Thingworx Foundation failed installation upgrade from V8.5.4 to V9.3.1

[Ecko665]

Hello, I have been trying to upgrading my Thingworx foundation installation to V9.3.1 Windows / MSSQL and each time I attempt to run the upgrade, the apache thingworx foundation service gets removed as a windows service and gives me a warning of "ThingWorx Foundation is not running. Please start ThingWorx Foundation and try again". My instance is now stuck and I cannot get the platform up with previous version.

Following the upgrade, I have both Java 8 and java 11 installed following the prerequisites shown via the link below.

https://support.ptc.com/help/thingworx/platform/r9/en/index.html#page/ThingWorx/Help/Installation/UsingTheInstallerToUpgradeThingWorxFoundation.html#wwID0EE25T

However; when I run java -version in cmd prompt, it states Java 11 which I believe should not be the case until the updated version of thingworx is installed.

Any help would be appreciated.

[slangley]

Hi @Ecko665 

There are a few things to consider when upgrading:

1. Did you use the installer for the initial ThingWorx installation or did you use the manual method?
2. The system requirements between 8.5 and 9.3 have changed.  Therefore, the upgrade process will require some planning.  Tomcat will be upgraded automatically when running the installer, which is most likely the cause of ThingWorx failing to start up once the upgrade failed.  You may be able to reinstall the previous Tomcat version and redeploy the app to get it running again, if you have no backups to revert to.
3. Are you running other ThingWorx products such as Navigate or Mfg Apps?  If so, be sure to check the upgrade instructions.  For example, with Mfg Apps, there are prerequisites to be completed before the upgrade can begin.
4. It may be necessary to run multiple upgrade processes.  For example, depending on the situation, it may be necessary to upgrade from 8.5.4 to 9.1 before upgrading to 9.3.  Note that 9.3.2 is now available.
5. For Java, you need to check the environment variables and change JAVA_HOME to java 8.  You should also update the path to point to the java 8 bin folder.

Best practice dictates that you take all backups necessary to ensure recovery if the upgrade fails.  If you're running on a VM, a snapshot of the app server and database export should allow for full recovery.  If you're not running on a VM, you will need to backup <tomcat_home>, ThingworxStorage, ThingworxPlatform and the folder containing your certificates if not included in the folders already mentioned.  As you successfully complete a step, create new backups before proceeding with the next step.

It's also strongly advised that you test the upgrade process in a non-prod environment prior to upgrading prod.  Start by refreshing the non-prod database with a copy of the production db.  This will allow you to better assess the timing needed for scheduling Prod downtime.  You should also run a full regression test once the upgrade has been completed in order to identify any custom extensions, mashups, etc. that require update to run under the new version of ThingWorx.

Please let us know if you have further questions.

Regards.

--Sharon

[Ecko665]

Hi Sharon,

Thanks for the update.

I am also running Man Apps V 8.5 which I plan on upgrading to v9.1 and I am aware of the requirements and settings for setting up man apps.

I took a full backup of the original platform, along with tomcat and when I try to re-deploy the original version i get an error stating my credentials are incorrect. https://www.ptc.com/en/support/article/CS348472

I verified my Java Home / path settings are as they were prior to the failed upgrade, but the instance does not load and no changes were done to the host or fqdn parameters.

[slangley · Accepted solution]

Hi @Ecko665

Which method of upgrade are you using?  If you originally used the installer method, check this file to make sure all parameters are still valid:

\ThingWorxFoundation\twxfoundation_report.json

Also, please check the logs located here for insights into the failure:

C:\Users\<userID of user running the installer>\AppData\Local\Temp\ThingWorxFoundation_Failed_installs\

You can also run the installer using this option for capturing more information:  --debuglevel 4

Be sure to run the installer as Administrator.  

Regards.

--Sharon