Upgrading from Unity 3.1(5) to 4.2(1)

coalsont · ‎02-22-2007

We are planning on upgrading Unity UM 3.1(5) to 4.2(1) Has anybody out there done this, and if so, are there any particular things to watch out for? This seems to be an intense upgrade and the documentation for the upgrade seems to leave a lot to be desired.

Thanks for any help that the guys in the trenches can provide.

Tim

s-bruening · ‎02-23-2007

We have made also an Upgrade from 3.5.1 to 4.2.1 and the major problem was the transforming of the dongle system key into a electronic license file for Unity 4.2.1, because the way which is described in the Upgrade Guide does not work (the cisco license page and system has changed). And so I write to licening@cisco.com and ask for the possibility to send them the old unity license information and get a new 4.x license which includes the amoung of features of our 3.1 license. It was a hard and long way, but I finally I got a new license.

muarrij · ‎02-23-2007

Did you have problems with the AD schema or the exchange server? What about if the upgrade failed? How would you revert back to the previous version?

s-bruening · ‎02-23-2007

no, there were no problems with the AD and exchange, because we install a new exchange 2003 server and then Unity 4.2.1. If you want to upgrade to exchange 2003 on the same server like unity is, so you must upgrade unity first before upgrade exchange. At first of the upgrade process make a backup of your DC, Exchange and Unity (Unity Upgrade include steps that will tell you to make an backup).

coalsont · ‎02-23-2007

Hi muarrij, If you have a spare drive and your system is mirrored, pop a drive out and put the spare drive in. That way you can (according to TAC) go back to the previous version. That's what we're going to do. Hopefully it will be a good fall-back in case the upgrade fails. What's your opinion of the documentation for the upgrade?

coalsont · ‎02-23-2007

Thanks a lot s-bruening,

I kind of figured that might be one issue. The documentation for the upgrade is unbelievable. In a 40 page document, it has 47 different links to other documents, which have other links to another page, explaining that this page might be out of date and is not updated.(the licensing page) Anyway, I appreciate your input. You said you didn't have any problems with extending the schema. That's good. Did Unity go down because of the licensing issue? I assume it did. How long did it take you to get the issue straightened out? We've had numerous issues with the licensing of Unity. (versions)

s-bruening · ‎02-26-2007

Yes sure Unity goes down because of the licensing issue. It takes almost 2 month, because every answer to a mail I've wrote takes 2 or more days. The communication was terrible, a lot of communication difficulties. I hope that it was a bad exciption and will easier and faster for you. To be safe, first try to get the license and after that start the upgrade.