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Tech Tip (LISTSERV Maestro) – Issue 2 – 2007
Q: We use an earlier version of Microsoft SQL Server for our LISTSERV Maestro system database and want to upgrade to SQL Server 2005. Is there anything we need to be aware of?
Answer by Michael Shannon
Senior Consulting Analyst, L-Soft
There are two very important issues that must be addressed before upgrading to Microsoft SQL Server 2005.
First, the Microsoft JDBC driver used for earlier versions of SQL Server does not work with SQL Server 2005 so it must be upgraded. You can obtain it at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/data/ref/jdbc/. Note that early versions of the Microsoft JDBC driver were faulty so it's important to use the latest one from the previous link.
An alternative driver, called jTDS, is available from: http://jtds.sourceforge.net. The jTDS driver is a pure Java open-source project that works with several versions of SQL Server (6.5, 7, 2000 and 2005). It performs well with LISTSERV Maestro and can be used instead of the Microsoft driver if preferable.
Second, the changes to the LISTSERV Maestro database plugins required to communicate with SQL Server 2005 were only introduced in LISTSERV Maestro 2.1, so if you're running an earlier version of LISTSERV Maestro, you need to upgrade to the latest version (currently 3.0-5). Note that LISTSERV Maestro 3.0-5 also requires that you upgrade to LISTSERV 15.0. Thus, you will need to ensure that your current licence will support such an upgrade.
Assuming that you will be keeping the same IP address and fully qualified domain name(s) for your LISTSERV Maestro installation, the suggested method for upgrading would be as follows:
- Force LISTSERV Maestro to do a manual backup before you do anything. Make a copy of this backup in a safe location. This gives you a safe point to fall back to if something unexpected should happen.
- If necessary, upgrade LISTSERV and LISTSERV Maestro to 15.0 and 3.0-5, respectively (or whichever is currently the most recent version of LISTSERV and LISTSERV Maestro).
- Set up the new MS SQL Server 2005 database and prepare it for connection from LISTSERV Maestro by creating the appropriate user and login credentials.
- If you are upgrading the existing SQL Server instance on the existing machine, then it is recommended that for the time being you continue to use the same JDBC driver as before. If this was the Microsoft JDBC driver, make sure, however, that you are using the latest version of the driver (see above). If in addition to the database upgrade you also want to switch to a different JDBC driver, then you should not do this now but wait until later, after you have performed this upgrade procedure successfully.
- If you are installing SQL Server 2005 on a different machine from the previous system database, DO NOT disable the old SQL Server at this point because LISTSERV Maestro will need to connect to it again in order to transfer all the data. You can disable it after LISTSERV Maestro has successfully transferred all the data. In this case, you can also decide to use a different JDBC driver to connect to the new system database. You do not have to use the same driver that is currently being used to connect to the old system database.
- At this point, if the new system database is still on the same machine, you can restart LISTSERV Maestro for it to connect to the new database. Otherwise, if you are installing the system database on a new machine ...
- Prepare LISTSERV Maestro to connect to the new database. This may include registering the database plugin for the JDBC driver you are using for the new system database. See Sections 23.2.4 and 10.1 of the LISTSERV Maestro 3.0 Administrator's Manual for details: www.lsoft.com/manuals/maestro/3.0/
LISTSERVMaestro3.0_AdminManual.pdf.
- Start LISTSERV Maestro and allow it to transfer the data to the new database.
- Verify that LISTSERV Maestro works with the new database by trying a test job.
If you have any questions at all prior to the upgrade, please feel free to contact L-Soft Customer Support for assistance by writing to: support@lsoft.com.
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