Vault 4.1.4 to Vault 5.0.4 upgrade advice

[dbeitz]

I'm currently running Vault 4.1.4, and am upgrading to the newest release, Vault 5.0.4. All servers are 32 bit Windows Server 2003, all desktops are either 32 bit Windows XP or 64 bit Windows 7. I'm putting together a plan for a "trifecta upgrade" What I mean by that is:
- I'm upgrading the Vault version from 4.1.4 to 5.0.4
- I'm moving the Vault web interface to a different server
- I'm upgrading the database from SQL2005 to SQL2008

I've looked through the support forums and haven't found answers to the following questions.

- I've seen hints that people are using the Vault Windows client with 64 bit Windows 7, but I haven't seen a direct question or answer. So I'll ask. Does the Vault client work with 64 bit Windows 7?

- Does it matter which order I do the three tasks? I would guess SQL05 to SQL08 first, then do the Vault Server install (upgrade) on the new web server, pointing the installer at the Vault database on SQL08. So in essence, the server part of the Vault version upgrade and the migration to the new web server become one step.

- Do I need to uninstall the Vault web interface from the current server before installing the web interface on the new server?

- I see that after Vault 4.1.4 there were 5.0.2 and 5.0.3 releases. Do I need go step incrementally through all of these, or can I go from 4.1.4 to 5.0.4 in one step? I did see forum posts saying to not do major version jumps (ie, Vault 2.x to Vault 5.x), but I wasn't sure if 4.1.4 to 5.0.4 was OK or not.

Thank you very much!
Dale

[lbauer]

Does the Vault client work with 64 bit Windows 7?

The Vault 5.0.x client and server are fully supported on Windows 7

- Does it matter which order I do the three tasks? I would guess SQL05 to SQL08 first, then do the Vault Server install (upgrade) on the new web server, pointing the installer at the Vault database on SQL08. So in essence, the server part of the Vault version upgrade and the migration to the new web server become one step.

I'd suggest backing up your databases first. Then upgrade to SQL 2008. Oftentimes, upgrading to SQL 2008 means installing a new instance of SQL Server rather than actually upgrading the existing SQL 2005 installation.

So get SQL Server 2008 in place, then restore your database to SQL Server 2008.
Then install Vault 5.0.4, pointing it at the new database location.

- Do I need to uninstall the Vault web interface from the current server before installing the web interface on the new server?

You don't have to, but you should at least disable it by stopping the Vault App Pool. We've had situations where users were inadvertently connecting to the old web server and getting errors.

-

Do I need go step incrementally through all of these, or can I go from 4.1.4 to 5.0.4 in one step?

These are close enough that you should just be able to upgrade in one step.

[dbeitz]

Thank you very much for the quick response! That information makes me much more confident in putting together a successful upgrade plan.

[lbauer]

You're welcome.

Let me know if we can be of assistance in the future.