WC 10.1 need to upgrade Java to 6-39 and apache to 2.2.23 but NOT WC itself

[bcavanaugh]

Hello,

we are running WC 10.1 M010 - in order to comply with our security requirements, I need to upgrade my windchill servers to java 6 update 39 (the PSI installed java 6-37)

Also, I need to update apache to 2.2.23 (PSI installed 2.2.22)

I do NOT need to upgrade windchill itself (we will stay at 10.1 M010)

in broad strokes, could someone fill me in on the general approach to how to do this, or what PTC document I should be reading?

thanks!

[MatthewKnight]

It's kind of a hack, but a simple way to handle the java problem is to manually install the latest java, then rename the old java folder to *.bak, and rename the new folder to whatever the old folder's name was, in the same location. You'll have to kill everything that relies on the old java before renaming the folder.

You could install java, then copy the folder, then uninstall. There's no reason to keep the java installation in the registry.

Like I said, a hack

[jessh]

A few comments here:

Java/JDK:

• I believe the easiest way to manage the JDK is to install your own to start with into a location that implies nothing about its maintenance version, e.g. c:\jdk1.6.0. You can then simply uninstall this JDK and install new JDKs into the same location without bothering with any Windchill configuration.
• As Matthew points out, there are other approaches/hacks.
• You can always install a new JDK wherever and point the product components at it via their configuration.
• I'd install Java 6 Update 41, not 39, as 41 was released 2 days ago and fixes a few more security vulnerabilities.

Apache:

• You can follow instructions to install your own Apache and configure it for Windchill.
• That said, it's a lot easier to install an update from PTC. The 2.2.23 Apache bundle is in testing at this time, I believe.

[jessh]

One further comment:

In general I would urge moving to the latest MOR for the performance and bug fixes therein.

That will not give you Java 6 Update 41 or Apache 2.2.23 in this case, but as a general practice I'd recommend moving to the latest MOR on a regular/prompt basis.

I can't count the number of times I've seen customers having serious issues that were eventually (after much invesgiation in cases) diagnosed as issues that had already been fixed on an MOR that had been available for many months when the issue occurred.

[tswett]

Apache:

PTC has a webpage devoted to downloading early release apache installers:

http://www.ptc.com/appserver/wcms/standards/freefull_cs.jsp?&im_dbkey=73856&icg_dbkey=893

Java

First, always double check the product software matrix:

http://www.ptc.com/WCMS/files/137733/en/Windchill10.1SoftwareMatrices.pdf

And then the discussions above with Jess and Matthew are correct for upgrading Java. You want to download the JDK, not just the JRE. You can also submit a Tech support case to ask for java upgrade recommendations from TS, I can't find it but I think there is a Doc about it. Hope this helps.

From what I can tell, Windchill 10.0 and 10.1 are not supported on Java 1.7 currently (server side).

Overall note:

Being on the HP-UX platform, there are also OS-specific patch requirements and recommendations upgrading to a new version of Java on the server, be aware that this might also be your case.

Message was edited by: Timothy Swett - Added "overall note"

[bcavanaugh]

Tim, Jess, Matthew...

thanks alot for your posts.

FYI I did ask PTC support for advice on this and just a minute ago they provided a Doc so I'll review that as well..

thanks again!

Barry

[tswett]

Could you post the doc here so we could have a link also?

Great to hear we were able to help.

[bcavanaugh]

the doc number is PTC CS23639

link:

https://www.ptc.com/appserver/cs/view/solution.jsp?n=CS23639

doc attached below...

[bcavanaugh]

more problems trying to upgrade java...

for my monolithic wc system, I was able to follow the instructions and was successful...

...but...

for our QA and production systems the instructions aren't helping because when I go to "Programs & Features" in win server 2008 R2 there is no sign of any Java to "uninstall".....I tried skipping this step and just installing the new one but then wc wouldn't start.

my QA and prod systems are clusters...not sure if this is a factor.

I'll post once tech support responds

Barry

[MatthewKnight]

This doesn't address the last post, but I wanted to add that you will also need to handle your certificate if you're running https.