Summary
This article explains how to transfer your adTempus installation from one computer to another.
Multiple instances
These instructions assume you are using the default instance of adTempus. If you are working with a named instance, replace "Default" with the name of the instance in all Registry keys and file paths.
Overview
The process of transferring an adTempus installation involves the following steps:
- Copying instance configuration data
- Preparing the new database
- Installing the software
- Registry configuration
- Transferring the Captured File data
Parallel testing considerations are discussed at the end of the article.
Preventing duplicate job execution
Before beginning the migration process, review Preventing duplicate job execution during server migration to ensure that you do not end up with jobs running on both servers at the same time.
Copying instance configuration data
A few bits of important information configuration information are stored in the Registry and should be copied over.
- On the source computer, run the Registry Editor and go to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Arcana Development\adTempus\Instances\Default". Right-click this key and choose Export, then export to a file.
- On the target computer, run the Registry Editor and select Import from the File menu, then import the file you created in step 1.
Preparing the new database
The procedure for transferring the database depends on whether you are using the default SQL Server Express database, or a standalone SQL Server instance.
SQL Server Express
If you are using the default SQL Server Express database on the source, you will copy a backup of the database to the target computer:
- Stop the adTempus service on the source computer.
- On the source computer, run the adTempus Database Utility found in the adTempus group on the Start menu.
- In the adTempus Database Utility, choose the Backup Database option on the Tools menu.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to create a backup of the database.
- Copy the backup file to the target computer. The file needs to be accessible to the Local System account on the target, which does not have access to network locations.
- Continue with software installation as described below. In the Database Configuration Wizard, choose the option to restore the database from the backup you have just created.
Following installation the source and target computers now have independent copies of the adTempus database, and both instances can continue to operate if you wish.
Standalone SQL Server instance: reuse existing database
If you are using a standalone SQL Server instance to host the adTempus data, and you will no longer be running adTempus on the source computer, you can simply configure the adTempus instance on the target computer to use the existing adTempus database. It is not necessary to copy any data.
The Registry key you copied above contains the database connection information, so the new instance by default will already be pointing to the existing database.
Note: Once you point the new adTempus instance at the existing adTempus database, you must not continue to run adTempus on the source computer. Having two adTempus instances pointing at the same database will result in data corruption and incorrect operation of adTempus. If you need to continue running adTempus on the source computer, you must create a copy of your database as described in the next section.
Standalone SQL Server instance: duplicate database
If you are using a standalone SQL Server instance to host the adTempus data, and you want to be able to continue running adTempus on the source computer in addition to the target computer, you must make a copy of the adTempus database to be used by the adTempus instance on the target computer. This is necessary because two adTempus instances cannot share the same database.
There are two options for copying the database. Consult your database administrator if necessary for assistance with these steps.
- Use the "Copy Database" command in SQL Server Management Studio to make a copy of the database. This option may not be available for all database servers or all versions of Management Studio.
- Create a backup of the database, then restore it with a new name.
After copying the database you must also update the database connection and login information for adTempus:
- On the target computer, run the Registry Editor and go to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Arcana Development\adTempus\Instances\Default\Database".
- Edit the "Database" value and change it to the name of the new database you created.
- Make a note of the "userID" value under the "Database" key. If there is no userID, your connection is using integrated security, and the user ID to use in the following steps is "domain\computername$" (replacing domain and computername with the names of the domain and the computer; be sure to keep the "$" at the end).
- In SQL Server Management Studio, expand the node for the new database, then go to the Security/Users node.
- Right-click the Users node and select New User....
- Enter the user ID you noted in step 6 for both the User name and Login name fields.
- In the Database role membership list, check the boxes next to the following roles:
- db_datareader
- db_datawriter
- db_backupoperator
- Click OK to save the user.
- Continue with software installation as described below. The Database Configuration Wizard will verify the connection to the new database using the settings you have modified in the Registry.
Following installation the source and target computers now have independent copies of the adTempus database, and both instances can continue to operate if you wish.
Installing the software
Download the appropriate version of adTempus and install it on the target computer, choosing the same engine mode options as on the source computer.
Licensing
At the end of the software installation process, the License Activation wizard will start. You will not be able to take advantage of the default 30-day evaluation period, because the "installation" date that adTempus uses to calculate the evaluation period is stored in the database, and thus will be the date of the original installation on the source computer.
You may use any of the following approaches to licensing:
A. Use an extra license
If you have an extra adTempus license in your license account, you can use that license to activate the target computer.
B. Reuse existing license from source computer
If you no longer need to run adTempus on the source computer, you can immediately reuse your existing license from that computer. To do this, run the License Manager tool from the adTempus program group on the source computer. Select your adTempus license, right-click it, choose the Remove option, and follow the instructions to return the license to your account for reuse. On the target computer, you can now activate the computer using this license.
Note: Once you have deactivated the source computer, adTempus will continue to function normally until the next time the adTempus service is restarted. At this time, it will fail to start because you will no longer have a valid license on the source computer.
C. Use a temporary license
If you are not able to reuse the license from the source computer, you can get a 30-day temporary license. To do this, choose the "Continue Evaluation" option in the License Wizard, then complete the remaining software installation steps.
After installation is complete, run the License Manager from the adTempus program group and choose the "Get a temporary license" option from the "License" menu. Complete the steps to activate the computer using a 30-day temporary license.
Before the 30 days have elapsed, you will need to transfer the license from another computer (as described in option B above), or purchase an additional license.
Database Configuration
If you plan the use SQL Server Express on the target computer, choose the option to install SQL Server Express during installation.
After the adTempus software is installed, the Database Configuration Wizard will run.
SQL Server Express
On the Select Actions page of the wizard, select the option to "Restore from backup file" and select the backup file you created earlier. adTempus will create a new database and load the data from the backup.
Standalone SQL Server
The Registry updates you performed earlier have configured adTempus to point to the new database. The wizard should connect automatically to the new database and will then upgrade its schema if necessary.
Transferring the Captured File data
The files that adTempus has captured and stored as part of your job history are stored outside the database and therefore must be copied separately to the new computer.
On the source computer, use Windows Explorer to navigate to the folder "C:\Program Files\Arcana Development\adTempus\Instances\Default\Data". Copy the "CapturedFiles" folder to the "C:\Program Files\Arcana Development\adTempus\Instances\Default\Data" folder on the target computer. This folder contains the contents of all files captured by adTempus.
Parallel testing considerations
If you plan to perform parallel testing (testing the new server while continuing to run jobs on the old server), consider these points.
Job execution
Be sure you are selectively enabling and running jobs on the new server and disabling them on the old server, if necessary, to prevent jobs from executing in both environments.
Data synchronization
The job execution histories of your jobs will have diverged during testing, and any changes you have made to configuration on the source server will not be reflected on the target. adTempus does not provide a way to merge or reconcile the execution histories. Therefore if you need to retain the history, at the end of testing you will need to re-copy the database and Captured File data from the source computer to the target.
- Use database backup/restore to copy the database. If your source computer is running an older version of adTempus, you must run the Database Configuration Wizard to upgrade the database schema after you restore it.
- Use a file copy to copy new Captured File data. During the copy you can skip files that already exist on the target computer: adTempus writes the files when they are first captured and does not subsequently update them. The automatic cleanup process will remove any files that are no longer llinked to history records.
Note that the database restore will overwrite any changes you have made to job configuration on the target server. There are a few ways to handle this:
Before initial conversion, on the source server replace any hard-coded paths or other configuration details that might differ on the target server with Job Variables so they can be easily changed in the new environment. The Find/Replace tool can be used to replace strings with job variable tokens.
Before performing the database restore, create an export (from within the Console) of all of your jobs and other configuration data. Do not select the option to include the job history when doing this. After you have restored the database, import the export file you just created. This will replace the configuration settings for the jobs while keeping the newer history.
Note that on servers with a large number of jobs you may encounter failures due to timeouts on the export or the import. We advise you to test this step before your final cutover and contact us for assistance if the export or import fails.
