Installing a fix pack update

A fix pack update is indicated by a change of the third or fourth revision number position.

A fix pack update can be run without downtime of the online message interfaces (MCI, IBM MQ, and Kafka). If possible, reduce API activity to case investigation during the update procedure until at least two instances are updated to the new version. Doing so prevents complications during model changes, go-lives, and simulation that are caused by instances that are running on different versions. If postponing model operations is not feasible, you can choose to run model operations all the time but at your own risk.

Before you begin:

  1. Go to the Release Notes for the fix pack and read the Update information.
  2. Follow the installation instructions up to running the installer. For more information, see Installation overview.

Suggested workflow to install a fix pack update:

  1. Disable the online message interfaces (MCI, MQI, and KMI) and incoming FLI on instance (A) that will be updated first. Move API to another instance if API is active on instance (A)
  2. Ensure that the outgoing FLI buffer of instance (A) to all other instances is empty.
  3. If possible, minimize the API activity from that point on to case investigation on any remote instance during the update of instance (A).
  4. Shut down instance (A).
  5. Back up at least one instance. Use the backup to restore other instances if you need to revert the update. For more information, see:

    https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/performing-backup-ibm-safer-payments

  6. Log in as root on the console. Go to the directory where the installation file is located and run the following command: 
    sh ./SaferPayments.bin
    The installer starts in console mode. Select a language and follow the installation steps.
  7. Start instance (A) and monitor logs during startup. Contact support if unexpected errors or warnings occur that were not in the log before.
  8. Clear browser cache before you log in to instance (A) (Ctrl+shift+F5 on most browsers).
  9. Activate FLI on instance (A) and wait for instance (A) to receive all buffered FLI messages.
  10. Disable FLI on all instances except for (A).
  11. Enable API and the online message interfaces on instance (A).
  12. If the update was successful, continue to the next step and update the other instances. If something went wrong, back out the update. For more information, see Backing out a fix pack update.
  13. Disable the online message interfaces on all other instances.
  14. Shut down instance (B).
  15. Perform an update on instance (B) as described in step 6.
  16. Start instance (B).
  17. Enable FLI on instance (B) and wait for synchronization.
  18. Enable the online message interfaces on instance (B) after synchronization is complete.
  19. If required, you can now perform configuration and model changes on the updated instances again.
  20. Shut down, update, and start instance (C) and all other instances (X).
  21. Enable FLI on instances (C) and (X).
  22. Enable the online message interfaces on instances (C) and (X) after synchronization is complete.
  23. Verify the version number. Log in and go to Cluster > System monitoring > System internals.

Backing out a fix pack update

If you encounter problems while installing a fix pack update, you can revert to the previous release.

Compare the fix pack versions. If the first three version numbers are the same and only the fourth number is different, the fix packs are probably exchangeable. You can switch freely back and forth between them. If they are not exchangeable, it is stated in the Release Notes.

Choose the procedure that is correct for your situation.

Standard backout procedure
Use this procedure if:
  • A healthy instance is available for the older release before the update, and
  • The fix packs are exchangeable.
  1. Shutdown the instance that has failed.
  2. Uninstall IBM® Safer Payments.
  3. Install the previous version before the update.
  4. Set cfg/iris.iris to {\"iris\":{\"status\":\"New\"}}
  5. Restore the instance from a healthy instance that is using the previous version.
  6. Contact support and provide information from logs and the cfg folder.
Backout by using backups or virtual machine snapshots
Use this procedure if:
  • A healthy instance is not available for the older release before the update, or
  • The fix packs are not exchangeable.
An administrator must restore the instance from a backup or snapshot that was taken of the instance before the update.