Updating PrimeCut NE on the Server

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Updating PrimeCut NE on the Server

NOTE The instructions below refer to folders PC4\STP and PC4\License, on older server installations these may be  PC4\STP and PC4\License, in which case they will be converted to the "64" suffixed variants after updating.  Ensure your server is x64 capable before commencing the update- if you have the 64 versions of these folders you are already running the 64 bit server components.

Folder Structure

PrimeCut NE consists of a number of server components including:

\PC4\primecut4\Win32\*.*  and PC4\primecut4\Win64\*.* Primecut4.exe and associated client DLL's, as used on the client machines, both 32 and 64 bit versions.  These folders are effectively an image of the files that should be in c:\program files\primecut4 or c:\program files (x86)\primecut4 on the clients machines.

\PC4\License64\Pc4LicSvc.exe, the license server (and PC4LicGUI.exe, the user interface to control the service)

\PC4\STP64\STPservice.exe, the "STP service" that Touchcut machines communicate to the database through, for viewing the scheduled programs, reconciling them when cut, and notifying Primecut of machine activity and progress.

\PC4\*.fdb, the database files themselves. Also usually at least one PC4\Tutorials.fdm (readonly master database for creating live per-user tutorials database copies from)

\PC4\Backup Primecut normally stores  its nightly backaup of Production datastores here

\PC4\Update Only used during Primecut server updates...update files are placed in this folder  

 

Semi-Automatic Update

PRE-REQUISITE- you must be logged into the server, via its console or via a Remote Desktop session,  as a user with administrative rights to the server!

1.Run the PC4LicGui.exe as Administrator. (Right click on PC4LicGui.exe, in the \PC4\License\ or \PC4\License64\ folder,  and choose Run as Administrator)

2.Click the Updates menu then Check for Update. The license service will check with the Kinetic update server and compare the current version with the latest release.  If there isn't a newer release, there's nothing further to do!

LicSvr GUI - Check for update

3.Following the menu down, next Download Update .  This will proceed in the background and may take some time, its a largish download of more 500MB.  You will see a progress indication ion the status bar at the bottom of the License Gui application, the final size of the Release 131 download is shown for reference, this should give you some idea as to how fast the download is progressing:

serverupdate2

 When it completes you will see a dialog:

 
serverupdate1

4.Click Yes, to proceed to Test the update.   (Or close the dialog and click on Test Update from the update menu.)

5.We are now ready to install the update.  First ensure all users have exited Primecut (only one admin session should be showing in the Session list, as shown above), then when ready click Apply Update.
This may take some time if your databases are to be updated and are large in size, as they are each backed up before the changes are applied.

NOTE 1  We suggest performing the update during New Zealand business hours so the full Primecut support team is available should you need assistance.

NOTE 2 Updating .NET libraries may be required as part of the Primecut server update, and this may require a reboot of the server.  If the option allows, defer the server reboot until after the Primecut update is complete.  If the server is rebooted during the update, the update will need to be resumed via the manual server update at step 3 (the update is already downloaded and unzipped at this point).

If for any reason the update fails, ensure the PC4LicGui.exe was run As Administrator. Otherwise you can try the manual update.  The update process logs all steps and results as it proceeds so contact Kinetic for assistance in interpreting what may have gone wrong.

 

Manual Update

During the update process, or some, or all of these components may require updating.

A full update must therefore be done on the Server, not just on a client computer, and tools are provided to make this relatively straightforward. Begin by locating on the server the PC4\ folder, and within this the PC4\Update\ folder. It is usually under the root of a drive on the server, eg c:\PC4\ or D:\PC4\, but may be placed further down the folder tree, eg G:\DATA\Applications\PC4\.

1.Ensure all users have exited PrimeCut. You can check this by running PC4\License64\PC4LicGui.exe

pc4 update 0

Its best to ask users to exit and wait for them to do so; if they do not or we cancel their session, they may lose unsaved work. You can tick Disallow New Connections to prevent anyone logging in until the update is completed. If there are any "stuck" sessions as above, you can cancel them with the Cancel Session button, or just leave them.

2.Extract the contents of PC4ServerUpdate.zip into PC4\Update\.

It is best to delete whatever might be in there left over from the last update first. There will be a program PC4serverUpdate.exe, a file manifest.ini which lists all component versions within the update, and a set of data files including some more zip files- do not extract the contents of these, the updater does this automatically.

3.Open a command window there, verify the prompt shows the correct folder PC4\Update\:

There's a very simple way to do this - navigate to the PC4\Update\ folder, hold the SHIFT key, RIGHT CLICK and select Open command window here.

PC4 Update 1

If Windows 7, or Server 2008 or later, you should ensure the command window is "elevated", ie says "Administrator" in its its title bar, as above. It may be sufficient to SHIFT-RIGHT CLICK in the PC4\Update folder in windows explorer and choose Open command window Here... if not you may need to find command prompt under the Start menu, programs, accessories, and RIGHT CLICK, Run as Administrator.

4.Type into the command window PC4serverUpdate.exe /test

pc4 update 2

The Update program will run in test mode, verifying that everything is where it expects to find it, that checksums are intact, and identifying what components need updating. in the example below, only "PrimeCut" (the client image) needs updating.

pc4 update 3

5.Type into the command window PC4serverUpdate.exe /update

This initiates a series of steps. If one or more databases are to be updated, it will first backup these databases which have the backup flag set on them. These backups are stored in the PC4\Update\ folder as <datastore name>.bak, and they are rthere in case there is a problem with the update, in which case the databases will automatically restore back to their original state. If necessary the license and STP services are stopped, updated, and restarted. The primecut4 client image is overwritten.

NOTE: Due to a service control problem you may get an error the first time PC4ServerUpdate /update is run: "Unhandled exception waiting for service to stop" . If this should happen wait 5 seconds or more then run it again, it should work the second time.

Lookout to see that "UPDATE SUCCESSFUL" appears, as below, indicating the server update has completed without problems. A warning about email not configured can safely be ignored, on some servers we can configure the license server to email kinetic if there was a problem with the update.

pc4 update 5

6.Update the client computers as described below.

7.If the STP service was updated above, you may also need to update Touchcut at the machine(s).

If you have any problems please use HelpDesk to contact Kinetic for online assistance.


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