Move your content to the new version of the product

There are two methods for moving your content. You can move the entire content store, or you can move content by creating deployment archives.

Move your entire content store

This method requires you to make a backup of your existing content store, and then restore the backup to a new content store. You then connect your new version of the product to the restored content store, and the product upgrades the content store to the new version.

This method maintains all of your security and user preferences, but it does require a new content store database.

When configuring security, ensure that you set the unique identifier to the same value as it was in the release that you are upgrading from, otherwise the security settings will be lost.

Run a consistency check on your content store before you upgrade to ensure that there are no inconsistencies. For more information, see the "Create a Content Store Maintenance Task" topic in the IBM Cognos Business Intelligence Administration and Security Guide.

Important: When you use this method, the first time you start your IBM® Cognos® services, you are prompted to upgrade your reports. Upgrading your reports can take a long time, and it is better to upgrade them after you have the new version running. Additionally, if you have Software Development Kit applications that create, modify, or save report specifications, do not select the option to upgrade your report specifications. You can upgrade your reports afterwards using IBM Cognos Administration.

Also, you must ensure you unregister any dispatchers from your previous version of the product. You can do so using IBM Cognos Administration after you have started the services.

Move content by creating deployment archives

You can move content by creating deployment archives.

This method lets you move specific content, but it can be time consuming for a large content store.

If you are changing content store database vendors, you must create deployments to move your content. For example, if you are changing your contents store from Microsoft SQL Server to IBM Db2®, you must do so with deployment archives.

Considerations for both methods

As part of the upgrade process, ensure that your applications work as expected in the new version. Sometimes, changes can introduce unexpected results. It is important to test your applications with the new version of the product before you move them to your production environment.