Perform a rolling upgrade in a test environment

Before you begin

Before you begin testing the new PolicyCenter build with the upgrade changes, review Prefapre for a rolling upgrade.

Procedure

  1. In Guidewire Studio, open file database-config.xml and verify that the <database> element autoupgrade attribute is set to manual (or non-existent).
    If the attribute is missing, the default value for this attribute is manual. The value cannot be full.
  2. In Studio, open file extensions.properties (in configuration > config > Extensions) and increment the version number.
    Guidewire does not strictly require that you increment the version number in a development or test environment. However, it is a good practice to do so.
  3. Create a new EAR/WAR PolicyCenter build that includes all the proposed changes.
    Guidewire recommends that the build name include some identification such as a date or a version number.
  4. Place the WAR/EAR build in a local directory on a test instance.
    Guidewire recommends that you place all servers in the test instance in production mode so as to replicate your production environment as much as possible.
  5. Run the following command option from the command prompt.
    • system_tools -verifyconfig filepath

    The verification tool compares the local server configuration with the configuration of the remote cluster. The filepath parameter defines the path to the local WAR/EAR file that contains the PolicyCenter build, pc.war, for example. If the tool indicates that the proposed changes are compatible with the source build, continue to the next step.

  6. Back up the test database.
  7. On any server instance in the cluster, navigate to the Server Tools Upgrade and Versions screen and click Start Rolling Upgrade.
  8. Bring down one of the servers in the test environment and deploy the new WAREAR file to this server instance.
  9. Bring the test instance back up.
  10. Perform user acceptance testing on the test cluster, on servers that run either the source or target builds.
    If testing indicates that there are no major issues in running the two builds simultaneously, continue to the next step.
  11. Deploy the new WAR/EAR file to all test instances.
  12. Navigate to the Server Tools Upgrade and Versions screen of any server instance in the test environment.
  13. Click Rolling Upgrade Complete.
    This action clears the upgrade flag indicating that a rolling upgrade is in progress. The rolling upgrade is now complete.
  14. Run Product Model Pattern Activation batch processing to activate the newly added product model patterns.
    Running this batch process makes active all product model patterns that you added in the rolling upgrade. See Product Model Pattern Activation batch process for more information.
    Important: Restarting any node in the cluster after you complete the rolling upgrade (after you click Rolling Upgrade Complete) automatically triggers the activation of the added product model patterns. Guidewire does not recommend that you activate the product model patterns in this manner.
  15. Perform acceptance testing on all the test instances to verify that PolicyCenter works as intended.

What to do next

If testing indicates that there are no issues with the new PolicyCenter build running on all test instances, continue to Perform a rolling upgrade in a production environment.