1. Remedy 9.x Upgrade walkthrough and best practices
Version
December 5, 2017

2. Remedy 9.x upgrade walkthrough
Use this walkthrough to evaluate the benefits of upgrading and to understand the major aspects of planning and performing an upgrade by following the recommended best practices.
Why should I upgrade?
Should I hire someone?
How do I plan?
How do I prepare?
How do I upgrade?
Note: This guide does not describe all details and steps for upgrading the Remedy IT Service Management Suite.  For complete details, follow the upgrade instructions linked throughout this document. 

3. Why should I upgrade?

4. Why upgrade to Remedy 9.x? https://youtu.be/1WrCUDTo0eQ
This video shows the reasons and benefits of upgrading to Remedy 9.x, and provides a quick view of the tools used for a successful upgrade.
Video
Learn more
Remedy 9.x videos and datasheets

5. BUSINESS VALUE: WHY UPGRADE TO REMEDY 9.x?
IMPROVED BUSINESS AGILITY
LOWER TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP (TCO)
Faster ticket resolutions through automation
Smarter decision making through auto-suggestions
Enhanced user productivity with intuitive UX
Easier & faster admin capabilities
Powerful integrations through REST APIs
Accelerated upgrade process with automated customization reconciliation
Zero-downtime platform upgrades
New, modern architecture with backward compatibility
Highly scalable and performant
BEAUTIFUL USER EXPERIENCE
ENTERPRISE-SCALE SECURITY AND COMPLIANCE
Optimized for social, mobile and web experiences
Faster, context-aware search
Expanded ITSM personas for personalized experience
Intuitive, minimalist, drag-n-drop UI
Enhanced data privacy controls
Support compliance with double authentication for important tasks
Flexible permission models for complex org structures
Content developed by Alex Henson

6. SERVICE DESK AND ITSM PROFESSIONALS: WHY UPGRADE TO REMEDY 9.x?
KNOWLEDGE CENTERED
SUPPORT (KCS)
SMART
REPORTING
90+ OOTB best practice ITSM reports
Available on web, iOS, and Android
Powerful drag-and-drop report and chart creation
Gives non-technical users self-service access to custom reports and charts
Included with the Remedy ITSM application user license
KCS best practices now embedded in Remedy 9.1.x
Improved self-service for business users and helps service desk agents reduce time to resolve incidents
Knowledge gets created and evolved as part of normal support process
Available on web, iOS, and Android
USER
EXPERIENCE
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Optimized for mobile and web
Embedded social collaboration tools and powerful engine
Modern UX drives new-user tool adoption and minimizes training requirements
Improved, context-aware search
Drag-n-drop intuitive wizard for rapid change request entry
Calendar view with collision display for easy scheduling
Easily add CIs to a change request with dynamic queries
Automated change execution with BladeLogic and other tools

7. REMEDY ADMINISTRATORS: WHY UPGRADE TO REMEDY 9.x?
JAVA
PLATFORM
OPEN
INTEGRATIONS
OPTIMIZED
SEARCH
100% Java with 50% less code
100+ 3rd party libraries updated
More performant platform with fast innovation cycles from BMC
New Rest API supports deep integrations
Prebuilt integrations for Discovery, TrueSight, and SCCM
Improved search relevancy
Upgraded underlying search technology
FTS search up to 10x faster
REMEDY SINGLE SIGN ON (RSSO)
ENHANCED DATA PRIVACY CONTROLS
Lightweight and simple to configure
Support for LDAP, Kerberos, CAC/PIV, SAML
Enables single sign-on for double authentication of approvals
Rollup permission model for support groups
Segregated access to ticket data
Assignment menu for data privacy

8. ON-PREMISES CUSTOMERS: WHY UPGRADE TO REMEDY 9.x?
AUTO-ARCHIVING
ENHANCED CMDB
New features:
New policy-driven auto-archiving capability ensures data integrity
Optimizes platform performance
New dashboard monitors the CMDB health and status
Improved performance
ACCELERATED UPGRADES
ZERO
DOWNTIME
CALL HOME
FEATURE
Upgrade enhancements:
Best-practice upgrade guide
Upgrade pre-checkers ensure correct system and app configuration
New customization reconciliation tool
For AR system and CMDB platform upgrades in a server group
Available for all supported platforms and databases
Share server plug-in configurations and upgrade history with support
Quickly extract application version information
Save hours of time troubleshooting issues

9. Understand what’s new
Review enhancement information for the latest release or service pack.
If you are coming from an older version, such as , review all release notes since that version.

10. Remedy ITSM Suite end-of-life dates
Release
EOL date
Support status
7.6.04
January 2017                  
No support
8.0.00
September 2017
8.1.00, ,and
February 2018
Limited support
End-of-life dates for previous versions of Remedy are listed on the Supported Products A-Z list
Support policy
A-Z list
© Copyright 2017 BMC Software, Inc.
BMC Confidential

11. Should I hire someone?

12. BMC Services that Accelerate Value
BMC Customer Success Organization
Get help preserving vital data and minimize downtime when you engage BMC to manage your upgrade
Our experienced consultants can help:
Lead Transformation to customers at any stage
Accelerate customer value realization
Align with customers’ operating principles
Enable competitive migrations
To maximize Adoption and Productivity, we offer:
Education Services
Flexible Education Delivery Models
Consulting & Applications Managed
Service
Customer
Advocacy
Education
Support
CUSTOMER

13. BMC Partners
For a full list of Remedy ITSM Suite channel partners, go to the BMC Marketplace.

14. AMIGO program AMIGO program blog BMC Support provides free
Upgrade planning assistance
A sample plan
Plan review
Learn more
AMIGO program blog

15. Self-guided upgrade
Plan
Prepare
Upgrade
In-place upgrade
Staged upgrade
Use the planning guide to assess the upgrade requirements and to select an upgrade path: in-place or staged.
Prepare the environment for upgrade.
Perform the upgrade process based on the best-practice paths and steps outlined in the remainder of this document.

16. How do I plan?

17. Upgrade planning Plan the upgrade Choose an upgrade path
Determine the upgrade scope
Choose the upgrade method
Plan the upgrade environment
Plan pre-upgrade activities
This section highlights the major decisions and planning activities for a Remedy 9.x upgrade.
These slides summarize the planning decisions. You must follow the planning guide in detail to select the appropriate upgrade method and to understand the upgrade process.

18. Upgrade paths Choosing an upgrade path
From which versions can I perform a direct upgrade?
What is the difference between upgrading from a version earlier or later than ?
How do I upgrade from a version earlier than ?
How do I upgrade from version or later?
What is the Remedy ITSM CI Attribute change?
Your current version of Remedy determines the starting point for upgrade.
Upgrade_paths_planning.png

19. Upgrade versions 9.1.x 9.0.x 8.1.x 8.0.x 7.6.04 Earlier than 7.6.04
Direct upgrade to 9.1.x
9.1.x
9.0.x
8.1.x
Adjust for granular overlays
8.0.x
ITSM CI Attribute change
7.6.04
First upgrade to
Create granular overlays
Earlier than
8.1.02
If you are upgrading from a version earlier than Remedy ITSM , you must first upgrade to Remedy ITSM
Best Practice
BMC recommends that you sign up for the AMIGO program to discuss options for upgrading from a version earlier than

20. Learn about key changes
If you are not already familiar, watch webinars about these features that have an important role in the upgrade process.
Webinars
Overlays and Customizations
Granular overlays
ITSM application CI attributes change

21. Learn about Remedy upgrade
Check out the “Connect with Remedy” series on BMC Communities to learn more about upgrading to Remedy 9.x.
Learn more
Review the webinar FAQ for additional details and clarifications about upgrade compatibility.
Video
BMC Education

22. Upgrade scope
Determining the upgrade scope
Which versions of the platform and applications are supported together?
What are the benefits of a complete suite upgrade?
Can I upgrade just the platform or application components?
When should I upgrade Smart IT or MyIT?
Do I need to migrate to Remedy Single Sign-On?
Create a plan for upgrading the entire Remedy deployment at once or incrementally.
Upgrade_scope.png

23. Supported versions
Start planning the upgrade scope by carefully reviewing compatibility information for all of the components and integrations in your Remedy deployment.
Note: Not all BMC integrations are listed. To determine whether or not you need to upgrade an integration, check the system requirements or documentation for the integration.
Product and component compatibility
Compatibility between the Remedy platform and applications
Compatibility with Remedy Single Sign-On
Compatibility with Remedy with Smart IT
Compatibility with MyIT
Compatibility with integrations
BMC TrueSight Infrastructure Management
BMC Service Resolution

24. Remedy ITSM Suite upgrade scope
Remedy platform
Remedy AR System
Mid Tier
Atrium core
Remedy applications
Remedy ITSM
Service Request Management
Service Level Management
Remedy ITSM Process Designer
Determine which products to upgrade and when
Mid Tier only - Upgrade as needed for enhancements, performance gains, or bug fixes
Platform only – Upgrade with releases and service packs; no outage required with a server group; platform is backward compatible with applications
Platform now and applications later – Minimizes outage; upgrade applications when you are ready to implement new functionality 
Platform and applications – Increases project scope and outage time
Process Designer – EOL

25. Related product upgrades
Also plan for separate upgrades, such as Remedy with Smart IT or BMC MyIT. 
Check whether the version of your BMC integrations are supported with this version of the Remedy platform.
If you have already migrated to Remedy Single Sign-On, you can upgrade to the current version, which is separate from the Remedy ITSM Suite upgrade.
Note: Not all BMC integrations are listed. To determine whether or not you need to upgrade an integration, check the system requirements or documentation for the integration.
Related upgrades
Remedy Single Sign-On
Remedy with Smart IT
MyIT
Integrations
TrueSight Infrastructure Management
Service Resolution

26. Upgrade method Choosing the upgrade method In-place (recommended)
Where are the steps involved in an upgrade?
What is an in-place upgrade?
What is a staged upgrade?
What data can be migrated with the Delta Data Migration tool?
How do I set up a staging environment?
In-place (recommended)
Utilizes the existing environment that meets sizing recommendations, hardware requirements, and database requirements (see Upgrade environment).
No data migration is needed.
Staged
Requires additional hardware for parallel upgrade.
Perform data migration with the Delta Data Migration tool (requires Remedy Migrator).
Increases overall upgrade time and steps.

27. In-place platform upgrade with zero-downtime
Upgrade platform components - AR, Atrium Core, and Atrium Integrator with no outage window.
Video
Remedy :Zero Down Time (ZDT) Upgrade
Learn more
Preparing for zero-downtime upgrade of the platform

28. Upgrade best-practice approach
Development
Get familiar with upgrade
Reconcile customizations (overlays)
Migrate customizations QA
Test production upgrade
Import customizations
User acceptance testing
Performance testing
Production
Upgrade
Final data migration (staged upgrade only)
Create a plan that incorporates the in-place or staged best practice approach for upgrading development, QA, and production.
Best Practice
BMC highly recommends that you conduct full validation and performance testing in the QA environment to minimize the amount of time required for testing during the production staging upgrade. Reducing test time during the production phase will also reduce the amount of delta data that you need to migrate.

29. Reducing upgrade impact
Minimize risk
Best practice: Continuously upgrade the platform separately with the latest fixes and patches.
 Upgrade the Mid Tier separately when needed for enhancements, performance gains, or bug fixes.
Use staged upgrade when parallel systems are required by your company’s policy to minimize risk.
Minimize production outage
Best practice: Upgrade the platform independently of the applications (no outage is required if the sever is part of a server group).
Upgrade the applications separately from the platform.
Use staged upgrade when the application upgrade outage window exceeds your company’s policy.
Minimize upgrade effort
Best practice: Use the in-place upgrade method for a platform-only upgrade.
Upgrade the applications when you need to implement new functionality.
Use staged upgrade when you need to minimize risk and outage.

30. Planning the upgrade environment
What are the hardware requirements?
What is the recommended sizing guideline?
Will I need additional hardware?
What are the software requirements?
Which databases are supported?
Upgrade environment
Validate whether the existing environment is sufficient or whether you need to acquire new hardware.
Review the compatibility matrix for the supported third-party software, databases, and operating systems.
If you are upgrading the environment, acquire the compatible hardware and database.
Provision the environment and install supporting third party software.

31. Sizing the environment
Start by sizing the environment and assessing the hardware requirements
Best Practice
BMC recommends that you adequately estimate and size your environment for continued scalability and performance. The medium-size deployment model specified in the hardware requirements is suited for the majority of our customers. If you need additional capacity, BMC recommends that you add an additional medium-size server to a server group.
upgrade_environment.png

32. Upgrading the environment
Best practice
BMC recommends that you upgrade the hardware or the database independently of an in-place platform or application upgrade.
Note: You can also upgrade the hardware or database when setting up the parallel environment for a staged upgrade.
Hardware replacement
If you have a server group, perform a fresh install on the new hardware, link to the database, go live, and remove the outdated hardware.
Database replacement
Upgrade the database by using the database vendor's recommended upgrade method.
Learn more
Configuring server groups
Preparing your database

33. How do I prepare?

34. Pre-upgrade activities
Planning pre-upgrade activities
What preparations do I need to make before I begin?
Where should I record my installation details?
What should I test during the upgrade?
Are there any utilities that I will need to perform the upgrade?
Where can I find information about issues I need to be aware of?
Pre-upgrade activities
Review the planning for pre-upgrade activities, such as
Reviewing enhancements since your last upgrade.
Understanding what issues have been fixed or remain open.
Downloading the installers and upgrade utilities.
Reviewing test recommendations and creating a plan.
upgrade_activities.png

35. Understand what’s new
Review enhancement information for the latest release or service pack.
If you are coming from an older version, such as , review all release notes since that version.

36. Review known and corrected issues
Review the latest list of known (open) issues, which is cumulative for all releases.
If you are coming from an older version, such as , and want to know which issues were corrected in those releases, review all known and corrected issues since that version.

37. Development QA Production Upgrade testing
Test the upgrade process.
Test system functionality.
Test customizations are working with product enhancements or changes. QA
Test upgrade with a copy of your production data.
Test importing the customizations.
Perform out-of-the-box functionality testing.
Perform end-to-end user acceptance testing.
Conduct performance testing.
(Staged upgrade, optional) Test the delta data migration process.
Production
Perform sanity tests to ensure systems and applications are functioning.
Verify data integrity.
(Staged upgrade) Validate the migration.
Create a test plan according to the recommended testing for each environment.
Best Practice
To minimize testing in the final phase of upgrade, BMC recommends that perform extensive testing in your QA environment. To do so requires the QA environment to closely match the capabilities and the load on the current production environment.
Add to note timings for the outage window.

38. Pre-upgrade activities
(Optional) Complete the installation spreadsheet.
Download the installation files.
Install upgrade utilities.
Prepare your database for installation.
Prepare to run the installers.
Review BMC ProactiveNet CMDB extension integration limitations and troubleshooting.
(Optional) Perform the pre-upgrade checks and configuration checks.
(Staged upgrade only) Obtain the Remedy license keys
Prepare to run the upgrade installers and obtain the necessary upgrade utilities.
Best Practice
The product installers automatically run the preupgrade checks and configuration checks based on BMC's medium size best-practice sizing recommendations.
upgrade_activities.png

39. How do I upgrade?

40. In-place upgrade method
In an in-place upgrade, you leverage your existing hardware and Remedy environments (development, QA, and production)
On the development system, you upgrade, reconcile, and package application customizations (overlays).
While upgrading your QA system, you test the upgrade with production data and the reconciled customizations, and you fully test the upgraded environment.
When you perform the final upgrade in the current production environment, you import your tested and reconciled application customizations, validate the system, and go live.

41. Platform upgrade: products and components
Remedy AR System clients
Remedy Developer Studio (and the Localization Toolkit)
Remedy Data Import
Atrium Integrator Spoon
Remedy Smart Reporting
Remedy Smart Reporting console
Remedy Encryption Security
Remedy Encryption Performance Security
Remedy Encryption Premium Security
Atrium Core
Atrium CMDB (including the Reconciliation and Normalization engines)
Atrium Core Web Services
Atrium Integrator server and client
Remedy AR System
Remedy AR System server
Remedy Engine
Remedy Approval Server
Remedy Assignment Engine
Remedy Flashboards
Remedy AR System plug-ins, such as Full Text Search (FTS)
Remedy Mid Tier
Mid Tier server
Mid Tier Configuration Tool
Apache Tomcat JSP engine
(Windows only) Remedy ODBC DLLs and driver for Crystal Reports
(Windows only) ARWebReportViewer application

42. Application upgrade: products and components
Remedy IT Service Management Suite
ITSM Foundation
Service Desk
Incident Management
Problem Management
Asset Management
Change Management
Knowledge Management
Service Request Management
Work orders
Service Level Management
Service Level Management Collector
Service Level Management Collection Point
Remedy ITSM Process Designer
Process Designer Integration and Configuration Tool (PDICT)
Process Designer server

43. Preserving application customizations with overlays
What are origin and custom objects?
An origin object is an object created in Base Development mode of Remedy Developer Studio. All out-of-the-box Remedy AR System application and server objects are origin objects.
Objects that are newly created in Developer Studio in its default Best Practice Customization mode are custom objects.
What happens during upgrade?
Custom objects are not modified or deleted during an AR System server or application upgrade. After the upgrade, the application or server continues to use the object overlays instead of the original objects for run-time operations so that your customizations are preserved.
Note: You must have previously upgraded and converted to overlays (introduced in ).
Video
Learn more
Customizing applications using overlays and custom objects

44. Adjusting customizations before upgrade (granular overlays)
During an upgrade or when applying a patch, changes made to origin objects are also made to the inherited and extended portions of an overlay.
Adjust your customizations and assign the appropriate overlay type to the objects' granular sections before proceeding with the Remedy application upgrades.
You must perform this procedure only in the following scenarios:
If you are upgrading from a version earlier than 8.1.xx.
If you are upgrading from version 8.1.xx and have not already fixed object granularity level.
Best practice
BMC recommends that you use the Object Granularity Level option to adopt the granular overlay functionality. 
Video
Learn more
Granular overlays

45. Reconciling application customizations
When you upgrade applications or system components, some objects that you have overlaid might be deleted, which means that your overlay is deleted as well. Similarly, some of your customizations might interfere with the upgraded behavior. You must reconcile these customizations before using the application.
Reconciliation requirements for upgrade:
Mid Tier only – not required
Platform only – some required
Applications - required
Follow the upgrade paths and perform the reconciliation process when indicated, starting with capturing a snapshot of the application objects.

46. Three-way reconciliation
When you review an object to reconcile during the reconciliation process, you will see a comparison of the three definitions:
Old definition — Base application object definition before upgrading the server
New definition — Application object definition after upgrading the server, including the changes introduced in the upgrade process
Overlay definition —Overlay application object definition before upgrading the server

47. Migrating customizations between environments
On the development system, you will create a packing list that contains the reconciled customizations, any fixes made during functionality validation, and, optionally, objects converted to granular overlays.
You will package and migrate the packing list created in that process among the upgrade environments (Development > QA > Production) when indicated in the upgrade process.

48. Test in QA and iterate UAT - data, customizations, and integrations
Out-of-the-box functionality
UAT - data, customizations, and integrations
Performance
Best Practice
To minimize testing in the final phase of upgrade, BMC recommends that perform extensive testing in your QA environment. To do so requires the QA environment to closely match the capabilities and the load on the current production environment.
Import and test the customization packing list in QA. Fix application customizations on the development system, and then update the packing list and re-migrate customizations from the development system. On the QA system, re-import the customizations.
Repeat this process until all issues are resolved.
Note: For a staged upgrade, you create separate fix packages for data (.arx) fixes and nondata fixes.
QA: Import
QA: Test
Dev: Fix
Dev: Reconcile
Dev: Package

49. In-place method: Production upgrade
Upgrade platform on all the servers of a server group
Upgrade applications on all the servers of a server group
Import customizations
Update integrations
Sanity test and go live
For an in-place upgrade, it is not necessary to freeze data changes or to restrict activity on the production environment during the upgrade; however, BMC recommends that you limit changes to object definitions and to AR System configuration.
If you do make changes to object definitions or AR System configuration, ensure that you make and test the changes in each of the environments (development, QA, and production) to ensure they do not impact upgrade activities.

50. Staged upgrade method
In a staged upgrade, you set up staging servers that are clones of your current Remedy environments.
Similar to an in-place upgrade, in the development staging system, you upgrade, reconcile, and package application customizations (overlays).
While upgrading your QA system, you test the upgrade with production data and the reconciled customizations, and you fully test the upgraded environment. You should also test and become familiar with the Delta Data Migration process.
In the production staging environment, you perform the final upgrade, import your reconciled application customizations, and migrate the data delta between the production and staging system by using the Delta Data Migration tool before you cut over.

51. Staged method: Parallel system setup
Clone production deployment and database
Disable DSO and escalations
Fresh install of current version of AR System server
Backup and restore production database
Select a method (clone or fresh install) to set up the staging systems.
For development and QA upgrade, you are not required to restrict or freeze activity in production.
If you are starting the production upgrade, immediately after this task, you will apply Restrictions after restoring the database on the upgrade server.

52. Staged method: Production upgrade
Upgrade platform on all the servers of a server group
Upgrade applications on all the servers of a server group
Import customizations
Update integrations
Apply nondata fixes to the system
Back up the production staging database
Sanity test
Restore the production staging database after sanity testing
After you create the staging system and apply restrictions (freeze activities on the production system), you perform the same steps as an in-place upgrade.
In preparation for performing the Delta Data Migration, you apply nondata fixes and back up and restore production staging system database.

53. Staged method: Preparing for delta data migration
Configure the Delta Data Migration tool prior to running DDM
Perform server configuration adjustments 
Search for additional data changes
Estimate your data volume and plan your DDM runs by using the AREntryCounter utlility
Perform migration prechecks
Extend delta data migration to include customizations
Delete orphan records
(optional) Plan your migration for the backend and custom forms
(optional) Migrating archived data
Staged method: Preparing for delta data migration
Delta data refers to any data changes that occur on your current production Remedy system during a staged upgrade of the production system. 
You migrate delta data by using the Delta Data Migration tool after the upgrade of the platform, applications, and secondary servers is complete and the deployment package has been imported.
The Delta Data Migration tool is installed as part of the Remedy Migrator installation.
Prepare your environment for migrating delta data as part of a staged upgrade.

54. Staged method: Performing delta data migration
Perform the data migration for the first time
Review the migration results and resolve issues
Delete orphan records after delta data migration
Perform the data migration
Validate count of data after every DDM run
After you complete the data migration, review the migration results for issues and resolve as required. To successfully complete the data migration, you must rerun the DDM until no errors are generated for that date range.
Perform subsequent runs of the DDM, preferably one run daily until the time you go live. On the day you go live, run the DDM multiple times before you perform the final DDM run.
After the final DDM run, complete the post-migration activities on the production staging server in the go live window.
Best Practice
BMC recommends that you take no more than 10 days to perform the delta data migration.

55. Staged method: Production cutover
Back up the production staging database
Re-index Full Text Search (FTS)
Perform the cutover, including the final delta data migration
Complete the postmigration activities
Go live activities
On the day of the cutover, before the outage window, run DDM every two to three hours.
As soon as the outage window starts, run the final DDM.
Finish the cutover by completing DDM postmigration tasks and go live activities.

56. Applying hotfix and patch packages
BMC Remedy Deployment Manager is enhanced to simplify the hotfix and patch deployment. 
You no longer need to run the installers in multiple environments of Development, QA, and Production.
In a server group, when you apply packages on a primary server, the changes provided through the patch or hotfix are applied on all the secondary servers automatically. You do not need to run the installers on the secondary servers.
Video
Connect with Remedy 9:Deployment Management
Learn more
Applying hotfix and patch packages

57. Note: This guide does not describe all details and steps for upgrading the Remedy IT Service Management Suite. For complete details, follow the instructions linked through this document to upgrade.