1. Introduction

NEXThink V4 takes advantage of the 64-bit architecture of most modern processors, whereas NEXThink V3 was shipped with a 32-bit operating system. As NEXThink Engine and NEXThink Portal run on top of this operating system, they are concerned by this change. On the other hand, neither Finder nor Collector suffer from the change in the server operating system, since they run on client machines.

Hence, it is not possible to directly upgrade from NEXThink V3 to NEXThink V4 just by replacing the RPM packages of Engine and Portal, as you would do in a normal update. The migration proceduce with from V3 to V4 includes:

1. Save NEXThink V3 configuration with all the relevant data of your Engine and Portal
2. Do a clean installation of NEXThink V4 Engine and Portal
3. Restore the data that you saved.

The basic requirements are :

2. Save NEXThink V3 Configuration

2.1. Save Engine and Portal Configuration

1. Connect to Console

2. Write down the following information:
   

   • Hostname
   • Domain
   • DNS servers
   • IP address
   • Subnet mask
   • Default gateway
   • Timezone
   • NTP server
   • Additional interface (if configured)
   • Static routes (if configured)

3. Write down Portal server basic network configuration:
   

   • IP address
   • Subnet mask
   • Default Gateway

2.2. Backup NEXThink V3 Servers

Remember that all sudo commands are executed with super-user privileges and they may ask you to write a password. Always use the SSH account default password.

2.2.1. Backup of Engine V3

1. Log in Engine server using SSH and default credentials.
2. Type the following commands at the prompt:

   • > mkdir backup-v3
     > sudo cp /etc/nxengine/nxengine.xml backup-v3/
     > sudo cp /etc/nxengine/licenses.txt backup-v3/
     > nxinfo backup --engine 1 -n backup-v3/nxengine-v3-1.db.gz

3. If you had two engines running in the server, also type:

   • > sudo cp /etc/nxengine/licenses2.txt backup-v3/
     > nxinfo backup --engine 2 -n backup-v3/nxengine-v3-2.db.gz

4. Upload backup-v3.tar from the applicance to your machine using a scp client:

   • > sudo chown -R nexthink:nexthink backup-v3
     > tar cvf backup-v3.tar backup-v3
     > scp backup-v3.tar user@backup-server:

2.2.2. Backup of Portal V3

CAUTION: NEXThink Portal V4 can be upgraded only from version 3.2.4. If you have version 3.2.1, please upgrade to portal 3.2.4 first.

CAUTION: The Portal backup only take care of NEXThink standard files. All specific widgets and any specific scripts, such as specific backup, should be manually moved to the new Portal installation. Compatibility of the specific widgets have to be checked before moving them. The SQL widget plugin have a specific version for V4, and must be installed on the V4 portal before restoring the backup.

In the same manner, if the file

/var/nexthink/portal/conf/portal-general-config.xml

have been created to do some specific changes in the configuration, it should be manually moved to the

/var/nexthink/portal/conf

folder of the new Portal installation.

A standard 3.2.4 can be asserted by checking the following points

The standard backup script delivered with the portal 3.2.4 is the following

/var/nexthink/portal/backup/backup-portal.sh

Specific widget are located in the following directory

/var/nexthink/portal/ngets

The standard content of that directory is

com_nexthink_AccountsManagementNGet
com_nexthink_EnginesManagementNGet
com_nexthink_InventoryNGet
com_nexthink_InvestigationTimeSeriesNGet
com_nexthink_IssuesNGet
com_nexthink_ModulesManagementNGet
com_nexthink_NoteNGet
com_nexthink_PagesManagementNGet
com_nexthink_ReportsManagementNGet
com_nexthink_RolesManagementNGet
com_nexthink_ServiceAvailabilityNGet
com_nexthink_SlaTimeSeriesNGet
com_nexthink_SoftwareMeteringNGet
com_nexthink_UnknownNGet
com_nexthink_WidgetsManagementNGet

Changes in the configuration could have been made in the following file

/var/nexthink/portal/conf/portal-general-config.xml

The standard content of that file is

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<com.nexthink.portal.configuration.Configuration xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" id="i0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="portal-general-config.xsd">
<!-- See portal-general-config.defaults.xml for available configuration items -->
</com.nexthink.portal.configuration.Configuration>

Once you have checked for specific changes to report you can proceed to the backup

1. Log in Portal server using SSH and default credentials.
2. At the line prompt, type:

   • > sudo /var/nexthink/portal/backup/backup-portal.sh portal-v3

3. Upload the backup file to your machine:

   • > sudo chown nexthink:nexthink /var/nexthink/portal/backup/portal-v3.tgz
     > scp /var/nexthink/portal/backup/portal-v3.tgz user@backup-server:

3. Install NEXThink V4

3.1. Install Engine V4

Install the appliance using the NEXThink V4 Installation DVD and following the instructions found in the section Installing NEXThink V4 Engine.

During the installation. Restore the IP address, subnet mask and default gateway that you wrote down for the Engine when you reach the point Network Configuration.

3.2. Install Portal V4

Similarly to the Engine, use the installation DVD to install Portal V4 as explained in the section Installing NEXThink V4 Portal.

In the same way, restore the basic network configuration of Portal V3 when the installation program asks for the Network Configuration with the values that you noted down previously.

3.3. Reconfigure Engine V4

1. Connect to Console with default username=admin and password=admin.

2. Apply the configuration that you saved here.

3. Change the Console admin password.

4. Restore Backups

4.1. Restore Engine Backup Files

1. Log in the Engine V4 server using SSH.
2. Download backup-v3.tar to the server using a scp client:

   • > scp user@backup-server:backup-v3.tar .

3. Untar the backup archive:

   • > tar xvf backup-v3.tar
     > cd backup-v3

4. Stop the engine and restore the backup files:

   • > sudo /etc/init.d/nxlaunch stop
     > sudo cp nxengine.xml /etc/nxengine/
     > sudo cp licenses.xml /etc/nxengine/
     > gunzip nxengine-v3-1.db.gz
     > sudo cp nxengine-v3-1.db /var/nxengine/nxengine.db

5. If you have two engines running in your server and you backuped two engines, stop the second engine and restore the backup files:

   • > sudo nxinfo launch --remove --engine 2
     > sudo cp licenses2.xml /etc/nxengine/
     > gunzip nxengine-v3-2.db.gz
     > sudo cp nxengine-v3-1.db /var/nxengine/nxengine2.db

6. Restart the engine

   • > sudo /etc/init.d/nxlaunch start

4.2. Restore Portal Backup File

CAUTION: The specific widgets that were installed in the V3 portal must be installed in the V4 portal before the restore.

1. Log in the Portal server using SSH.
2. Download portal-v3.tgz to the Portal server:

   • > scp user@backup-server:portal-v3.tgz .

3. Restore the backup data into the Portal:

   • > sudo cp portal-v3.tgz /var/nexthink/portal/backup/
     > sudo /var/nexthink/portal/backup/restore-portal.sh portal-v3.tgz

4. Update Admin Page, Report and Standard Solutions:

   • > cd /var/nexthink/portal/rsquery
     > ./importLibrary.py -p <portal_admin_password> ../conf/web/portal_admin.yaml
     > ./importLibrary.py -p <portal_admin_password> ../conf/web/portal_report.yaml
     > ./importLibrary.py -p <portal_admin_password> ../conf/web/portal_standard_solutions.yaml

5. Restart portal

   • > sudo /etc/init.d/nxt-tomcat restart

Congratulations !!!!! You have now finished the transition from NEXThink V3 to NEXThink V4 !