Upgrade path ArcGIS Server from 10.2.1 to 10.3.1

[RickThiel]

Hello,

I am in the initial stages of planning an upgrade for our ArcGIS Server environment. 

This is what we currently have:

• ArcGIS 10.2.1 for Server (10.2.3497)
• IIS Web Adaptor 10.2.1
• Highly available (HA) environment: Each "Site" is supported by 2 servers, and server configuration files are stored on a shared network drive.
• Servers are also behind a load balancer.  So the network traffic is load balanced prior to reaching the server, and then the web-adaptors also control rest service traffic internally.

We would like to upgrade to 10.3.1 on the same existing servers, with the same basic settings.  Is there any available guidance to help plan this out?  We would like to perform the upgrade with minimal downtime for the users.

Thanks.

[RebeccaStrauch__GISP]

I'm assuming you are looking for user experience and not just what is included in Upgrade ArcGIS Server—Documentation | ArcGIS for Server ?

We're still on 10.2.2 and probably will jump to 10.4 when we upgrade (or wait until 10.4.1 comes out, probably in June).  So, I haven't done the 10.2.x to 10.3, but I can say that upgrades are fairly painless these days vs. 10.0 and prior.  The upgrade tends to remember the services and structure now, so you don't have to rebuild from scratch like you had to in the older versions.  Also, the caches are compatible moving forward, so you should be good there.

[RickThiel]

Hi Rebecca,  thanks for taking the time to reply to me (again).  I really appreciate it.  I am glad to hear that the upgrade process is a lot smoother these days.

To answer your question, no, I am looking for information specifically about upgrading in HA environments.  I knew that there would be a lot more to consider because of the shared configuration files that are used in high availability.  In my brief search for help on the subject I could not find much guidance.

[MichaelRobb · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Sorry, trying to understand your HA setup.  Each Site?  how many Sites (aka Clusters) do you have? Or is this One Site (1 Cluster) with 2 Nodes (aka two machines/servers).

If you have 1 Cluster 2 Nodes which share a SAN/NAS for config-store files  then... you must have downtime.  You cannot have one node on a 10.3 version and the other on a 10.2.2 sharing the config-store and expect stability.

Also Web Adaptors must be of same version as ArcGIS Server

Luckily, 10.2.2. to 10.3 is, for the most part, is a painless upgrade. Just run the 10.3 install...  ArcGIS Server handles stopping all services, upgrading the software and restarting the site. Unlike 10.1 to 10.2.2 which left some 'residue' and buggy things happening.  For Web adaptors, install is not an upgrade. You must uninstall the web adaptor and install the new version.

Hopefully you are running a true Acceptance / Production or have some sort of Pre-production environment to run through first...Also, Im a strong advocate of documentation.. so get your greenshot image capture tool ready!

Workflow idea:

Copy all shared content (SAN/NAS) used by ArcGIS Server (for backup)

Apply Maintenance page on IIS

Stop one Machine/server (aka Node) in the cluster. - Id stop this using Windows Services (not through ArcGIS Admin or manager).

Run the 10.3 install on the running arcgis server..  finish.

Confirm the 10.3 arcgis server is running

Rollback point. (at this point, can still use one node if need be)

Uninstall Both Web Adaptors

Run the 10.3 upgrade on the Node that is off... finish

Start the ArcGIS Server node that is off (using windows services)

Verify that both machines are running the cluster

Install the first web adaptor

Join to the ArcGIS Server Cluster

Install the second web adaptor

Join to the ArcGIS Server cluster.

Verify.

Rollback:  VM snapshots options.

There are other options if you dont have an Acceptance/Production silo environment.

- remove one of the nodes from the cluster... change its Directories/Logs/Config-store directory to local.

You would have 2 web adaptors and 1 arcgis server still running. 

Upgrade the node that is now 'standalone'. 

Verify its operation.

If good. Then put site in maintenance and upgrade the still live 10.2 to 10.3, keeping the SAN/NAS structure.

Verify.

Join the standalone to the cluster...

It will then use the shared directories.. delete the local ones created.

Hope that helps.

[RickThiel]

Hi Michael,

Thanks for taking the time to reply to me, I really appreciate it.  Yes we have four sites: ELEC site, GAS site, LAND site, and OTHER site  (we are a gas/electric utility).  Each site is supported by two servers (nodes) each, for a total of 8 servers.  And, yes, we have a QA environment to try all of this out ahead of time, and we always take good notes with screen shots too.  We love Microsoft One Note.

Excellent information in your reply!  Thank you.  I am in the research phase of preparing for this upgrade and this will help me immensely.

Our initial brainstorming idea was to upgrade one of the servers to 10.3.1 while the other server in the cluster remained at 10.2.1.  But, as you pointed out, that doesn't seem like a good idea since they are sharing the same configuration files.  Seems like it could get pretty messy in an HA environment.

Thanks for the workflow ideas.  That will be very helpful.