[GeoNetwork-users] How to upgrade easily to new version?

Thinking of upgrading to 2.4.3 but I just got the 2.4.2 installed and
configured recently. The geonetwork-opensource.org with some possible
tutorials is not responding. Help does not tell much about updating. Can I
just run the installer and it detects at least some settings?

It has been said that open source updating and bug fixing can be done very
quickly and efficiently (Seifert 2010), but we do not know yet how it’s done
so. About updating the GeoNetwork application itself into a new version
without destroying our tailorings made: some thoughts, mostly guessing:

· Database / Data path is separate, because we have PostgreSQL as the
DBMS, and the database could remain as it is…? This might make things
easier, giving no reason to export and import?

· Otherwise, probably there is the need to login as Admin to the GN in
the server, and export with GAST all the data (not only those visible
publicly) in MEF format. Typically, do not skip UUID. See the met problems
described below.

· Take certain installed and modified files (xml, conf etc.) elsewhere
as a backup

· Uninstall the old GN version here or later?

· Install the new GN version

· Modify the same things as had been done for the mentioned files, in
order to e.g. define Tomcat as the web server and PostgreSQL as the DBMS.
Define the database connection using GAST.

· Re-do the other tailorings like the logo file name etc.

· Import with the new version’s GAST the MEF data in the new

One way is not to download and install the whole new version, but just the
changed components. The newest code changes can be seen at
http://sourceforge.net/projects/geonetwork/. They can be added
incrementally, if there is the compiler installed.

About exporting the data with GAST, the application is asking for the Site
ID, but does not allow you to define it correctly. On the other hand, we
have no connections to other sites, and merely that site should be enough,
if I knew how to refer to it. It just shows *dummy*, *???* and an empty
option. I was logged in as Administrator with the remote connection, using
GAST from the server. The Simple format worked for 5 out of 10, and for Full
the output folder becomes empty due to “Operation not allowed” error. Any of
the File identifiers of the 10 items visible when searching GN from the
client PC as admin do not match with the created MEF file names. No search
words were used, therefore all data ought to be as output. I'm getting
stuck.

Arto

---

Markus Seifert. Open Source Software in daily Bavarian cadastral work –
Practical experience (4604). FIG Congress 2010. TS 4A - Open-Source Software
Solutions in Cadastre. http://www.fig.net/pub/fig2010/techprog.htm

Arto,

I agree with your concern. We upgraded from 2.2 to 2.4.2, and it was tedious and error-prone to reapply our customizations. In particular, defining a new or modified schema (e.g. ISO-2) requires manual merging of changes in files that are used by the application as a whole -- not just the "schema" directory, e.g.:

    config.xml
    metadata-show.xsl
    metadata-utils.xsl

Still, I must commend the Geonetwork development team: because of the choice of XSL for most of the GUI, most customizations can be done without any knowledge of Java or the need to rebuild the web application. In fact, many can be done even while the application is live.

Jeroen et al, correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't need to export/import your metadata as MEF, unless you are moving from a much older version (2.0, I think). You wouldn't need to do this unless the database schema has actually changed.

--Rich

Richard Fozzard, Computer Scientist
  Geospatial Metadata at NGDC: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/metadata

Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)
Univ. Colorado & NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, Enterprise Data Systems 325 S. Broadway, Skaggs 1B-305, Boulder, CO 80305
Office: 303-497-6487, Cell: 303-579-5615, Email: richard.fozzard@anonymised.com

Arto Vuorela said the following on 04/29/2010 07:28 AM:

Thinking of upgrading to 2.4.3 but I just got the 2.4.2 installed and
configured recently. The geonetwork-opensource.org with some possible
tutorials is not responding. Help does not tell much about updating. Can I
just run the installer and it detects at least some settings?

It has been said that open source updating and bug fixing can be done very
quickly and efficiently (Seifert 2010), but we do not know yet how it’s done
so. About updating the GeoNetwork application itself into a new version
without destroying our tailorings made: some thoughts, mostly guessing:

· Database / Data path is separate, because we have PostgreSQL as the
DBMS, and the database could remain as it is…? This might make things
easier, giving no reason to export and import?

· Otherwise, probably there is the need to login as Admin to the GN in
the server, and export with GAST all the data (not only those visible
publicly) in MEF format. Typically, do not skip UUID. See the met problems
described below.

· Take certain installed and modified files (xml, conf etc.) elsewhere
as a backup

· Uninstall the old GN version here or later?

· Install the new GN version

· Modify the same things as had been done for the mentioned files, in
order to e.g. define Tomcat as the web server and PostgreSQL as the DBMS.
Define the database connection using GAST.

· Re-do the other tailorings like the logo file name etc.

· Import with the new version’s GAST the MEF data in the new

One way is not to download and install the whole new version, but just the
changed components. The newest code changes can be seen at
http://sourceforge.net/projects/geonetwork/. They can be added
incrementally, if there is the compiler installed.

About exporting the data with GAST, the application is asking for the Site
ID, but does not allow you to define it correctly. On the other hand, we
have no connections to other sites, and merely that site should be enough,
if I knew how to refer to it. It just shows *dummy*, *???* and an empty
option. I was logged in as Administrator with the remote connection, using
GAST from the server. The Simple format worked for 5 out of 10, and for Full
the output folder becomes empty due to “Operation not allowed” error. Any of
the File identifiers of the 10 items visible when searching GN from the
client PC as admin do not match with the created MEF file names. No search
words were used, therefore all data ought to be as output. I'm getting
stuck.

Arto

---

Markus Seifert. Open Source Software in daily Bavarian cadastral work –
Practical experience (4604). FIG Congress 2010. TS 4A - Open-Source Software
Solutions in Cadastre. http://www.fig.net/pub/fig2010/techprog.htm
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I've run into the same train of thought. Release 2.4.3 looks very good to us
and would solve a fair amount of bugs we've run into during our
implementation process of the past few weeks.

However, it isn't clear what the "risks" and steps are to upgrade. Does
anyone have a manual/documentation? Also, Arto presented a very complete
summary of my thoughts. Can the GN dev team comment/elaborate on this?
--
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It depends on where you're coming from.

If there have been no database changes since your current version, there is
no need to export / import data and things like that.

Supposing that's the case (say you are on GN2.4.2), then I would take these
steps:

- back up your current installation

- run installer and install GN 2.4.3

- in config.xml, jetty.xml, etc, apply the changes you've made in your
current installation. That might as well include the JDBC settings for your
DB, no need to use GAST for anything.

- make sure you copy uploaded images (previews and logos) from your current
installation

- apply any other customizations you've made, like for example the logo in
the header and whatever else you've changed.

That's it ! I think there is no need to do anything else.

As for risks, I think there are not too many. Keep the back-up of your
current installation, then you can switch back to that if it were necessary
almost instantly (just copy uploaded previews and logos if they have been
added to the new installation).

Kind regards
Heikki Doeleman

On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 11:48 AM, Sidney Gijzen <sidney.gijzen@anonymised.com> wrote:

I've run into the same train of thought. Release 2.4.3 looks very good to
us
and would solve a fair amount of bugs we've run into during our
implementation process of the past few weeks.

However, it isn't clear what the "risks" and steps are to upgrade. Does
anyone have a manual/documentation? Also, Arto presented a very complete
summary of my thoughts. Can the GN dev team comment/elaborate on this?
--
View this message in context:
http://osgeo-org.1803224.n2.nabble.com/How-to-upgrade-easily-to-new-version-tp4979974p5002562.html
Sent from the GeoNetwork users mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

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Hello Heiki,

Thanks for your elaborate reply. Currently we're working with the 2.4.2
release, so the steps you described should work perfectly. I will try it
soon and keep the list informed.

Sidney
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Hi Heikki, List,

Thanks, thats a good simple guide and covers most things I found when doing upgrades. However there are 2 other things you may need from the old version:

1) The siteId which you probably want to keep the same with the new version.
Keeping the siteid could be important particularly if others are harvesting off your
site and you want consistency of the source uuid's on other sites which harvest off yours.
This can be setup in the Gast.

2) Data files for download. Metadata can have associated with it a data file which can be downloaded by
the user to their local computer. These are stored in web/geonetwork/WEB-INF/data.
The easiest way I found to restore 'data files for download' and also any thumbnails
was do a recursive copy of everthing under /data to the new version e.g:

cp -rp * /somepath/web/geonetwork/WEB-INF/data

Andrew

----- Original Message ----- From: "heikki" <tropicano@anonymised.com>
To: "Sidney Gijzen" <sidney.gijzen@anonymised.com>
Cc: <geonetwork-users@lists.sourceforge.net>
Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 2010 8:54 PM
Subject: Re: [GeoNetwork-users] How to upgrade easily to new version?

It depends on where you're coming from.

If there have been no database changes since your current version, there is
no need to export / import data and things like that.

Supposing that's the case (say you are on GN2.4.2), then I would take these
steps:

- back up your current installation

- run installer and install GN 2.4.3

- in config.xml, jetty.xml, etc, apply the changes you've made in your
current installation. That might as well include the JDBC settings for your
DB, no need to use GAST for anything.

- make sure you copy uploaded images (previews and logos) from your current
installation

- apply any other customizations you've made, like for example the logo in
the header and whatever else you've changed.

That's it ! I think there is no need to do anything else.

As for risks, I think there are not too many. Keep the back-up of your
current installation, then you can switch back to that if it were necessary
almost instantly (just copy uploaded previews and logos if they have been
added to the new installation).

Kind regards
Heikki Doeleman

On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 11:48 AM, Sidney Gijzen <sidney.gijzen@anonymised.com> wrote:

I've run into the same train of thought. Release 2.4.3 looks very good to
us
and would solve a fair amount of bugs we've run into during our
implementation process of the past few weeks.

However, it isn't clear what the "risks" and steps are to upgrade. Does
anyone have a manual/documentation? Also, Arto presented a very complete
summary of my thoughts. Can the GN dev team comment/elaborate on this?
--
View this message in context:
http://osgeo-org.1803224.n2.nabble.com/How-to-upgrade-easily-to-new-version-tp4979974p5002562.html
Sent from the GeoNetwork users mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

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http://sourceforge.net/projects/geonetwork

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hi Andrew,

isn't the site id stored in the database in table 'settings'? I think there
is no need to do anything about that when you upgrade and can leave your DB
alone ;

as for the download files: yes, you're right. Where I said "preview images"
below, I should have said, copy the complete "data" directory -- that should
then have all preview images and any other uploaded things.

Correct me if I'm wrong ..

thanks,
Heikki Doeleman

On Wed, May 5, 2010 at 2:09 AM, awalsh <awalsh@anonymised.com> wrote:

Hi Heikki, List,

Thanks, thats a good simple guide and covers most things I found when doing
upgrades. However there are 2 other things you may need from the old
version:

1) The siteId which you probably want to keep the same with the new
version.
Keeping the siteid could be important particularly if others are harvesting
off your
site and you want consistency of the source uuid's on other sites which
harvest off yours.
This can be setup in the Gast.

2) Data files for download. Metadata can have associated with it a data
file which can be downloaded by
the user to their local computer. These are stored in
web/geonetwork/WEB-INF/data.
The easiest way I found to restore 'data files for download' and also any
thumbnails
was do a recursive copy of everthing under /data to the new version e.g:

cp -rp * /somepath/web/geonetwork/WEB-INF/data

Andrew

----- Original Message ----- From: "heikki" <tropicano@anonymised.com>
To: "Sidney Gijzen" <sidney.gijzen@anonymised.com>
Cc: <geonetwork-users@lists.sourceforge.net>
Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 2010 8:54 PM
Subject: Re: [GeoNetwork-users] How to upgrade easily to new version?

It depends on where you're coming from.

If there have been no database changes since your current version, there
is
no need to export / import data and things like that.

Supposing that's the case (say you are on GN2.4.2), then I would take
these
steps:

- back up your current installation

- run installer and install GN 2.4.3

- in config.xml, jetty.xml, etc, apply the changes you've made in your
current installation. That might as well include the JDBC settings for
your
DB, no need to use GAST for anything.

- make sure you copy uploaded images (previews and logos) from your
current
installation

- apply any other customizations you've made, like for example the logo in
the header and whatever else you've changed.

That's it ! I think there is no need to do anything else.

As for risks, I think there are not too many. Keep the back-up of your
current installation, then you can switch back to that if it were
necessary
almost instantly (just copy uploaded previews and logos if they have been
added to the new installation).

Kind regards
Heikki Doeleman

On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 11:48 AM, Sidney Gijzen <sidney.gijzen@anonymised.com>
wrote:

I've run into the same train of thought. Release 2.4.3 looks very good to
us
and would solve a fair amount of bugs we've run into during our
implementation process of the past few weeks.

However, it isn't clear what the "risks" and steps are to upgrade. Does
anyone have a manual/documentation? Also, Arto presented a very complete
summary of my thoughts. Can the GN dev team comment/elaborate on this?
--
View this message in context:

http://osgeo-org.1803224.n2.nabble.com/How-to-upgrade-easily-to-new-version-tp4979974p5002562.html
Sent from the GeoNetwork users mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

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Hi Heikki, List

Yes you are right the siteId is stored in the db settings table. Sorry I overlooked that.

So, yes the siteId should be preserved if you point the new version to the existing db tables.

Andrew
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: heikki
  To: awalsh
  Cc: geonetwork-users@lists.sourceforge.net
  Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2010 11:08 AM
  Subject: Re: [GeoNetwork-users] How to upgrade easily to new version?

  hi Andrew,

  isn't the site id stored in the database in table 'settings'? I think there is no need to do anything about that when you upgrade and can leave your DB alone ;

  as for the download files: yes, you're right. Where I said "preview images" below, I should have said, copy the complete "data" directory -- that should then have all preview images and any other uploaded things.

  Correct me if I'm wrong ..

  thanks,
  Heikki Doeleman

  On Wed, May 5, 2010 at 2:09 AM, awalsh <awalsh@anonymised.com> wrote:

    Hi Heikki, List,

    Thanks, thats a good simple guide and covers most things I found when doing upgrades. However there are 2 other things you may need from the old version:

    1) The siteId which you probably want to keep the same with the new version.
    Keeping the siteid could be important particularly if others are harvesting off your
    site and you want consistency of the source uuid's on other sites which harvest off yours.
    This can be setup in the Gast.

    2) Data files for download. Metadata can have associated with it a data file which can be downloaded by
    the user to their local computer. These are stored in web/geonetwork/WEB-INF/data.
    The easiest way I found to restore 'data files for download' and also any thumbnails
    was do a recursive copy of everthing under /data to the new version e.g:

    cp -rp * /somepath/web/geonetwork/WEB-INF/data

    Andrew

    ----- Original Message ----- From: "heikki" <tropicano@anonymised.com>
    To: "Sidney Gijzen" <sidney.gijzen@anonymised.com>
    Cc: <geonetwork-users@lists.sourceforge.net>
    Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 2010 8:54 PM
    Subject: Re: [GeoNetwork-users] How to upgrade easily to new version?

      It depends on where you're coming from.

      If there have been no database changes since your current version, there is
      no need to export / import data and things like that.

      Supposing that's the case (say you are on GN2.4.2), then I would take these
      steps:

      - back up your current installation

      - run installer and install GN 2.4.3

      - in config.xml, jetty.xml, etc, apply the changes you've made in your
      current installation. That might as well include the JDBC settings for your
      DB, no need to use GAST for anything.

      - make sure you copy uploaded images (previews and logos) from your current
      installation

      - apply any other customizations you've made, like for example the logo in
      the header and whatever else you've changed.

      That's it ! I think there is no need to do anything else.

      As for risks, I think there are not too many. Keep the back-up of your
      current installation, then you can switch back to that if it were necessary
      almost instantly (just copy uploaded previews and logos if they have been
      added to the new installation).

      Kind regards
      Heikki Doeleman

      On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 11:48 AM, Sidney Gijzen <sidney.gijzen@anonymised.com..> wrote:

        I've run into the same train of thought. Release 2.4.3 looks very good to
        us
        and would solve a fair amount of bugs we've run into during our
        implementation process of the past few weeks.

        However, it isn't clear what the "risks" and steps are to upgrade. Does
        anyone have a manual/documentation? Also, Arto presented a very complete
        summary of my thoughts. Can the GN dev team comment/elaborate on this?
        --
        View this message in context:
        http://osgeo-org.1803224.n2.nabble.com/How-to-upgrade-easily-to-new-version-tp4979974p5002562.html
        Sent from the GeoNetwork users mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

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        http://sourceforge.net/projects/geonetwork

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Thanks for the info, we'll try tomorrow to update. By the way, GeoServer has
updating guidelines like
http://docs.geoserver.org/1.7.6/user/installation/geoserver-upgrade.html. In
GeoNetwork help, there could be something public like that too. Even more
visual descriptions with screen shots, or more opening up which folders to
backup, how to come back to the previous version if necessary, and so...

Hi all,

I made a start (using Heikki's and Andrew's comments):
http://trac.osgeo.org/geonetwork/wiki/HowToUpgrade

Feel free to add some fancyness and/or precision to it.

Cheers,
    Michael

-----Original Message-----
From: Arto Vuorela [mailto:arto.k.vuorela@anonymised.com]
Sent: Wednesday, 5 May 2010 9:07 PM
To: geonetwork-users@lists.sourceforge.net
Subject: Re: [GeoNetwork-users] How to upgrade easily to new version?

Thanks for the info, we'll try tomorrow to update. By the
way, GeoServer has
updating guidelines like
http://docs.geoserver.org/1.7.6/user/installation/geoserver-up
grade.html. In
GeoNetwork help, there could be something public like that
too. Even more
visual descriptions with screen shots, or more opening up
which folders to
backup, how to come back to the previous version if
necessary, and so...
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GeoNetwork OpenSource is maintained at
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We updated to 2.4.3, and after Search the titles are not seen, just abstract
etc. Opening the Metadata (this worked for some reason at least in 2.4.2
better from the + than from the button elsewhere) anyhow shows the
title. Any hint what's the reason? We're using Tomcat and PostGIS on the
intranet server. The Site ID I think changed, because I had to change the
logo GIF name.

Arto

http://sourceforge.net/projects/geonetwork/files//GeoNetwork_opensource/v2.6.0/changes.txt/view
does tell that the previous two versions 2.4.2 ans 2.4.3 were minor, but is
the fresh one a major update, requiring database changes? I found by peeking
to the developers list that it is stable, so I guess there's no need to wait
(and for how long) for some .1 version because some open bugs concerning
installation or other basic operations.
http://trac.osgeo.org/geonetwork/wiki/HowToUpgrade could be a more detailed
practical list, explaining in details, which all things or folders may
belong to the current installation to be backuped, when to uninstall the
previous version, can/should the installation be done in the same folder as
before, what corresponds cp in Windows (copy from backup and replace the
complete "data" directory), etc. How to make database changes is probably
explained in the release notes when needed, but might be good to know even
before downloading.
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Is it possible to access the reset database function that Gast provides without using Gast. i.e. a command line version?

I would like our auto test system to be able to do this from ant.

Thanks Andrew

NIWA is the trading name of the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd.

Hi Andrew,
Yes, you can run it from the commandline.

java -jar ./gast.jar -setupdb

Cheers,
Jeroen

On 27 sep 2010, at 00:54, Andrew Watkins wrote:

Is it possible to access the reset database function that Gast provides without using Gast. i.e. a command line version?

I would like our auto test system to be able to do this from ant.

Thanks Andrew

NIWA is the trading name of the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd.
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Hi Andrew,

You could also drop your database or the metadata table and start
GeoNetwork which will create the empty db on startup if empty.

Francois

2010/9/27 Andrew Watkins <a.watkins@anonymised.com>:

Is it possible to access the reset database function that Gast provides without using Gast. i.e. a command line version?

I would like our auto test system to be able to do this from ant.

Thanks Andrew

NIWA is the trading name of the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd.
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