BDSSA AMIGO Upgrade Program Introduction

The BMC Assisted MIGration Offering, or AMIGO, is a program designed to assist our customers in planning and preparing for product upgrades from an older, to a newer supported version.  By engaging with BMC Technical Support Analysts, you will be provided with materials containing guidelines and best practices to aid in compiling your own upgrade plan.  An upgrade expert will then review your plan, and offer advice and suggestions to ensure success through proper planning.

The AMIGO program consists of a Starter Phase and a Review Phase.  Each phase is initiated by opening a support case, and ends when the case is closed.

In the Starter Phase, an AMIGO Starter case is opened. Reference material will be provided and a call with a Technical Support Analyst will take place to discuss the details of your upgrade, and address any questions you may have. The AMIGO Starter case will be closed, and the next step will be for you to prepare a documented upgrade plan. 

In the Review Phase, an AMIGO Review case is opened preferably two weeks prior to a set upgrade date. A call will be scheduled with an upgrade expert to review your detailed plan, providing feedback and recommendations, along with answers to any outstanding questions.  As needed, a follow up discussion with a Technical Support Analyst may take place for feedback after the upgrade is performed.
 
To assist with the Starter Phase, please complete the following BDSSA Upgrade Checklist and include the requested information when opening the Starter Ticket.
 

AMIGO Upgrade Checklist for BMC Decision Support for Server Automation (BDSSA)

1)      Provide Current BDSSA Environment Information to Customer Support for analysis:

a)      BDSSA Reports Server and DB Version information:

i)        Send contents of $BLREPORTS_HOME/VERSION file.
ii)       Run the following SQL Query on the BSARA_DW Schema/DB:

 SELECT Value FROM SYSTEM_PROPERTY WHERE Name=’DatabaseVersion’;
 

b)      DB, Webserver and SMTP information can be captured by providing the following file(s) to support:

BDSSA 8.3:

i)        $BLREPORTS_HOME/local.properties

ii)       $BLREPORTS_HOME/bin/blreports_config.properties

BDSSA 8.5+:

      i)$BDS_HOME\shared\ConfigurationManagement\bds.properties
       ii) $BDS_HOME\shared\ConfigurationManagement\generic_Counfiguration.Properties
 

c) If this BDSSA env uses an Oracle Database, Please run the bdssa_db_config_recommendation.sql script which is located in the BDSSA\Db_Scripts\oracle\schema directory of the BDSSA external-files zip file.    

d) What version of BSA is this BDSSA environment integrated with? Will these BSA environments also be upgraded as part of this upgrade effort? If so, what version will BSA be upgraded to?

e)     Is this BDSSA environment a multi-site environment? i.e. is integrated with multiple BSA environments?

f)      Is this BDSSA environment integrated with any other BMC Products? E.g BL2ATRIUM. If so, provide integration details.

g)      Is the BDSSA environment hosted on Physical or Virtual Servers? In case of a Virtual Server, BMC recommends customers take snapshots of existing environment before starting the upgrade.
 

2)      To what version of BDSSA will the environment be upgraded? (aka Target Version)

3)      BDSSA Environment History

a)      How long has this BDSSA Environment been in existence?

b)      What is the upgrade history of this BDSSA Environment?

c)       What is a typical recent runtime for the BDSSA ETL job?

d)      Has the BDSSA Archive tool been run in this environment? If so, how frequently is it run and when was the last run.

4)      Is this a Production environment?

a)      If so, does a DEV/LAB/Test environment also exist?

b)      Is the DEV/LAB/Test environment using a copy of the Prod DB?

c)       What are the upgrade plans for the DEV/LAB/Test environment?

5)      What Authentication Types are currently configured and used in this BDSSA environment? e.g

a)      SRP Authentication

b)      Domain Authentication

c)       RSA SecureID Authentication

d)      LDAP Authentication

e)      CAC Authentication

f)       PKI Authentication

6)      Third party SSL Certificates

a)      Are there any third part SSL certificates for BDSSA Apache webserver and Cognos? If so, please provide details and review the following section of the doc: https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/public/bdssa83/Supporting+third+party+Certification+Authority+certificates

7)      RSCD and NSH version information

a)      What version of the RSCD agent is currently installed on the BDSSA Reports Server?

b)      What version of Network Shell is currently installed on the BDSSA Reports Server?

8)      Review the BDSSA upgrade documentation for the Target Version:

       BDSSA 8.5:
a) https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/bdssa85/Upgrading

b) https://docs.bmc.com/docs/decisionsupportserverautomation/85/supported-upgrade-paths-466387399.html

       BDSSA 8.6:
a) https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/bdssa86/Upgrading

b) https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/bdssa86/Supported+upgrade+paths
 

       BDSSA 8.7:
a) https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/public/bdssa87/Upgrading
b) https://docs.bmc.com/docs/decisionsupportserverautomation/87/preparing-for-upgrade-562355478.html


       BDSSA 8.8:
a) https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/public/bdssa88/Upgrading

       BDSSA 8.9:
a) https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/public/bdssa87/Upgrading
b) https://docs.bmc.com/docs/decisionsupportserverautomation/89/release-notes-and-notices
c) https://docs.bmc.com/docs/decisionsupportserverautomation/89/preparing-for-upgrade-656916260.html#Preparingforupgrade-Backingupyourfiles
 

10)   Review the latest Service Pack information for the Target Version

a)      https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/bdssa85/Service+Pack+1%3A+8.5.01

b)      https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/bdssa86/8.6.01%3A+Service+Pack+1

Note : If Planning  to Upgrade to BDSSA 89 with BSA 8.9.01 /BSA 8.9.02 , Please make sure to apply the Hot-Fix after BDSSA Upgrade to make the BDSSA Compatible with BSA 
Please refer the below link for more information -
https://docs.bmc.com/docs/decisionsupportserverautomation/89/prerequisite-for-using-bmc-decision-support-for-server-automation-8-9-00-with-bmc-server-automation-724762654.html
 

11)   Provide an inital upgrade plan document to BMC Support for review and feedback.
Providing an Upgrade Plan is not a requirement of the Starter Phase but if initial versions exist, BMC Customer Support can review them and provide feedback for inclusion in later versions.
 

12)   What is the proposed timeline for the BBDSSA Upgrade?

a)      Start date of proposed upgrade

b)      Details of approved outage window

c)       Have the necessary resources been informed of the upgrade timeline in case their assistance is required? (e.g. DBAs, LDAP/AD Admins, Network Admins)

13)   What is the back out plan in the event that there are unexpected issues? E,g,

a)      Moving back to previous release?

b)      Restoring the backup data base?

c)       Restoring old snapshot (In case of VM Snapshot is taken on virtual server)?

14) What is the back out plan for Cognos Related files ? Eg :
a)     Please let us know if using any Custom reports, If yes, Please export the Custom reports using below link-
         You can export custom reports by using the export utility available in Content Administration in IBM Cognos Administration
          (see IBM Cognos Administration and Security Guide at PDFs).

         All reports are exported to a zip file that is located on the reports server in the BDSSAInstallationDirectory/portal/deployments directory.
         When the report export is complete,
         ensure that you back up the export file to another known location.

b)     Please take backup of below configuration files
        https://docs.bmc.com/docs/decisionsupportserverautomation/89/preparing-for-upgrade-656916260.html#Preparingforupgrade-Backingupyourfiles

c)      Please let us know if you are Using Report Studio and have Report Studio License available ?

14)   What is the test schedule in the upgraded BDSSA environment? e.g.

a)      Testing  Custom Reports and Out of Box Reports

b)      Confirming Reports Schedules

c)       Verifying ETL Run success and performance

15)   Determine training needs for new features.

a)      What are the new features available from the target release?

https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/bdssa82/What%27s+new

https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/bdssa83/What%27s+new

https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/bdssa85/Release+notes+and+notices
https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/bdssa86/Release+notes+and+notices
https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/public/bdssa87/Release+notes+and+notices

 

b)      What level of training required for new features?

c)       How long does it take to learn new features?

1. BMC BladeLogic Decision Support for Server Automation (5 Report Viewers, 1 Query Studio)