[sims] SIMS UPDATE BREAKS WONDE...

[Koldov]

Apologies if this is well known or has been covered previously... but I wanted to post this before I forgot all about it.

 

I just got off the phone from Wonde support (they called me) as we have not sent them any data since we did the SIMS Autumn update (7.214.21) yesterday (yes I know we're late but if you know SIMS you'll know why)...

 

Apparently when SIMS does an update it fails to close a particular service and after the update the service is still running obviously, but has not updated.

 

You can check this by trying to open a SIMS.Net instance on the server (if you install it) as it will fail to open.

 

Sorted out by a reboot of the server no less (I did ask if they knew the service name and I could just restart it but they weren't forthcoming - apparently they'd been told by CAPITA/ESS to advise a reboot)!

 

Fair play to Wonde for being proactive, it's a well known issue according to them and happens on every major update... I know some of you always reboot after a SIMS update and I guess I will start doing that too from now on but we had to schedule ours for during the school day (as we didn't have a training day due afterwards)!

[3s-gtech]

If I left SOLUS3 running for long enough, it would definitely lock up when doing a big update. Then needed a blend of server restarts and service resets to kick it back into life.

 

I just accepted that as part of the product - it kind of worked okay otherwise. Don’t miss it though!

[jthompson]

I think any sync agents relying on using the SIMS .net client on the server will need a server reboot after SIMS gets upgraded. Not just Wonde. I always did that as part of the upgrade process.

[PivatOrPivot]

We find that the Wonde service can stop an upgrade sometimes. Also if your SIMS is running slow then check the frequency of the Wonde data extracts.

[Syrax]

To add to the answer here. It's not just Wonde that will cause this. Any third party system that accesses SIMS via the command line importer will cause the SIMS update to fail. For example Inventry. The problem is that Solus doesn't realise SIMS files are occupied before it runs the update.

 

If you close all third party services before you run the update then it should prevent this from happening. Another thing to check is after the update try to open the SIMS.net client on the server. If you have an issue you will find it does not open. A full reboot of the machine also is what is recommended to solve this.

[PotNoodleTech]

I always run SIMS client on the server after every update just to check it's all updated. That way you'll see straight away if somethings gone wrong and SIMS won't load.

 

If SIMS loads, and you can log into it, WONDE should be fine!

 

I've repeatedly asked WONDE about showing us some kind of dashboard so we can see that things are actually connected and transferring (rather than wait until stuff stops working) but they're useless and won't seem to entertain the idea.

[bknaggs]

I've found that doing a manual update using the Solus agent works without requiring a reboot of the server.

[coolhands]

Also if your SIMS is running slow then check the frequency of the Wonde data extracts.

How can we see the frequency? And anyway can it be altered if you don't like it.

[Syrax]

How can we see the frequency? And anyway can it be altered if you don't like it.

 

You can ask Wonde this via their website form or [email protected]. I understand it's every 2-4 hours by default but check it with them.

 

I would add to the above comments that if your school uses anything that writes back into SIMS then this can also be cause for frequent occupation of the SIMS command line files.

[Damon]

As above, this is just down to 3rd party services locking particular files (i.e. using them) when Solus is trying to update the client. The update fails and you are left with a client that is out of date. This means the 3rd party services can't connect to the updated database either as the client is rendered incompatible.

 

There is absolutely no need to reboot in this instance. You simply need to check which 3rd party service is locking the files and then disable those during the update itself. For example, if SOLUS is set to update between 2-4AM, then schedule a batch script to stop the third party service during that time and restart afterwards. Then you won't experience any more of these issues and I doubt any service needs to sync during that time - double check of course!

 

To check which service is causing the problem, go to resource monitor and select the CPU tab. Go to the Associated Handles section and use 'sims .net' (note the space after sims) in the search box. It's basically searching for a file path so that should locate anything that is utilising the sims .net client directory.

 

Then you can stop that service, run the solus workstation check and upgrade. Then start the service once it's complete. Automating this as above is advisable to prevent headaches.

 

It's very rarely Wonde that is at fault here. I think it'll be another third party app. Some of them just leave the files open and locked when the service is running. Wonde doesn't do that and only utilises the files during the sync which often just lasts a couple of mins every few hours.

 

Lastly - You wouldn't have any of these issues with a cloud-based MIS