Application upgrade using Application Configuration

After you configure an application, create an upgrade plan for fix packs and upgrades.

Process

Application Configuration allows you to configure a default Maximo Application Framework application, such as the Maximo® Mobile Technician application, which is named TECHMOBILE. You can also duplicate a default application, name it something like MYTECHMOBILE, and then configure that duplicated application. When you upgrade Maximo Mobile or Maximo Manage, or apply a fix pack, the default applications are automatically updated to new versions.

If you configured a default application, it is archived during an upgrade or after you apply a fix pack, and the new application becomes the active version of the application. Alternatively, if you configure a duplicate application, the application is not impacted by an upgrade or fix pack. In either scenario, you can bring forward your configurations to the latest version or fix pack.

At a high level, application upgrade is a two step process. The first step is creating a delta file that contains the configuration changes that you implemented in a previous release. The second step is applying the changes contained in the delta file to latest version or fix pack of the application.

Environments

It is beneficial to complete an upgrade in a test environment before you upgrade other environments. Features and functions that are included with a new release might prevent you from applying your existing configuration values without some modification. When you plan for an upgrade, ideally you would have three environments:

An environment that includes your existing application. For example, version 8.10.
An environment with the new default version of the application. For example, version 8.11.
An environment with the new version of the application that includes your configuration changes.

Having these three environments can help you diagnose any configuration issues that result from the upgrade. Any changes included in a new version of Maximo Manage, such as automation scripts or domain configurations, can impact your configured application. This can limit your ability to test the new version of the application.

Applications

Applications are stored as compressed files in the Maximo Manage database. The compressed file contains application XML files and related JavaScript files. When a new version of an application is deployed or if a fix pack is applied, a new row is created in the database table. That row contains the active version of the application. The previous application is disabled and is no longer available to use or configure.

Workspace files

When you open an application in Application Configuration, the application is downloaded to a local workspace directory on your system. The workspace directory name includes information about the server and credentials that are used to download the application. In the workspace directory there is a subdirectory that is named after the application. For example, if you downloaded the Technician application, the directory, TECHMOBILE, is created in your workspace.

For Maximo Application Suite 8.11.0, the standard XML files for base applications are stored in the /ibm-config subdirectory. These files are used to create the delta file for future upgrades from Maximo Application Suite 8.11.0.

Use different local workspace folders for different versions of Maximo Application Suite applications, including patch versions. Application files can be overwritten if you use the same workspace folder for multiple versions.

File management

You manage multiple versions of configured application files to facilitate the upgrade. You can track versions of application files by using a hierarchy of folders.


/810to811 (Main folder)
     /810ORIG (Contains the original version 8.10 files before configuration changes.)
	  /TECHMOBILE (Folder for each application to upgrade. Only modified files listed.)
		app.xml
		wo-card-group.xml
     /810CONF (Contains the configured version 8.10 files.)
     /810DIFF (Contains the version 8.10 delta files.)
     /811ORIG (Contains the original versions of the version 8.11 files before configuration changes.)
     /811ONF (Contains the upgraded files for version 8.11)

To upgrade an application from a previous release of Maximo Application Suite to the application in Maximo Application Suite8.11, you need to create a delta file. The delta file identifies any configuration changes that were made to the application XML files. Move the original application files from a previous version of Maximo Application Suite into the ORIG folder. Place your configured application XML files in the CONF folder. You then can use the diff command to generate a delta file by comparing the two files. You need to repeat this process for every application XML file that you have configured.

To move changes made to default applications to the next version, you can use the Upgrade action in the Maximo Application Suite Configuration application. To create the diff file for a duplicated application, you must manually run the diff command to generate a delta file and then manually run the apply command to migrate your changes to the next version.