MStock asked a question.
Hi,
we are currently running SLM 8.3 and would like to upgrade to the newest version. I already did an upgrade from SLM 7 to 8 in the past and was able to test it since we were provided an additional test license back then. I used that license to simulate the upgrade procedure on a cloned VM before upgrading our production environment. This was especially necessary since the jump from 7 -> 8 was a tough cookie.
We have been told that we will only be provided with a test license if we pay for it - or just pay for a consultant to do the upgrade for us. I am not sure if i agree to this kind of business practice, especially since no other application that we use requires a payment to test a update prodecure. On top of that we wanted to upgrade so we can buy an additional module for SLM.
While i am starting to have little hope for an additional license that we can use to clone our environment and test the upgrade prodecure, is there any other way to simulate the upgrade? Can we just clone the virtual machine and test the upgrade on it using the production licenses? Would it cause some kind of license conflict since SLM 9 requires a different license?
Also, is there anything else to watch out for other than that the inventory needs to be upgraded before SLM and additional space is required on the server hosting the DB?
Best Regards
Marcel
Hi Marcel,
So first thing I'd say is I definitely recommend having someone that regularly does the upgrades to do it for you, as if anything goes wrong during the upgrade you may end up having to fork out for support to help if you're not certified to do it, however.
You should be able to just replicate the server, perform the upgrade and find out if it works or not - the key should work, but you may end up having an issue with SLM 9 afterwards since it'll be linked to the HWID of the old box.
Your other option is to take snapshots of the servers and a database back up, upgrade it in production and if it fails roll it back. That's not a great approach, but it does get around the key being linked to the wrong HWID.
I'm surprised that you need to pay for a test key though, who do you ask for the test key? I've never heard of needing to pay for one before...
Thanks
Laim
I think the test key "pay" requirement is now part of the new pricing/sales model. As I've seen in the past organisations using test/dev keys in parallel with live systems in other parts of their businesses etc.
Even getting test keys as a partner the hoops to jump through have now increased lots in the UK.
I would go for the snapshots. You need to stop the whole system anyway so it makes it easier