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Best Practices for Migrating a Definition Center Server
Best Practices for Migrating a Definition Center Server
This article describes the best practice steps to migrate a Definition Center from one machine to another.
Jamie Gutierrez avatar
Written by Jamie Gutierrez
Updated over a week ago

You can migrate and upgrade at the same time, but we generally recommend migrating first, ensuring that everything transferred correctly and then upgrading that new Definition Center.

1. Stop the Current Definition Center and Backup the Data Directory

  1. Stop the iRise Definition Center service (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Component Services > Services).

  2. Make a copy of the x:\iRise\data directory to a different location. Use WinZip to make this backup copy. iRise data directories have many files and folders and WinZip is usually faster at copying and zipping the data directory. An added benefit is that the resultant zipped data directory is usually reduced in size by at least 90%

2. Backup the basic Definition Center configuration

  1. Backup the x:\iRise\DefCenter\Tomcat\conf directory.

  2. If you use SSL configuration (i.e. if the server URL of your DC starts with https://), then you need to save the following files:

  • server.xml

  • irise.properties

  • credentials.properties (if it exists)

  • keystore.jks

  • cacerts (if you're using a non-trusted or internal certificate authority)
     
     The first three files should be in the x:\iRise\DefCenter\Tomcat\conf directory, so just copying that directory should get all of those configuration files. Double check your server.xml file to find out the file location of your keystore if it's not in the conf folder. Open the file with a text editor and look for the SSL connector. One of the lines in the connector will list the location and name of the keystore file.
     
    The location of the cacerts file will be in one of a few places. If you have all  locations it doesn't hurt to back them all up:
     
     x:\iRise\DefCenter\jvm64\lib\security\cacerts
     x:\iRise\DefCenter\jvm64\jre\lib\security\cacerts (if exists)

3. Backup LDAP configuration (if using)

The configuration settings are stored in the irise.properties file. Backup the x:\iRise\DefCenter\Tomcat\conf\irise.properties. If you are running an older version of the Definition Center, contact iRise Customer Support for information on how to backup the settings.

4. Install & Configure Definition Center on Target Server

  1. Prepare your target machine by installing the same version of the Definition Center software. The download site is located at https://irise.box.com/v/DefinitionCenter. 

  2. Contact iRise Support to request a new license, providing them the MAC address of the new server. Once you have confirmed that the software is running, stop the iRise Definition Center service on the target machine.

  3. If you are migrating an SSL configured server, on the newly created target server, make a backup copy of the x:\iRise\DefCenter\Tomcat\conf directory. This will enable you to get back to the non-SSL configuration easily in the event there is difficulty transferring the SSL configuration files. Copy the server.xml, irise.properties, credentials.properties and keystore.jks files that you saved from your source machine. Additionally if you are using a certificate authority from a non-trusted internal certificate authority, copy the cacerts file you saved from the source machine to the x:\iRise\DefCenter\jvm64\jre\lib\security\ directory. Stop and start the iRise Definition Center service and test to make sure the SSL configuration worked properly. Test this by accessing the server via a browser using https:\\<servername>.

  4. If you are migrating an LDAP configured server copy the x:\iRise\DefCenter\Tomcat\conf\irise.properties file you saved from your source machine to the target machine at the same location. Note: you won't be able to test this until you have moved the data from the source machine to the target machine since the users are in the data.

  5. Copy the data from your source server to the comparable location on your target server. If you used Winzip to create that backup, stop the iRise Definition Center service on the target machine, delete the existing x:\iRise\data directory and unzip the zip file to that location.
     If you did not stop the iRise Definition Center service on the source machine when backing up the data, you will have a file in the data directory that must be deleted before starting the Definition Center service on the target machine. Delete the following file if you find it in the data directory on the target machine: x:\iRise\data\database\irise-dc.lock.db. Stop and start the iRise Definition Center service on the target machine and test to ensure that the data came over properly.

  6. Make any DNS or IP changes to retain the same login for your users.

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