.
    
4. Check the SystemOut.log file on the source machine (WebSphere Process Server V7.x ). If you find any unexpected errors, then resolve them before migration.
    
5. Synchronize the nodes in case there are any changes. Click System administration > Save changes to master repository > Synchronize changes with Node
    
6. Set the Ulimit value to 8192 on the both the source and target systems. On UNIX-based operating systems, this change helps to avoid errors during migration due to too many open files based on the size and complexity of the cell and applications.
    
7. Set the com.ibm.ssl.enableSignerExchangePrompt property to false in the <profile home>/properties/ssl.client.props file to avoid having the WASPostUpgrade wait indefinitely for the username and password to be entered.
   For details, refer to the Changing the signer auto-exchange prompt at the client topic in the information center.
    
8. Stop the AppTarget, support, messaging, node agents, and deployment manager in that order in the source system.
    
9. Connect to the CommonDB database schema and run the following SQL command
   select count(*) from w_statement
   where pred_id=(select id from w_uri where uri like '%changeSetState')
   and obj_id IN (select id from w_obj_lit_string where litval IN ('DRAFT', 'PENDING' , 'APPROVED'))
   and obj_typ_cd=6
   and version_to=2000000000;
   
   If the previous SQL command returns one or more records, then run the following command
   update w_statement set obj_id=(select id from w_obj_lit_string where litval='PUBLISHED')
   where pred_id=(select id from w_uri where uri like '%changeSetState')
   and obj_id IN (select id from w_obj_lit_string where litval IN ('DRAFT', 'PENDING' , 'APPROVED'))
   and obj_typ_cd=6
   and version_to=2000000000;
    
10. Backup the WebSphere Process Server V7.x environment
1. Backup the full WebSphere Process Server V 7.x installation directory, depending on your platform. On the Windows operating system, back up the directory as a compressed (zip) file. On Unix-based operating systems, use the “tar -cvf” command to back up the directory. 
2. Run the backupConfig command to back up the configuration files for the deployment manager and every node. For example:
   C:\WPS70\bin>backupConfig C:\WPS70\profileBackup\Dmgr.zip -profileName Dmgr01
   C:\WPS70\bin>backupConfig C:\WPS70\profileBackup\Custom01.zip -profileName Custom01
    
11. Backup the databases that are used by WebSphere Process Server and those databases that are used for the deployed applications. Backup the following databases that are configured by any of the migration source profiles according to the documentation for your databases:
• Business Process Choreographer Database
• Business Space database
• Common database
• Common Event Infrastructure Database
• Messaging Engine Database
  Note: Back up the database and transaction logs ( step 13 ) at the same time to keep transaction logs synchronized with the database.
   
12. Backup the .nifRegistry file. The .nifRegistry file identifies the installation root for all installed WebSphere Process Server products. It also identifies the installation root for all installed WebSphere Application Server products. It is located at the following directories:
• Linux/UNIX-based operating systems: /opt/.ibm/.nif/.nifregistry
• Windows operating systems: C:\Windows\.nifregistry
   
13. Take a backup of source tranlog and Partnerlog files. They are located in the <Install Root>/profiles/<profile name>/tranlog directory.
     
14. Create the remote migration utilities image. Run the BPMCreateRemoteMigrationUtilities command on the target system to create an archive file. The file contains all the commands and their prerequisites that need to be invoked on the system containing the source profile to be migrated. For example: c:\BPM80\bin>BPMCreateRemoteMigrationUtilities remoteMigrationUtilities.zip
    
    Note: By default, the remoteMigrationUtilities.zip file is created in the <Install Root>/util/migration directory.
     
15. Copy the remote migration utilities ( remoteMigrationUtilities.zip file from step 14 ) from the target system to the source system. Then, extract the remote migration utilities on the source system into their own unique directory. For example:
    Copy C:\BPM80\util\migrationremoteMigrationUtilities.zip to C:\WPS70\migration80
    Extract C:\WPS70\migration80\remoteMigrationUtilities.zip to C:\WPS70\migration80\util

Continue to Part 2.