Preparing to Upgrade

 

Be sure you also read Important Upgrade Information.

 

1. Backup Your Database

Please backup your database before upgrading ListManager. If a problem occurs during installation, you may not be able to recover your data without a backup. For more information about how to back up MSDE, see Backing Up MSDE. For other databases, please consult your vendor's documentation.

 

 

2. Check Your Database Size

The current database structure for outgoing mail requires more space than versions 7.8 and earlier. Before upgrading, check to see that you have sufficient room in your database to perform the upgrade successfully. Note that database size for MSDE is limited to 2 gigabytes.

 

If your database is close to its size limit, or you are concerned about the upgrade taking too long, you may reduce the size of the outmail_ table by taking the following steps:

 

1. In the left Navigation bar, click Utilities: Administration: Server: Server Settings: Automatic Maintenance: Purging Old Data.

2. Set Clean Outgoing Mail Queue to 1. (0 keeps this data forever).

3. Click Save.

4. In the left Navigation bar, click Utilities: List Settings: Automatic Maintenance: Purging Archives.

5. Set Keep Mailing and Clickthrough Data for How Many Days to 1 (0 keeps this data forever). Note that reducing the length of time you keep this data will limit mailing and member action reporting data to the length of time you specify.

6. Click Save.

7. Wait one night before performing the upgrade. ListManager will automatically reduce the size of your database as part of its nightly maintenance processes.

If you are concerned about the upgrade taking too long, you may also choose to shorten the lyrMetricEvents table, where ListManager stores performance data. This table may contain millions of rows, and it may take several hours to upgrade this table.

 

To limit the amount of data in this table:

 

8. In the left Navigation bar, click Utilities: Administration: Server: Server Settings: Automatic Maintenance: Purging Old Data.

9. Set Purge Old Metric Events to 1 (0 keeps this data forever).

10. Click Save.

11. Wait one night before performing the upgrade. ListManager will automatically reduce the size of your database as part of its nightly maintenance processes.

 

3. Test Before Upgrading

We recommend that you evaluate ListManager on a test machine. If you prefer to use your production ListManager server, only do so if you plan to upgrade it to the current version.

 

DO NOT use the release on your production server if you might want to go back to an older version of ListManager. Once you upgrade, you will not be able to downgrade back to the older version.

 

4. Get a Serial Number

You can use the MSDE version of ListManager with the standard feature set without a Serial Number in a limited capacity (200 members max, MSDE installed locally).

 

If you want to test a larger or external database, evaluate the "Pro" feature set, or connect ListManager to Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle, please contact your account representative to obtain an evaluation Serial Number.

 

Serial codes from versions 4.2 and lower are no longer valid, so contact an account representative to purchase an upgrade and to receive a new serial code. Your account representative can also tell you if your serial code allows you to upgrade to the current version.

 

To determine if you are allowed to upgrade ListManager, check Max Version and Last Day to Upgradein Utilities: Administration: Server: Operational Statistics: License Capabilities.

 

5. Stop Web Server on ListManager Machine

ListManager uses the ListManager web server included with ListManager. ListManager's web server may coexist with your web server, and will be installed on a higher port if port 80 is taken.

 

6. Open Firewall for ListManager DNS Resolver

ListManager uses its own DNS resolver. If you have a firewall, you must configure it so that ListManager can resolve DNS on port 53. If you have a firewall and you are upgrading from an earlier version, we HIGHLY recommend testing ListManager on a development server before you upgrade your production server to ensure ListManager can perform its DNS resolutions properly. See Your Firewall and ListManager for more information.

 

7. Review Database Table Changes

The old words_ table will no longer be available after upgrading, which may affect some custom programs. For more information about the new database table structure, see the Programmer's guide.