Patch Management
From ARSWiki
Contents |
Overview
NOTE: This is a work in progress.
All products deployed on the AR System® application server should be kept as close to the most current patch release made available by BMC Corporation. The “Patch Management” section of this document outlines the standardized process for downloading and applying patches to the AR System® client and server products.
In order to ensure the proper application of patches to the AR System® server environment while minimizing the possibility of any negative impacts, all patches should first be applied to a development/staging environment and then thoroughly tested prior to distributing to the production AR System environment. If your AR System environment does not have a development/stanging system that you can use to test patches, it may be advisable that you follow a less aggressive patch application process.
When BMC Corporation identifies problems with the Action Request System® platform, they issue patches. The support team should ensure that they are aware of any and all reported problems with the Action Request System® platform and proactively keep all Remedy products up to the most recently supported release.
AR System® support personnel should ensure that the AR System® products are maintained at the most recent available patch level because BMC Technical Support will require that the latest patches be applied when investigating problems with the application server or client tools. By keeping our products at the most current release, we will be better prepared to work with BMC Technical support to resolve problems with the AR System® platform when they arise.
External References
Product Dependencies
AR System Server and AR System Distributed Server Patches to the server portion of the AR System® Platform should initially be deployed in a development/training environment and promoted to the production environment only after they’ve been thoroughly tested. The AR System® development server should be updated to the latest AR System® server patch when it is released.
AR System® Approval Server
The AR System® Approval server can be upgraded independently of the AR System® server. However, when updating the AR System® Approval server be sure that you check the compatibility matrix to ensure that the approval server version being installed is compatible with the installed AR System® release and any installed ITSM product.
AR System® Assignment Engine
The AR System® Assignment Engine can be upgraded independently of the AR System® server. However, when updating the AR System® Approval server be sure that you check the compatibility matrix to ensure that the approval server version being installed is compatible with the installed AR System® release and any installed ITSM product.
AR System® E-Mail Engine
Patches to the AR System® E-Mail Engine can be applied independently of the AR System® server. Upgrading to a newer release of the AR System® E-Mail engine should only be done when upgrading the AR System® platform to a newer release.
AR System® User and Alert Clients
All AR System® support personnel should have at least two different AR System® User and Alert tools installed on their systems:
AR System® Administrator and Import Tools
All AR System® support and development personnel should only have the latest available version of the AR System® Administrator and Import tools installed on their system.
The only exception to this rule will be in the instance when major versions of the AR System® platform are released.
For example, if your production AR System® servers is currently using the Action Request System® 6.3 environment, then AR System® support and development personnel need to ensure that they have the 6.3 Admin tool installed on their system as well as the latest Action Request System® 7.0 release. Changes to a 6.3 server should only be made using a 6.3 Administrator tool. The 7.0 Admin tool should not be used against a 6.3 server.
NOTE: BMC Corporation recommends that all individuals using the AR System® Admin Tool use the same “family” version of the AR System® Admin Tool when interacting with a given server. For example, you should not mix the use of Action Request System® 6.0 and Action Request System® 7.0 Admin Tools on the same server.
AR System® Migrator
All AR System® support and development personnel should ensure that they have the latest available release of the AR System® migratory tool installed on their workstations. A later release of the AR System® Migrator tool can be used with a prior release of the Action Request System® server platform. For example, the 7.0 release of the AR Migrator product can be used when migrating changes from between AR System® 6.3 servers.
