Connect 2014 - CUST109 - planning and upgrading to ibm connections 4.5 successfully

CUST109: Continental –
Planning and Upgrading to
IBM Connections 4.5
Successfully
Carsten Frede, Continental AG
Martin Schmidt, Beck et al. Services GmbH

© 2014 IBM Corporation

Speakers’ Profiles

@beaservices1

2

Agenda
Continental AG & Beck et al. Services GmbH
Background and Project Management
Successful Migration
Key Success Factors
Questions & Answers

3

Beck et al. Services GmbH
Beck et al. Services is Premier IBM Business Partner.
Social Business Collaboration

Social Analytics

We also offer analytics for IBM Connections detecting relevant information
and sentiment to deliver content-based social KPIs.
Our team of about 90 people is located in Germany, Switzerland, Romania and
Brazil.
We are responsible for the operations of the IBM Connections infrastructure at
Continental AG as their trusted managed service provider.
Follow us on the web: www.bea-services.de | @beaservicess1

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Agenda
Key Success Factors
Questions & Answers

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IBM Connections as the Social Media Platform for
Continental

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History of IBM Connections within Continental AG
March 2012
Continental started the rollout of IBM Connections with version 3
The rollout was done as a module by module approach

December 2012
The final module went live
At this time IBM Connections 4.0 was already in the market
Decision was made to wait for IBM Connections 4.5

March 2013
IBM Connections 4.5 upgrade project started
Goal: Finishing the project mid October
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Continental’s Internal Project Team
Corporate Communications (CC)

Human Resource (HR)

• Usability, style guide and user experience
• Internal communication mix / matrix
• Social media guideline
• Project marketing

• Continental target culture (openness, trust, ..)
• Alignment of program with legal aspects
• Coordination with works councils
• Organizational change management
• employee escalation coordination
• value of contributors

Quality

In ConNext, we bring it
all together

Knowledge Management (KM)

• Definition of content type classes & attributes
• Information life cycle
• Establishing knowledge based navigation
• Relevance and value of information
• Taxonomy and tagging regulations and terms

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Information
Technology (IT)

• Information architecture
• Tec. environment setup, development and operation
• Alignment with information security
• KPI reporting of platform
• Migration of existing solutions & content

IBM Connections Upgrade
Project Phases with Work Packages
Design

Plan

Collect Use Cases [IT]

Evaluate Use Cases [All]

Testing Procedures [IT]

Benefit Collection -> to sell
update [HR]

Test Cases [IT]
Information for workers
council [IT]
Demand of User
Feedback Group (UFG)
process [IT]
Identify impact on
lifecycle
recommendations [KM]
Collection and
prioritization of Wiki and
Community requirements
[KM]
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Evaluation of Wiki/ContiPedia
and Community requirements
[KM]
Identification of KM relevant
documentations [KM]

Build
Content Migration [IT]
Technical Migration [IT][BeaS]
Upgrade Customization [IT]
Layout [CC]
3rd party application
integration [IT]
Build prototype and reference
system Connections 4.5
[BeaS]
UFG TN/Network [CC]
Update communication
materials [CC]
Define test use cases [IT] [CC]
Update training materials [CC]
Testing new environment [HR]
Service transition [IT]
Train support organisation [IT]
UFG process [CC]

Operate
Go-Live Service Desk [ IT
BeaS]
Create new set of GUIDE tasks
[HR]
Update GUIDE network [HR]
Information about
enhancements to Community
moderators [KM]
Modification of existing KM
relevant documentations [KM]

IBM Connections Upgrade
Milestones & Timeline
04/13
Prototype
1st User Feedback
Group (UFG)
Techn. Preparation

12/11

05/13

02/12

06/13

04/12

07/13

12/11

08/13 02/12

09/13

2013-05-31

2013-07-15
2013-08-31

2nd User Feedback
Group (UFG)

Rollout

2013-08-16
2013-09-15
2013-10-13
Milestones

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10/13

2013-04-22

Customizations

Prepare Rollout

04/12

The Objective: Complete the Upgrade

On time
In quality
On budget

Agenda
Key Success Factors
Questions & Answers

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Initial Situation & Challenges
Upgrade from IBM Connections 3.0 to target version 4.5 for the development, quality, and
productive instances
Large deployment of IBM Connections with 2 http servers, 4 node servers, 56 WebSphere
Application Servers and one database cluster for the productive instance
Numerous customizations to be adapted to the new release
High-availability infrastructure used by 80.000 users all over the world > reduce downtimes
About 80.000 Profiles, 48.000 Activity documents, 28.000 Blog entries, 6.500 Bookmarks,
9.000 Communities, 11.00 Files, 12.000 Forum entries, 19.000 Wiki pages, a content store
of 40GB and a database of 25GB to be migrated > ensure data consistency
Fixed deadline > no option for failure

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Migrating IBM Connections is like building a house.
1st possible way of doing it.

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Migrating IBM Connections is like building a house.
2nd possible way of doing it.

19

Design of Infrastructure
Quality Layer
Before

Load Balancer

Http Server

Node Server

Database Server

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During

After

Design of Infrastructure
Production Layer
Before

Load Balancer

Http Server

Node Server

Database Server

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During

After

Side-by-Side Migration Procedure
1. Installation
2. Test Data Migration
3. Configuration Migration
4. Customization Migration
5. 2nd Test Data Migration
6. Final Data Migration

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1. Installation

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Step 1: Installation
Goals
You know that the new instance works
You know how to test the functions and features

Procedure
Use an empty database, a freshly installed WebSphere Application Server, and install IBM
Connections out of the box (follow e.g. Zero to Social Hero or IBM Documentation)
– Start writing checklists including every step you do
– Start writing your test script

Tip
Test the basic installation and its new features and fix identified defects

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1. Out of the Box Installation

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Step 2: Test Data Migration
Goals
You know that your new instance works fine with your productive data
You know how to transport your data

Procedure
The data migration effectively consists of two separate migrations:
A) Migrate your database content
B) Migrate your shared file storage content

26

Step 2a: Database Migration
Options to move your database content from one database to the other:
Way 1 (DB expert available)
– Use backup and restore operation
– Use content migration tools of your database
Way 2 (No DB expert available or way 1 does not work)
– Move between incompatible databases
e.g. DB2 Windows to DB2 Linux, Oracle to DB2
– Use IBM Tool (dbt.jar)
– Use 3rd party tool

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Tip
Check database schema
– Create a reference database you can use as a baseline (destination version)
– Compare before you start the transport (old <-> new)
– Compare after you disabled and enabled constraints for predbxfer40.sql and
postdbxfer40.sql (old <-> new)
– Compare after you updated your schema (new <-> reference)
We use DB Solo (www.dbsolo.com)
– Offers better compare mechanism as Oracle SQL Developer
– Can compare Oracle and DB2 databases
– Can be scripted

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Tip
Disable notification settings
Copy the content during times when only few users are accessing the instance
Pitfalls
Search indexing: number of activity nodes per crawl > increase setting
Content migration Java applications fail:
com.ibm.lconn.news.migration.next45.NewsMigrationFrom40To45
GUID of internal wasuser (IBM Connections super user)
XXXMemberService.syncMemberExtIdByLogin("wasusr" , {
"allowInactivate" : "false" } )
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Pitfalls
View validation: after re-enabling constraints, some views are marked as “Operative: false”,
are not operational, and are not seen by DB Solo

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Pitfalls
Error in data copy tool (dbt.jar)

Increase your transaction log space
– db2 get db cfg for DBNAME show detail | grep -i LOG
– db2 update db cfg for DBNAME using logfilsiz 20000
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Step 2b: Content Store Migration
All relevant folders are documented
– Copy only the folders that contain files
– Do not copy search indexes
– Do not copy configuration data
Test the out-of-the-box installation together with productive data.

Tip
Use a data comparison tool to check if the data itself is still correct after the migration:
– If documents are missing
– If additional documents exist
– If they differ in terms of content
– We built a tool that uses the search API to download all content before and after the
migration and then compares the content

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Pitfalls
Activities files download
New function that activity files can be downloaded through HTTP Server (like files and wikis)
– Problematic are file names with special characters; these characters get interpreted by
the HTTP Server
– Solution: Rename files on disk and update filename in Database
ACTIVITIES.OA_CONTENTREF - column STOREURI

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Pitfalls
Content store name has changed in Version 4.5 default configuration
Activities Shared storage name changed in configuration.
oa-config.xml – <objectStore> – <store> – <id>
old: filesystem
new: filestore – change it to filesystem or create 2nd store named filesystem.

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35

Step 3: Configuration Migration
Goal
Your new instance is working according to your needs

Procedure
Previously we used the migration tool of IBM:
migration.sh lc-export
migration.sh lc-import
– Known issue that activity entries are not showing up in the ActivityStream after migrating
from 4.0 to 4.5: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21642886
For the latest migrations we copied the configuration manually to check what was really
configured (e.g. use diff or kdiff3) and updated my documentation simultaneously

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Step 4: Customization Migration
Goal
You know that all your configurations and customizations work with the migrated data

Procedure
Use a versioning system to record your customizations
Implement the customizations one by one, adapted to the new Connections release
Test the customizations and fix identified defects
Adjust your test script where necessary

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Step 4: Customization Migration
Example: Ideation Blog disclaimer – regression test even when implementing an iFix !!!
The disclaimer hooks into the add feature to community action; this action changed completely
between V 3.0 and V 4.5 so that a complete redesign was required

Tip
Good time for a “pre-acceptance test” to gain feedback from business owners

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Step 5: 2nd Test Data Migration
Goals
You know that all your configurations and customizations work with the migrated data
You know how long the migration will take
You know the exact procedure you need to execute to get it done

Procedure
Can you estimate the duration of the data migration?
Are you confident that everybody knows what to do?
If you still have doubts because you got lost in all your errors and correction mechanisms, do a
second test data migration before the final migration! It will be much easier for you to fix
defects in a non-productive environment. If you are confident, this step can be skipped.

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Step 5: 2nd Test Data Migration
Tips & Tricks
Work as it would be your final migration; follow your checklists and adjust them wherever
necessary, it’s your last chance to correct them
Define the detailed schedule for the final migration
In case database migration takes longer than desired, consider to temporarily upgrade the
RAM of your database server to speed up the process

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Step 6: Final Data Migration
Goal
The productive infrastructure is upgraded to the new Connections version including all
customizations and old content and is available to end users

Procedure
Use your checklists, that’s why you have written them
Have somebody to execute your test script; at best not the person who did the migration
Let business owners perform a final acceptance test and confirm that the upgraded instance
can replace the old one
As soon as the go-ahead is given, the access for end users can be switched to the new
instance

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Step 6: Final Data Migration
Tips
Plan all tasks and create a schedule; stick to it!
All involved parties should know what to do and when to be available as well as have their
contact data exchanged; include business owners as decision makers as well!
Change your notification settings to the desired values (you changed them in Step 2)
Have the business owners do an acceptance test and get their confirmation to go live
Have a back-out-plan
– Have the old infrastructure ready to switch back; maybe a little bit downsized but
operational
o Restore from backup can go wrong as well as too many components are involved

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Agenda
Key Success Factors
Questions & Answers

46

Key Success Factors
Ensure that all involved parties are jointly aligned to the project goals
Calculate buffer times considering vacation and unavailability as well as the risk that
something always goes wrong
Have the experts, but know the topics yourself
Prepare your tools
Do feedback loops with business owners and end users to ensure they get what they want
Go single, small steps and test iteratively to quickly find and isolate errors
Ensure repeatability of all activities by writing checklists
Use each test migration as training for the final migration; errors are errors in your checklists
which are to be corrected

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Any further questions?
Feel free to contact us!
Carsten Frede, Continental AG
carsten.frede@conti.de

Martin Schmidt, Beck et al. Services GmbH
martin.schmidt@bea-services.de

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Acknowledgements and Disclaimers
Availability. References in this presentation to IBM products, programs, or services do not imply that they will be available in all countries in which IBM operates.
The workshops, sessions and materials have been prepared by IBM or the session speakers and reflect their own views. They are provided for informational purposes only, and are neither
intended to, nor shall have the effect of being, legal or other guidance or advice to any participant. While efforts were made to verify the completeness and accuracy of the information
contained in this presentation, it is provided AS-IS without warranty of any kind, express or implied. IBM shall not be responsible for any damages arising out of the use of, or otherwise
related to, this presentation or any other materials. Nothing contained in this presentation is intended to, nor shall have the effect of, creating any warranties or representations from IBM or
its suppliers or licensors, or altering the terms and conditions of the applicable license agreement governing the use of IBM software.
All customer examples described are presented as illustrations of how those customers have used IBM products and the results they may have achieved. Actual environmental costs and
performance characteristics may vary by customer. Nothing contained in these materials is intended to, nor shall have the effect of, stating or implying that any activities undertaken by you
will result in any specific sales, revenue growth or other results.

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2014. All rights reserved.
U.S. Government Users Restricted Rights - Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp.
IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, IBM DB2 and IBM Connections are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other
countries, or both. If these and other IBM trademarked terms are marked on their first occurrence in this information with a trademark symbol (® or ™), these symbols indicate U.S.
registered or common law trademarks owned by IBM at the time this information was published. Such trademarks may also be registered or common law trademarks in other countries. A
current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at “Copyright and trademark information” at www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml
Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates.
DB Solo is a trademark of DB Solo, LLC

Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

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