Upgrade paths

How to move an APPX installation to a newer release. Before any upgrade, back up the whole installation and try the new release on a test system before it replaces a live one. Then read the release notes and the installation guide for the release you are moving to; the Release history links both for every release.

From APPX 5 to APPX 6

• Your system must be on 5.4.5 or later. The upgrade utility for APPX 6 runs only in 5.4.5 and later and must be installed in that release. On an earlier 5.x release, install 5.4.5 or newer first.
• Install the upgrade utility for your platform, then install APPX 6. Steps: APPX 6.0 upgrade installation, and the installation guide for 6.1 and 6.2.
• The 6.2 desktop client has some problems with APPX 5 servers. Keep using the newest 5.x desktop client to connect to a 5.x server.

From APPX 4 to APPX 5

• Your system must be on 4.2.a. The upgrade utility for APPX 5 runs only in 4.2.a and must be installed in that release. On an earlier 4.x release, install 4.2.a first.
• Install the upgrade utility for your platform, then install APPX 5.
• APPX 5 needs a version 5 license key. Supported customers get one at no charge from their reseller or from APPX Software.
• AppxODBC has three parts from APPX 5 on: the FMS server (part of the APPX engine), the AppxODBC server (the data gateway), and the ODBC driver. All three are needed.

APPX 5.0.0, 5.0.1, and 5.0.2

• Do not run 5.0.0 or 5.0.1 in production; they risk data loss. Move to the newest release for your platform.
• If you are upgrading from 5.0.0, 5.0.1, or 5.0.2, or you have used FMS type 9 (large files), first follow the special instructions for upgrading within APPX 5.

APPX 5.2.6a, 5.3.0, and 5.3.1: date arithmetic

Only these three releases are affected; 5.2.5 and earlier are not. After installing one of them:

1. Stop every APPX process.
2. In $APPXPATH/appx.env, set APPX_OLD_DATE_MATH=1.
3. Remove all EMs and DBGs.

Details are in bug 850.

SSL and desktop client versions

From 5.4.4c on, APPX uses SSL encryption that desktop clients older than 5.4.4c cannot use. This holds for every later 5.x and 6.x release. To connect an older client, either:

• turn SSL off completely on that client, or
• set the login manager to use the old certificates.

The installation guide for your release explains both.

Within APPX 4

• 4.2: install every file in the release, not only the executables and linkables, then do the extra steps in the APPX 4 installation guide.
• 4.2.8 and 4.2.9, coming from 4.2.7 or earlier: delete $APPXPATH/0SA/Data/PRINTER.key and $APPXPATH/0SA/Struct/PRINTER.dat (two different folders). Then start APPX, go to System Administration, File Management, and create files to make a new key file for the PRINTER file.
• 4.2.9 on Windows: the installer puts winprint.exe in appx/tools instead of appx/data. Move or copy it to appx/data, or APPX cannot print.
• 4.1: read the Important Notes in the 4.1 release notes before upgrading. Applications converted to 4.1 cannot go back to an earlier release, because the format of the I/O statements changed. You cannot change byte order (between Intel and RISC machines) and upgrade to 4.1 in one step: move the application first, using the same release on both machines, then upgrade, or the other way round.
• 4.1.4 and 4.1.6, from any 4.1.x: install every file.
• 4.1.b: engine only. Install 4.1.a first, then replace its files with the 4.1.b files.
• 4.1.3 from 4.1.2, and 4.0.9 from 4.0.5: only the executables and linkables changed.

Java Web Start

Oracle has dropped Java Web Start. If you deliver the desktop client with Web Start, move to the APPX HTML client; later APPX releases may not include Web Start.