My client team and I have recently gone live with a successful upgrade of FirstDoc 5.0 to FirstDoc 6.3. Here is the full list of upgrade components, challenges and successes.
Operating System change(!) from AIX 5.3TL6 to SUSE Enterprise Linux 11SP2
Changing O.S. is not supported by Documentum so we were on our own here. I had completed similar O.S. changes before so knew this would be possible but we had to find the correct mechanism path in order to achieve a compatible Documentum upgrade from DCTM Content Server 6.0SP1 to 6.7SP1. This goal was achieved.
Oracle upgrade from 10.2.0.5 to 11.2.0.2.
This was achieved by using oracle the tools "exp" and "imp" from source to target instances for the new version. This was fairly straightforward.
Documentum Upgrade from 6.0SP1 to 6.7SP1.
This upgrade "gap" was possible to achieve in one Documentum upgrade step, but as mentioned above the change in O.S. made this step more complex. Existing LDAP settings were transferred with ease for use with user authentication. We successfully made the upgrade "jump" of 4 versions of Documentum Content Server (not including service packs).
We reduced the complexity of the Documentum setup by removing the Distributed Content Server setup, into a Single CS. Before the project implementation, analysis was completed to rate how much benefit the Remote CS was bringing against cost to support. It was decided to remove this distributed component from the model.
Full Text Indexing Implementation
By simplifying the server model to a single CS, we were now able to implement a Full Text Indexing server. (In a distributed content implementation, content is not indexed until it is synchronised at the primary site.) We implemented DCTM xPlore 1.2 for CS 6.7SP1. We indexed only the meta-data and not the content thus reducing the load on the index server and meaning documents were indexed quicker. The quick search returns search results within 3 seconds.
FirstDoc upgrade from 5.0 to 6.3.
I designed and configured the client configurations into the Out of Box (OOB) FirstDoc 6.3 configurations. We took the latest OOB security model since the client can lock down Product and Study access when working with CRO's.
Customisations were reduced by 30% in order to make it less complex for future upgrades. I worked alongside CSC to bring the remaining required client customisations over to the upgraded system.
Documents were upgraded "inplace" to ensure they were fully compatible with the upgraded system. Users groups "inplace" migration was required to ensure users had the correct rights against the new OOB security model.
My FirstDoc upgrade approach was reviewed by CSC and Approved. CSC even requested my upgrade mechanism scripts to add to their collection! We successfully made the upgrade "jump" of 6 versions of FirstDoc.
I updated the client documentation to match their FirstDoc system.
Front End Improvements
We made the front end system more secure by using HTTPS communication protocol. Multiple load balanced front end WDK servers were deployed.
With Linux and Windows Server 2008, the client firewall settings were more secure than before, therefore there was a lot of port configuration between servers to ensure successful data communication.
Client machines are locked down so this has caused the teething issue of needing Admin. rights for the WDK plugin installation on client machines. Another teething issue we have found is the UCF folder still exists for the previous version of Documentum and is incompatible with the upgraded system. We are having to remove the existing "ucf" folder and letting the new web application copy the latest files. A better fix is being developed - a silent install client UCF package.
Upgrade Documentation and time to Upgrade
Full Installation Qualifications (IQ) were produced by myself for the upgrade process. The upgrade implementation took place over a long weekend period from 6pm Friday until 5pm Monday.
Summary
In summary what the client team and myself have achieved in 9 months is considered very successful. We have upgraded all components of a large Documentum Repository of 1,200 active users, 650,000 FirstDoc and over 300,000 legacy documents. We have reduced the complexity of the system which has had reduced cost, future upgrade and performance benefits.
If you need hands-on or consultancy assistance with your O.S, Oracle, Documentum or FirstDoc upgrade please get in touch.