Is it really necessary to re-install the dialog instances?

[Former Member]

Hi,

We are upgrading from NW04 (WAS 6.40) to NW04s (WAS 7.00) ABAP SR2 only on Windows 2003 with Oracle 9i. There is no JAVA stack in our environment and we don't need it.

In production system we have five separate dialog instances on five different physcial machines. All these application servers runnon Windows 2003 as well.

Reading through the NW04s upgrade guide "SAP NetWeaver 2004s

Application Server ABAP" dated 28th November 2006,

<u><b>section 6.26</b></u> states we have to "install the new dialog instance on top of the old dialog instance".

In the past upgrades eg. upgrade to NW04, we did not have to use SAPINST to re-install the dialog instance. Instead, the official NW04 (WAS6.40) upgrade guide just instructs us to amend instance profile parameters and copy the new version of kernel binaries either manually or using sapcpe.

I want to avoid doing this re-installation work for the five dialog insatnces. Because I want to reduce the production outage period.

Question all the upgrade experts

1) Does any one have experience that indicates I should follow the SAP documentation to un-install 6.40 instance and then re-install at 7.00 level again?

2) Also, what is the technical reason to uninstall and re-install?

The full section 6.26 section paragraph is pasted here.

<i><b>6.26 Upgrading or Installing Dialog Instances

After the upgrade of the central instance, you need to upgrade the dialog instance to the new release.

To do this, you install the new dialog instance on top of the old dialog instance using the tool SAPinst.

You can now also install additional dialog instances, if necessary.

Procedure

Proceed as described in the document Installation Guide &#8210; <SAP NetWeaver / SAP solution> <Technology> on

<Operating System>: <Database>.

Caution

If you upgrade a dialog instance, make sure to use the same instance number as on the source release.</b></i>

[Former Member]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for your detailed response. Our system is very much heavy batch processing oriented. Therefore our management does not want to hand over the production system until all dialog instances are ready at the new version.

It would be great if the upgrade process is quick as you pointed out.

Can you show me where this "upgrade dialog instance" option in V7 SAPINST? FYI. I should be able to start sapinst over the next few days to look for this upgrade option.

However, I just got a response from ASIA-PACIFIC OSS that says I have to un-install and re-install the existing dialog instance. Their response is as follows :

<i><b>The dialog instance does not need to be upgraded since in the dialog

instance, no database exists but only the kernel files and some

profiles exist. After the upgrade, you should re-install the dialog

instance since in the central instance, the kernel release has been

changed to 700 due to the upgrade. But in the old dialog instance,

it should still have the old release kernel files and profiles.

Thus, by using reinstallation, the new release kernel files will be

installed in the dialog instance.

As to the procedure, you should uninstall the old instance firstly since during the installation, the files will be put to the same path of the

old instance.We recommend you to backup the old dialog instance files

before the installation.Sorry there is no related note but you can refer to the upgrade and installation guides.</b></i>

Thanks for your input and assistance.

Benny Kwan

National Australia Bank

[Former Member]

Hi Benny,

I took a look at your customer message. They have provided to you the procedure and technical reasons for un-installing and re-installing the application server instances (which you post yourself above).

In the message you mention that it will take an additional 8 hours to re-install the addtional 4 dialog instances. Why is this the case? The instances are on separate machines and can all be installed in parallel. In my experience dialog instances can be installed fairly quickly. The preparation of the boxes can be done while the central instance and db are being upgraded.

Also, why should the heavy batch processing necessarily restrict the release of the dialog instances? The workload can be distributed as the instances come up. I think your management is being unnecessarily restrictive in this case. Even so, I do not think you will have to extend your outage period much longer -- or even keep it the same amount as before -- just for the dialog instance installation. Do you have a sandbox where you can install dialog instances to get the timing?

Hope this helps...

Best Regards,

Matt

[Former Member]

Hi Benny,

From a SAP support point of view, you should always follow the documentation.

Also, as the documentation states, it is not an un-install/re-install. It is an installation <i>on top of</i> the old dialog instance. This procedure does not take much time and is probably as fast as your prior procedure of ammending profile parameters and copying binaries.

Why would your production outage period necessarily be lengthened? Once the upgrade of the central instance is complete, then users can access the system. The dialog instance upgrade can occur during this period and users need not be restricted. Again, I believe it would likely be as fast as your prior procedure.

Best Regards,

Matt