Upgrade iShare GIS

Owned by Simon Chapman
Last updated: 02 Aug, 2018 by Kim Stimpson
3 min read

Please refer to the iShare Support Conditions at https://astuntechnology.com/ishare-support-conditions/ with particular reference to the ‘iShare Updates’ section.

The following instructions outline the process for applying iShare GIS updates. This method is best suited to minor or point version updates, for example from v5.2.8 to v5.2.10. Customers requiring a more significant update (for example from v4.4 to v5.2) or requiring PostgreSQL and/or MapServer upgrades will in most instances need to make provision for an Astun assisted upgrade.

As well as performing backups of customised files as mentioned below we would suggest that you routinely Backup your iShare Installation & Configuration whenever changes are made as well as before performing an upgrade.

Downloading the upgrade files

Astun will provide access to a secure directory where the relevant zip files can be downloaded.

Preparation

Before applying an upgrade the following should be undertaken for the iShare GIS TEST instance;

  • Check that you have local administrative rights on all servers that you wish to update iShare GIS
    Making sure you have access to IIS (Internet Information Services Manager)

  • Delete old log files. For example files within the following folders:
    ‘...\Astun\iShareGIS\5.2\Studio\logs\’
    ‘...\Astun\iShareGIS\5.2\WebApps\WebService\logs’
    ‘...\Astun\iShareGIS\5.2\WebApps\Web\logs’

    This will reduce the size of any backups. New log files will be automatically created once the update has been applied (and the iShare GIS application has been used / tested).

  • Back up relevant folders. 
    To allow rollback to the most recent / current working version of iShare GIS back up / copy the iShareGIS folder, e.g. c:\Astun\iShareGIS\5.2

    It will be best to date the folder copy(s) e.g. '5.2 - 20140705_Copy' which can then be zipped and archived.

Other considerations

Customised files

Files that are supplied a part of iShare GIS are likely to be updated during an upgrade. Any files that have been modified since installation will therefore need to be backed up prior to upgrade e.g.

  • the iShareGIS.aspx
  • any html file in your WebApps/Web/print folder in case you have customised these.

iShare GIS Plugins

It will be worth backing up the plugins folder, as per the instructions above, although the files within will not be overwritten during the upgrade process (e.g. Astun\iShareGIS\5.0\WebApps\Web\plugins).

The same ‘preparation’ will be needed for the LIVE instance once the upgrade has been applied successfully on the TEST instance.

Applying the upgrade on the iShare GIS server(s)

The upgrade files will need to be downloaded onto the relevant server(s)

  1. To access the relevant upgrade files go to http://download.astuntechnology.com/home/ (the password will be provided by Astun)

  2. Download the following files to the internal iShare server (where ‘VERSION’ will be the version you are updating to, e.g. 5.6):
    a) studio-VERSION.zip
    b) webservice-internal-VERSION.zip
    c) web-external-VERSION.zip
    d) web-intranet-VERSION.zip
    e) pginstaller-VERSION.zip

  3. Check that the downloaded zip files have not been blocked by windows by right-clicking and choosing Properties. If the file has been blocked then the General tab will show an Unblock button, which you should click. Repeat this for all downloaded files.


  4. Unzip the files into their corresponding directories as outlined below, merging directories and overwriting destination files in the process.


    The following shows example paths, although your iShare may be installed on the C drive for example (where ‘VERSION’ will be the version you are updating to, e.g. 5.6):
    a) studio-VERSION.zip - Unzip to e.g. D:\Astun\iShare\n.n\Studio
    b) webservice-internal-VERSION.zip - Unzip to e.g. D:\Astun\iShare\n.n\Webapps\WebService
    c) web-external-VERSION.zip - Unzip to e.g. D:\Astun\iShare\n.nWebapps\Web
    d) web-intranet-VERSION.zip - Unzip to D:\Astun\iShare\n.nWebapps\Web
    e) pginstaller-VERSION.zip - Unzip to e.g. D:\Astun\iShare\n.n\AstunPGInstaller

  5. Recycle the Application Pools / recycle IIS

    To delete any cached data and make sure that the latest configuration is available, navigate to the Application Pools within IIS, right click and select “Recycle” on the individual relevant Application Pools (in this case e.g. “iShareGIS5.2.Web” and “iShareGIS5.2.WebService”), as per Screenshot 1 below.


    Screenshot 1: Recycling the iShareGIS5.2.Web Application Pool within IIS

  6. Check that you are now running the correct version of iShare GIS by calling “atversion.aspx” within the browser (as per Screenshot 2 below)

    e.g. “http://localhost/iShareGIS5.2.Web/atversion.aspx” 


    Screenshot 2 showing v5.2.8 release version

  7. Run the Astun PGInstaller to upgrade your iShare database functions. Please Note: Custom Functions will not be overwritten unless they have the same name as an Astun Function.
    If you do not regularly backup your iShare database (see Backing up your Database) you will prompted to create a backup first e.g.

    1. If you click Yes the backup will be written to the Database Backups folder under the AstunPGInstaller folder e.g.

      Please make sure that this location has enough free space to accommodate the backup. The backup may take some time depending upon the size of your iShare database.
    2. If you already backup your database on a regular basis using the supplied Database Backup script you could click No.

  8. Finally, test that all is working as expected within studio and within the application/ browser