SIMS Autumn 2016 Release is out!

[Jehanzeb]

Good evening all,

 

Just wanted to let you know SIMS Autumn 2016 Release is out including Solus 3.11 update.

 

Kindest regards

 

J.

[smithson83]

Is there anything I need to know about deploying this update, no tid-bit is insignificant.

 

Just started at a new school (first secondary for a while) and this is my first SOLUS3 based deployment of a SIMs update.

 

Any cotchyas etc I should be aware of?

- Do the staff require to be in a certain local group for it to work (power users, local admin etc)?

- I assume everyone has to be out of SIMS for the server side update to work?

- Will the clients just update when they next run SIMs or does it have to be pushed out from SOLUS with all the machines on?

- Can I select certain Machines to deploy it too? (eg if I miss one when doing the above)

 

- Is there any reason I shouldn't do the update?

 

Anything else I may of forgotten to ask...

 

Cheers in advance for any info, it will be much appreciated.

[ItsOggy]

Hi, I'll start with some things that got me in the past!

 

Check the machines have the SOLUS agent and are showing in the console.

 

Make sure auto download and auto extract are turned on in SOLUS console for the SIMS, SOLUS, DEPLOYMENT SERVER etc, not auto deploy though!

 

Make sure the clients .NET framework is recent 4.5 at least in my experience although 4.0 should work (can be found from SOLUS console)

 

If there is a SOLUS update you may want to do that first, it's a good test all is well!

 

I normally run the upgrade of an evening, because I have auto download and extract after download or whatever it's called, the clients will generally update if there on or next time they boot, normally it's quick enough to be done by the time there logged in (60 clients with sims).

 

But if it's your first probably best at a time the help desk is open just in case!

 

Hope this helps?

 

Anyone else got more tips?

[ITGURU]

I dont know why SIMS had to change from a pull update to a push updates. To me it was always easier to let them know a time SIMS would be offline for the update, put the DB into single user mode,, apply the update then re-allow connections. Clients could then update, and login.

 

With SOLUS you wait an age for it to do all the server parts then it has to push out the update to the clients in batches, so some clients update straight away others may be in 10 minutes.

 

not ideal if machines have been off, and they login and try to access SIMS before it's been updated after checking into SOLUS and realising there is an update

[Jehanzeb]

Is there anything I need to know about deploying this update, no tid-bit is insignificant.

Just started at a new school (first secondary for a while) and this is my first SOLUS3 based deployment of a SIMs update.

Any cotchyas etc I should be aware of?

Firstly congrats on your new role. You don't need any special procedures, just make sure SOLUS 3.11xx is installed first and as other suggested, just make sure all services and machines are turned on and SIMS.net, FMS etc are not open. I did ours and it took about 30-45mins to update server and client machines. I would also suggest to email all users prior to run the setup/update - it is annoying when you're running the update and someone comes to you and say I can't 'login'. At that stage you want to break something on someone!

- Do the staff require to be in a certain local group for it to work (power users, local admin etc)?

No

- I assume everyone has to be out of SIMS for the server side update to work?

Yes

- Will the clients just update when they next run SIMs or does it have to be pushed out from SOLUS with all the machines on?

Yes but I would suggest everyone leaving their machines on.

- Can I select certain Machines to deploy it too? (eg if I miss one when doing the above)

No need, it will do it all by itself.

- Is there any reason I shouldn't do the update?

No. You should update whenever the new update is released. You can contact SIMS Support and they'll tell you what's coming in the next update. You can also check it under MyAccount

Anything else I may of forgotten to ask...

Don't know but one thing you need to do after the update, just make sure you update the reports too.

Edited December 17, 2016 by Jehanzeb

[smithson83]

Cheers @Jehanzeb.

So, in theory at least, provided all (or at least most / the important) machines are on, users not in SIMs, FMS, Discover etc, and I run the update on the server first then the clients, things should be fine.

@Jehanzeb, what do you mean by update the reports?

[Jehanzeb]

Cheers @Jehanzeb.

So, in theory at least, provided all (or at least most / the important) machines are on, users not in SIMs, FMS, Discover etc, and I run the update on the server first then the clients, things should be fine.

@Jehanzeb, what do you mean by update the reports?

You wouldn't need to update the clients separately, once you've done update on the server, it will automatically update the client machines.

 

Here is information on SIMS Reports (Post update task)

 

Importing SIMS Reports

Included in every release of SIMS are an updated set of Predefined reports.

To ensure your system has the latest reports available, it is essential to import the reports following the steps below.

 

1.Open SIMS

2.Click on Reports | Import

3.Click on the Open/browse button and locate the SIMS installation path (typically

C:\Program Files\SIMS\SIMS .net)

4.Highlight Predefined_Reports_.RptDef and click on Open

5.Click on Import

 

You can locate your SIMS version number by logging into SIMS and selecting

Help | About

which will list your new version number.

 

Automatic Updates for AMPARK

 

If there are updates to AMPARK available, a screen will appear when a user with Assessment Co-ordinator access rights first enters Assessment following the upgrade.

Click Yes.

It is recommended that Assessment users do not make changes to a spects or templates while this process takes place.

Follow the screen prompts and the AMPARK resources are imported. The content of the import will vary with the type of school. The appropriate Key Stage files will be imported and Primary schools will have the option of importing the new Programme of Study Tracking Resources. This process will only take place after an update to AMPARK and will only need to be undertaken once for all workstations to use the materials. The usual report of the imported material concludes the process.

 

Kindest regards

 

J.

[smithson83]

Going to attempt the update this morning. wish me luck...!

 

Any last nuggets of advice?

[MatthewL]

A backup before you do it?

[smithson83]

OK, so I built up the courage to do it, been round and turned all the machines on (Impero decided to loose all the clients this morning).

 

But Ive selected the SIMS Autumn 2016 Full Release (7.172.36), but it isn't picking up any Targets, what am I missing

[kennysarmy]

I presume you've done this:>>>>

 

 

Update Library tab at the top left hand side of the SOLUS3 screen and highlight all the latest upgrades and databases for both SIMS and FMS, if used, by holding down the Ctrl key and left clicking each one.

 

Click on Deploy and Deploy now. Click Yes to deploy now message and Yes to view the progress message. As each element of the upgrade is undertaken, a pop-up will display with a two minute countdown and a Deploy Now button. You can click these or just leave them to kick in after 2 minutes.

[smithson83]

Yup. After selecting all the relevant updates, click deploy, I get an error message saying that the object already exists. Then one I click OK to the error a message pops up at the top for a split second saying something like "not all sites have valid targets". Then I'm left with a screen with the updates in the top half of the window, no targets in the bottom, and a greyed out "deploy now" button.

 

Edit: the second message is

"{time} - Deployment Selection. Not all selected sites have targets relevant to the selected updates"

 

Does that mean I don't have enough to deploy it, or is it just borked?

Edited December 20, 2016 by smithson83

[smithson83]

OK, so I logged a call with Calderdale to ask about the issue, they decided in their infinite wisdom to re-issue the update, log onto my SIMs Server and deploy the update. (They've had the credentials from previous NM). Not impressed at all, other than the fact it is now rolled out and is fine on the machines that were on.

 

But since I finished work yesterday, and nobody is in till Jan, I now have to wait till the first day back (with all the staff and pupils) and boot the rest of the machines and launch SIMs to test to see if it rolls out ok to the ones that weren't on.

[kennysarmy]

Did my Autumn upgrade yesterday as the teachers had left on Wednesday - once deployed it was just a case of turning on 100+ PC's.

 

Had issues without about 6 where the Agent kept crashing, but a re-install of the agent seemed to fix that.

 

All now up to date for their return in 2017!