Upgrade a Zylinc solution

• Knowledge about which Zylinc version you currently have, that is before you upgrade. You can find out from the release folder that the system was installed from, for example Release_6.0u3.4.

• Administrator access to a client computer on the organization’s network.

• Administrator access to the operating system on relevant Windows application servers and SQL servers.

• SQL Server SA password or a SQL Server user account with sysadmin role.

• If you need to reinstall Media Server, you’ll also need administrator access to the virtualization environment.

• A phone to make test calls.

The upgrade help process includes the following phases and steps:

Phase 1: System is running and usable

1. Checks to carry out before upgrade

Phase 2: System is running and usable. No changes can be made to settings and interfaces.

2. Create a backup folder to store backups of folders, registry keys, databases, and other data, and create a WordPad document to store multiple screenshots

Phase 3: Service window. System is down.

3. Upgrade databases
4. Upgrade Media Server
5. Set up interfaces and other features in Administration Portal
6. Upgrade Zylinc software on Zylinc Windows Application Server, client computers, and on third-party servers (Notes, DMZ, and Skype frontend servers)
7. Validate installation and test the system

Phase 4: Upgraded system is running and usable.

8. Update relevant documentation

• Don’t upgrade third-party software that integrates with Zylinc at the same time as Zylinc (for example, Cisco, Skype, BroadWorks, Exchange Server, and IBM Notes)

• Re-use and upgrade existing ZyDB and ZyStatDB databases

• Re-use existing ZyDesk profiles

• Re-use existing Windows servers

• Re-use existing Media Server, if possible

• Re-use existing version of SQL server, if possible

• Re-use original port numbers, for example 49xxx and 8xxx when possible, but use new 35xxx port numbers for new features

• Change port numbers that are higher than 49152 to 35xxx (see also Use network ports below 49152)

1. Before you upgrade, always verify the same things as for a clean installation: What to check before you begin.

2. If you upgrade from a version older than 5.5u5.6, you'll need an updated license key. Contact Zylinc support before you start the upgrade, to get a new key.

3. Verify that a service window is available, and that the Zylinc system can be taken offline during the upgrade.

4. Verify the availability and validity of a rollback plan.

   The organization must have a recent backup of the relevant servers and their data (at least Media Server and Zylinc Windows Application Server, a backup of ZyDB and ZyStatDB MS SQL databases, and the ability to roll back the old version of ZyDesk).

   The organization must be able to restore this backup on their own, in case the upgrade can’t be finished within the allocated service window, or if unexpected issues prevent the new version of the system from working at an acceptable level after the upgrade.

5. Check the ability of the organization to upgrade all ZyDesk clients at once, including clients on terminal servers, Citrix, off-site laptops, etc.

   You can’t use the existing ZyDesk with the new backend, and you can't use the new ZyDesk with the existing backend. Because of that, you need to upgrade all ZyDesk clients and the backend at the same time, within the same service window.

6. Check for special customizations that might stop working after you upgrade the Zylinc software, for example:

   • Custom changes to ZyDesk language tokens, that is the tokens related to the default texts, for example, when an agent sends e-mails from ZyDesk.

   • Custom changes to the stored procedures in ZyDB or ZyStatDB, for example sel_user_from_number_2 that relates to number lookup via ZyCore ID.

   • Other custom integrations that query ZyDB or ZyStatDB

   • Other custom integrations that use API calls to Zylinc software

If you use firewalls or custom port mappings within your network, you may need to open new ports before you upgrade. For example, in the following cases:

• If Windows application servers or client computers have their firewall feature turned on
• If firewalls exist between servers, or if firewalls exist between clients and servers
• If you use MPLS links or other links that may restrict access to certain hosts or ports or protocols
• Other hardware or software that may restrict access to certain hosts or ports or protocols

List of new network ports and when they were introduced

• If you upgrade from a version older than 6.5

  • Two Windows services, Forwarding Server and Activity Server, have been replaced by a single new service: Forwarding Activity Server. If you use one or both of them, replace them with a single instance of the new Forwarding Activity Server. The new combined service uses the same network ports as the two services it replaces.

• If you upgrade from a version older than 6.0u2

  • If you use Zylinc Proxy or GateProxy in DMZ: Open Zylinc Proxy service port (35032/tcp), from Zylinc Windows Application Server to DMZ (but not from internet to DMZ). You may already have an open port for a similar purpose: GateProxy Internal port (49021/tcp) was commonly used for a similar purpose. You can reuse that port, if its lower than 49152.

• If you upgrade from a version older than 6.0u0

  • Open ZyCore ID service port (8080/tcp), from Media Server, from ZyDesk clients, and from the application server itself, to Zylinc Windows Application Server
  • Open Client Manager LAN port (35034/tcp), from ZyDesk clients, and from the application server itself, to Zylinc Windows Application Server

• If you upgrade from a version older than 5.5u5.6

  • Open Service Manager access to Zylinc cloud on internet, from Zylinc Windows Application Server to internet address https://cloudsm.Zylinc.com:9214
  • Open Client Manager access to Zylinc cloud on internet, from Zylinc Windows Application Server, to internet address https://autoconf.Zylinc.com:8451/Autoconf

• If you upgrade from a version older than 5.5u4.1

  • If you use Messaging Portal to send e-mails or text messages: Open Messaging Portal service port (35028/tcp), from ZyDesk clients, from Media Server, and from the application server itself, to Zylinc Windows Application Server
• If you upgrade from a version older than 5.5u3
  • Open Service Manager service port (35023/tcp), from the application server itself, and from Media Server, to Zylinc Windows Application Server
  • Open Client Manager LAN port (35034/tcp), from the application server itself, to Zylinc Windows Application Server. From version 6.0u0 and later, ZyDesk clients begin to connect to this port, but in version 5.5u3, only the server itself connects to this port.

• If you upgrade from a version older than 5.5u1.0

  • If you synchronize calendars from an on-premise Exchange server, open Exchange Callback port (35098/tcp), Exchange CAS servers to Zylinc Windows Application Server

• If you upgrade from a version older than 5.5u0

  • If you use the feature to send e-mails via SMTP: ZyDesk clients no longer need access to SMTP server ports to send mails. Close access to SMTP server ports (25/tcp or 465/tcp or 587/tcp) from ZyDesk clients. Zylinc Windows Application Server now sends e-mails and need access to SMTP server ports. Open SMTP server ports (25/tcp or 465/tcp or 587/tcp on SMTP server), from Zylinc Windows Application Server, to SMTP server.

For a full list of all network ports, and not just the new ones, see this spreadsheet:

Set up firewall rules and network port monitoring.xlsx

The older the Zylinc version you upgrade from, the more things you need to do in order to upgrade to the latest Zylinc version.

You can use this Excel spreadsheet to find out what you need to do when you upgrade from older versions, all the way back to Zylinc release 4.2. This is useful when you need to get an overview of the required steps, or if you need to estimate how much work a specific upgrade requires.

UpgradeTasksByVersion.xlsx

In the spreadsheet, you can hide all version columns except the column that represents the version that you upgrade from. If that version doesn't exist, use the most recent version before that.

You can then set up a filter on the remaining version column, so that it only includes rows that contain the word Do.

That way you'll get a targeted list of the things that you need to do in order to upgrade from the selected version to the latest one.

In the following, the upgrade help will guide you through all the steps, and describe what to do and when to do it.