How to Update Legacy Copies of Collection-Master

GOAL

The goal of this document is to explain the process of updating older versions of Collection-Master. It’s best practice for updates to be installed in a timely fashion, so updating from a very old version to a current version may hold some surprises.

OFFICIAL METHOD

In theory, you could install each past release successively until your system was up-to-date. This would be time-consuming and not very efficient. In addition, our current releases often include fixes for older bugs that are not included in past releases.

The official method of updating an old system is to directly update it to CM91.exe (or the current release).

VERTICAN ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED

In a perfect case, you might not need any help, but you will still need things like a license file, and very old systems tend to have data problems. Make sure that you plan to have Vertican’s help. That means you do the update during normal support hours and you factor in time for troubleshooting and resolution of problems that may arise.

BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP

BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP. We cannot emphasize enough how important a backup is! You might want to make an extra ROBOCOPY backup of the system before the update. Make sure you have enough space.

TEST SYSTEM

Copy your production system to a test system and update the test system first. Many common problems will be found, and you can document and resolve any issues during testing.

BRSERIAL.43

Depending on your system version, you might need to get a new BRSERIAL.43 from Vertican with the new Named User Licensing.

VERTICAN LICENSE MANAGER (VLM)

Before you update your software, you will need to set up the Vertican License Manager (VLM), a tool that manages Named User license information for Vertican subscription products.

• All Vertican subscription software maintains Named User functionality. A Named User is a person who has the required license and has been assigned access by the firm’s administrator.
• Make sure to set up your Named Users in the licensemanager.exe.
• More information can be found in this article: How to Troubleshoot the Vertican License Manager (VLM).

MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES YOU MAY RUN INTO

• Sometimes a required Folder (e.g. Screen) will exist as a file.
  • (Error 4203 copying). Delete the file if you get this error.
• If MAPDRIVE._CS exists, the update will try to run in Client-Server mode.
  • You can start Collection-Master normally and run: PROC UPDATE/UPDATE.
• Sometimes files will be flagged as Read-Only.
  • Use Attrib -r *.* /s to remove the Read-Only flag.

UPDATE STEPS

Install CM91.exe or the latest version. The older your existing version, the more times the update will loop.

• The update will run and loop around several times, asking for “F1” to continue.
  • Wait and it will continue on its own.
• Remember that the update runs through each release, updating files.
  • The process is mostly automated.
• There may be some message boxes with information about the update.
  • These message boxes are reporting a problem; make sure to get a screenshot.
  • If possible, fix data issues in the original system before applying the update to production.
• SQL-SYNC might cause PROC REBUILD//8 to be skipped.
  • In theory, it’s okay to skip, but it may be a good time to maintain the database.
  • It’s okay to skip, but it’s better to pack the database to make sure everything is clean.
  • If using SQL-SYNC, remember to RUN SETUP_DB/SQL_SYNC.

AFTER UPDATE

• Update Registration information to get the latest EDI / Modules / Infinity Fields.
  • From within Collection-Master, go to Tools > Interface Registration.
• Perform 1-S-5 – System Default Setup.
  • While the update will pick defaults, there are likely new features that you should set up.
• Error Messages
  • You may receive messages like ‘CHECK IOERROR.LOG’.
    • If there are data problems, it’s always best to address them before the update.