WHD Upgrade Guide

Last Updated: 11-18-2016 | SolarWinds Upgrade Guide 1.0

Supports: WHD 12.5 and earlier

This guide walks you through upgrading only your SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD) product. We include checklists to
prepare and complete your upgrades, gotchas, and troubleshooting steps.

Upgrading multiple products? See our SolarWinds multiple products upgrade guide!

Preflight upgrade checklist

This preflight checklist details a number of important steps to help plan and prep for your upgrade.

Review release
Review product release notes and available documentation in our Success Center.
notes

Review system Make sure your environment has all of the required hardware and software
requirements requirements for your installations. You may need to also check the administrator
guide for your product to locate the requirements.

Review your current product licenses and determine if you need to make any changes.
You can download any updated license keys for your upgrade through your Customer
Review licenses
Portal. Verify any license upgrades and needs with your SolarWinds account manager
or contact SolarWinds.

You may need to migrate products and databases to new dedicated servers or to
shared servers. Check if you need to migrate by reviewing new requirements, your
Do you need to products, and your current environment.
migrate?

Migrating adds time to your upgrade, but you have the best opportunity to
update to new servers during an upgrade.

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 If you plan to enable Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 compliant
cryptography after the upgrade, ensure that your WHD deployment meets all hardware
and software requirements.
Do you plan to
enable FIPS 140-2
cryptography? This feature is required for computer systems installed in U.S. Federal
Government agencies and companies in a regulated industry (such as
healthcare and financial institutions) that share and distribute sensitive but
unclassified (SBU) information.

Make sure you have all account credentials, Microsoft SQL Server or MySQL database
Gather credentials
credentials, your SolarWinds account, and local admin server credentials.

If you are running WHD 11.2.1 or earlier, upgrade to WHD 12.0 or later before you
upgrade to the current version.
Upgrade to WHD
12.0 or later
WHD 12.0 and later does not support an embedded FrontBase or an external
Oracle database.

Before upgrading, check for and run all Microsoft Windows Updates on your WHD
Run all Windows
server and all additional web servers. As you upgrade, if a Windows update runs, your
updates
system may reboot as needed by Windows.

Set up the maintenance window, preferably off-peak hours. Depending on the number
of products, size of database(s), and size of environment, you may need hours to
complete your upgrade.
Schedule the
upgrade
Upgrades will require polling engines and SolarWinds services to be offline for
a length of time, causing you to lose a portion of polling data.

Notify your Send a message to your company of the upgrade schedule and maintenance window.
company If you need additional help, contact and allocate specific staff to be available.

How long does an upgrade take?

The time it takes to complete an upgrade depends on:
• Hardware
• Database server performance and database size
• Environment performance

Since every configuration is different, we cannot predict exactly how long your upgrade will take. Coming soon, we are

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means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed, in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other
means without the written consent of SolarWinds. All right, title, and interest in and to the software and documentation are and shall remain 2
the exclusive property of SolarWinds and its respective licensors.
Gotchas you should review
• You must be running WHD 12.0 or later to upgrade to the latest version.
• If you plan to enable FIPS 140-2 cryptography after the upgrade, ensure that your WHD deployment supports
the required resources. Enabling FIPS 140-2 compliant cryptography requires careful planning and coordination
with IT management and corporate personnel for a successful implementation. Review the FIPS installation
requirements in the WHD Admin Guide to ensure you have the appropriate amount of time, hardware, software, and
resources for your deployment.

After you enable FIPS 140-2 compliant cryptography in your WHD deployment, you cannot revert back to
your previous configuration.

FIPS 140-2 compliant cryptography is not recommended in a multiple-instance environment.

• If you are upgrading from a version prior to WHD 12.0, you may want to install a new product instead of
performing an upgrade, saving or migrating your data. Support can provide the best advice for these upgrade
scenarios.
• Always check that you have enough hard drive space for zipped and unzipped installers. One unzipped installer
could consume a couple GBs of space.
• If you are migrating your database using a third-party tool, contact the tool vendor for assistance.
• If you are upgrading an embedded FrontBase to WHD 12.0 on a server running Windows Server 2008, be
sure to run the installer as an administrator to prevent the upgrade from stalling. See this article for full details.
• If you are migrating your PostgreSQL database to a new server, restore the database after you upgrade WHD
to the latest version.
• If your deployment requires database management features such as failover clusters, use any supported
DBMS except the embedded PostgreSQL database included with WHD. Failover clusters are not available with the
embedded PostgreSQL database.
• If you added code, such as .jar files provided by Support, the code may be overwritten during the upgrade.

Prepare your environment to upgrade

When you are ready to upgrade, complete these steps. They include the common actions you need to complete before
upgrading products.

If you have a test or staging environment, we highly recommend testing the upgrade first. You cannot roll back
an installation once completed.

Back up your WHD SolarWinds SQL database. If you need help, please check your
1. Back up the vendor's site for documentation and instructions.
database
You cannot roll back an upgrade. Always create a database backup.

Copyright © 1999-2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this document may be reproduced by any
means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed, in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other
means without the written consent of SolarWinds. All right, title, and interest in and to the software and documentation are and shall remain 3
the exclusive property of SolarWinds and its respective licensors.
 To ensure the best performance on your server host and provide full file access,
exclude specific file paths and directories from anti-virus software scans. See this
2. Exclude files on article for details.
anti-virus software

You can also place your systems behind a firewall to completely disable your
anti-virus software during an upgrade.

Upgrade WHD
The following illustration provides the upgrade paths from current supported versions to the latest version. For example,
if you are running an Oracle or FrontBase database, migrate to a PostgreSQL, MySQL, or Microsoft SQL Server
database to support WHD 12.0 and later.

Upgrade to WHD 12.0 from an earlier version

This checklist details the steps for upgrading WHD in your environment.

Upgrade Tip! If you have a test or staging environment, we highly recommend testing the upgrade first. You
cannot roll back an installation once it's completed.

1. Back up your WHD server.

1. Back up your data
2. Back up any database server associated with WHD.

Copyright © 1999-2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this document may be reproduced by any
means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed, in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other
means without the written consent of SolarWinds. All right, title, and interest in and to the software and documentation are and shall remain 4
the exclusive property of SolarWinds and its respective licensors.
 If you are upgrading from an embedded FrontBase database, ensure that:
• The embedded FrontBase and PostgreSQL databases are running.
• The embedded FrontBase database uses the whd and user whd schemas.
• The server hosting WHD includes enough free space to support the database
migration. WHD notifies you about the required space before the migration begins.
• You have write privileges on both the FrontBase and PostgreSQL databases.
• You right-click the installer and select Run as Administrator on a server running
Windows Server 2008. Otherwise, the upgrade installation may fail. See this
article for full details.

The WHD 12.0.0 upgrade converts your embedded FrontBase database to an

embedded PostgreSQL database. No additional database conversions are
required.

2. Check your
databases If you are upgrading from an external FrontBase, OpenBase, or Oracle database,
you must manually migrate your data to the embedded PostgreSQL database.

Use a migration tool that migrates your data to a supported database (such as
PostgreSQL, MySQL, or SQL Server). Use caution when choosing target data types to
use in one of the supported databases. If WHD does not support the data type, you
may experience unexpected results when upgrading to the latest version.

See the following articles for details:

• Database requirements
• Database datatypes
• Migrate external or unsupported databases to PostgreSQL

If you are upgrading from a MySQL or Microsoft SQL database, ensure that WHD
supports your version of MySQL or Microsoft SQL Server. See Database requirements
for specific details.

If you are connecting to a MySQL database (such as that used by certain asset
discovery connections), manually install the MySQL JDBC driver. To ensure
3. Install a JDBC
compliance with MySQL licensing restrictions, the MySQL JDBC driver is no longer
driver (if required)
bundled with Web Help Desk.

You can download the JDBC driver from the Oracle website.

4. Download the
Contact Support for a copy of WHD 12.0.
software installer

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means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed, in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other
means without the written consent of SolarWinds. All right, title, and interest in and to the software and documentation are and shall remain 5
the exclusive property of SolarWinds and its respective licensors.
 Navigate to the <WebHelpDesk> directory, right-click whd_stop.bat, and select
5. Stop WHD
Run as Administrator.

1. Launch the WHD 12.0 installer.

6. Run the installer 2. Follow the prompts on your screen to complete the installation.
3. When the installation is completed, close all web browsers.

Navigate to the <WebHelpDesk> directory, right-click whd_start.bat, and select

7. Start WHD
Run as Administrator.

Upgrade WHD 12.0 and later to the latest version

This checklist details the steps for upgrading only WHD 12.0 and later in your environment.

Upgrading WHD may add new tables, but the procedure does not impact your database and database table data. See
Database migration options for specific details.

Upgrade Tip! If you have a test or staging environment, we highly recommend testing the upgrade first. You
cannot roll back an installation once it's completed.

1. Back up your WHD server.

2. Back up any database server associated with WHD.
1. Back up your data
3. Navigate to <WebHelpDesk>\conf\ and back up your current
tomcat_web_template.xml file to an external directory.

2. Select a database
that supports If your deployment requires database management features such as failover clusters,
select any supported DBMS except the embedded PostgreSQL database included
failover clusters with WHD. Failover clusters are not available with the embedded PostgreSQL DBMS.

(Optional)

3. Install the
If you use the non-embedded, non-default Microsoft SQL Server or MySQL as your
database
primary database, install the database engine and management tools according to the
management tools
instructions included with your software. Install the database on a dedicated drive with
at least 20 GB of space to accommodate the database engine, management tools,
(SQL Server and
help desk tickets, and ticket file attachments.
MySQL only)

Copyright © 1999-2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this document may be reproduced by any
means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed, in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other
means without the written consent of SolarWinds. All right, title, and interest in and to the software and documentation are and shall remain 6
the exclusive property of SolarWinds and its respective licensors.
 If you use the non-embedded, non-default MySQL as your primary database, install
the database and manually populate your time zone system tables with data.

Beginning in version 12.5, you can search for tickets using two new qualifiers:
• Due Date
• First Call Resolution

These qualifiers rely on data located in four MySQL system tables:

• time_zone
• time_zone_name
• time_zone_transition
4. Prepare the time
zone tables • time_zone_transition_type

These tables exist when you install MySQL in your deployment, but are not populated
(MySQL only)
by default with data. WHD requires this data because Due Date and First Call
Resolution qualifier logic is implemented from within the database. If the database is
missing time zone data, these qualifiers will not work properly.

Be sure to manually populate these system tables with time zone data. See the
MySQL website and follow the instructions for MySQL Server time zone support.

You can check the system tables by executing the following query:

SELECT * FROM mysql.time_zone

If the query does not create new table rows, the tables are not populated with data.

If you are migrating to Microsoft SQL Server for your primary database, configure the
following settings in the SQL Server Configuration Manager.

Setting Value

Enabled in SQL Server Network Configuration >

5. Enable TCP/IP TCP/IP Protocol
Protocols for SQL 20xx

(New SQL Server 127.0.0.1 (if installed on the WHD server)

implementation only) IP Address
Server IP address (if installed on a separate server)

TCP Port 1433

TCP Dynamic Ports Blank

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means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed, in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other
means without the written consent of SolarWinds. All right, title, and interest in and to the software and documentation are and shall remain 7
the exclusive property of SolarWinds and its respective licensors.
 If you are migrating to Microsoft SQL Server for your primary database, configure the
following settings in the SQL Server Management Studio for SQL Server to create and
configure SQL Server to the WHD database instance.

Setting Value

SQL Server and Windows

Enabled
Authentication Mode

Login Name whd

6. Create and SQL Server Authentication:

Enabled and configured
Password
configure your
database
SQL Server Authentication:
Disabled
Enforce password policy
(New SQL Server
implementation only) SQL Server Authentication:
Enforce password Disabled
expiration

SQL Server Authentication:

User must change Disabled
password at next login

Database name whd

Database owner whd

Update your Oracle Java Database Connector (JDBC) driver (if applicable).
7. Update your
JDBC driver. Beginning in WHD 12.2.0, WHD for OS X includes an embedded Java Virtual Machine
(JVM). If you are running an external Oracle JVM, WHD preserves your Java settings
(OS X only) during the installation procedure and continues using the external Oracle JVM.

8. Download the
Download the latest installer from the SolarWinds Customer Portal.
installer

Navigate to the <WebHelpDesk> directory, right-click whd_stop.bat, and select

9. Stop WHD
Run as Administrator.

1. Double-click the new WHD installer.

10. Launch the
2. When prompted, accept the upgrade terms.
installer
3. Follow the prompts on your screen to complete the upgrade.

Copyright © 1999-2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this document may be reproduced by any
means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed, in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other
means without the written consent of SolarWinds. All right, title, and interest in and to the software and documentation are and shall remain 8
the exclusive property of SolarWinds and its respective licensors.
 The upgrade procedure replaces the tomcat_web_template.xml file
with an updated file that includes the new version settings.

4. When the upgrade is completed, close all web browsers.

1. Navigate to <WebHelpDesk>\conf\ and open your new

tomcat_web_template.xml file in a text editor.
11. Update the 2. Open your backup tomcat_web_template.xml file in a text editor.
Apache Tomcat
configuration file 3. Apply your personal settings from the backup file to the new file.
4. Save and close the new file.
5. Close the backup file.

Navigate to the <WebHelpDesk> directory, right-click whd_start.bat, and select

12. Start WHD
Run as Administrator.

13. Increase the

WHD requires additional max heap memory than the JVM default. After you complete
Java Virtual
the upgrade, increase the MAXIMUM_MEMORY value in the whd.conf file and
Machine (JVM)
restart WHD. See this article for full details.
memory

Configure your WHD deployment for FIPS 140-2 compliant cryptography.FIPS 140-2
compliant cryptography.

See Enable FIPS in the WHD Admin Guide for system requirements and installation
14. Enable FIPS
procedures.
(Optional)
After you enable FIPS 140-2 compliant cryptography in your FIPS 140-2
compliant cryptography in your WHD deployment, you cannot revert back to
your previous configuration.

Check your system after the upgrade

All product versions should be installed properly. Open the application and verify the versions displayed in the footer of
the web console. Try current and new features with your system to check performance and expected functionality. If you
run into issues, check the troubleshooting tips.

Troubleshooting
If you receive errors, try the following:

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means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed, in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other
means without the written consent of SolarWinds. All right, title, and interest in and to the software and documentation are and shall remain 9
the exclusive property of SolarWinds and its respective licensors.
 • If you experience issues and are not on the latest product versions, we recommend completing a full upgrade.
• Check our Success Center for troubleshooting. We recommend searching the name of the product, the version
number, any error codes or messages displayed, and the general issue you found.
• Check your Customer Portal for any new hot fixes.
• If you log in and WHD reports that an update is still in progress, verify that your database update is completed. See
this article for full details.
• If WHD displays error 404 after the upgrade, the installer was not unlocked properly or WHD cannot load a specific
.jar file. See this article for full details.
• If WHD fails to start and displays a DB_Invalid error after the upgrade, see this article to troubleshoot the issue.
• If your FAQs fail to load after the upgrade, you may be running outdated Apache Tomcat libraries. See this article
for full details.

If an issue occurs you need additional help with, contact Support. We recommend creating a screenshot of the issue
and collecting any error codes you receive. Attach and add this information to your ticket. You may also want to gather
additional diagnostics on the system hosting WHD.

Want to learn more?

• Still need to download the upgrade? Visit the Customer Portal.
• Check the WHD Getting Started Guide and the WHD documentation.
• Review the latest WHD release notes.

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© 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

This document may not be reproduced by any means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed,
in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other means without the prior written consent of
SolarWinds. All right, title, and interest in and to the software and documentation are and shall remain the exclusive
property of SolarWinds and its respective licensors.

SOLARWINDS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS OR OTHER TERMS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,

STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, ON SOFTWARE AND DOCUMENTATION FURNISHED HEREUNDER INCLUDING
WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WARRANTIES OF DESIGN, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE, AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL SOLARWINDS, ITS SUPPLIERS, NOR ITS
LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, WHETHER ARISING IN TORT, CONTRACT OR ANY OTHER LEGAL
THEORY EVEN IF SOLARWINDS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

The SolarWinds and other SolarWinds marks, identified on the SolarWinds website, as updated from SolarWinds from
time to time and incorporated herein, are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be registered or
pending registration in other countries. All other SolarWinds trademarks may be common law marks or registered or
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means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed, in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other
means without the written consent of SolarWinds. All right, title, and interest in and to the software and documentation are and shall remain 10
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and/or mentioned herein are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of
their respective companies.

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means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed, in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other
means without the written consent of SolarWinds. All right, title, and interest in and to the software and documentation are and shall remain 11
the exclusive property of SolarWinds and its respective licensors.