Upgrading the GroupWise Client via a Network Drive

The following section assumes that the GroupWise client is already installed on the user's desktop and you are upgrading to a newer version of the GroupWise client.

For you to understand how to upgrade a GroupWise client, it's advantageous for you to consider several issues first. These are discussed in the following sections.

The Auto-Update Algorithm

The auto-update algorithm is how the GroupWise client, installed in the users' computers, knows it should upgrade itself to a newer version of the GroupWise client. By using the auto-update algorithm, you can automate the process of upgrading the GroupWise client to the GroupWise 7 client without the users having to initiate the setup process. Here's how it works.

GroupWise has a Software Distribution Directory (SDD), a folder that houses the GroupWise software after it has been installed or copied from the Novell GroupWise CD. When patches are released, they are applied to a GroupWise SDD. Not only is a GroupWise SDD a location for software, but it can be defined in GroupWise Administration and assigned to post offices. In GroupWise 7 using ConsoleOne, the GroupWise SDD is defined under Tools, GroupWise System Operations, Software Directory Management. See Figure 12.11.

Figure 12.11. SDD Management

A GroupWise SDD has a value called a bump number associated with it. The bump number starts at 0 and can be incremented to 1, and then 2, and then 3, and so on. Controlling the bump number is essential to controlling the GroupWise client upgrade process.

Every GroupWise post office should have an SDD associated with it. In fact, when you create a GroupWise post office, one of the required fields is the SDD that will be associated with the post office. You can configure an SDD that can be used by several post offices. For upgrade purposes, creating post officespecific SDDs is often the best practice. An SDD is used primarily so that the GroupWise client knows where to look in order to upgrade itself to a newer version of GroupWise. Even if you intend to use a solution such as ZENworks, GroupWise requires you to define which SDD is to be used by each post office. To see or change the SDD associated with a GroupWise post office, view the properties of that post office and select the Post Office Settings property page from the GroupWise tab. See Figure 12.12.

Figure 12.12. The SDD associated with a post office

The GroupWise SDD should, and typically will, have the GroupWise 32-bit client installed. The GroupWise client is located in the SDD\CLIENT folder. Sites that intend to use the GroupWise SDD for GroupWise client software distribution must grant users Read and File Scan rights to the SDD\CLIENT folder and its subfolders. Users should not have rights in any other location of the SDD. If you are using ZENworks or a similar solution, or if you use SETUPIP, explained elsewhere in this chapter, your users should not have any rights to the SDD.

To construct an SDD for a post office, make a folder called GW70SDD under the post office folder. Copy the CLIENT folder and its contents from the master GroupWise 7 SDD to the GW70SDD folder under the post office.

Warning

When you define an SDD, the path to the SDD should not include the directory CLIENT. The CLIENT portion is assumed, so the folder that is the parent to the CLIENT folder is where the SDD should point.

In the SDD\CLIENT folder are two files that are an essential part of the GroupWise upgrade, as well as the auto-update algorithm. These files are SOFTWARE.INF and SETUP.CFG. In addition to these files from the SDD, a value in the WPDOMAIN.DB and the WPHOST.DB files, known as the bump number, is an essential part of the auto-update algorithm. All of these factors are detailed here:

• The SETUP.CFG file resides in the SDD\CLIENT folder. This is a "template" file that allows the administrator to customize the way in which the GroupWise client is installed at the user's workstation. The SETUP.CFG file should be copied to the CLIENT\WIN32 folder and modified according to the administrator's preferences for the install of the GroupWise client. The important settings for the SETUP.CFG file as pertains to the auto-update algorithm are under the [AutoUpdate] section. The Enabled value must be set to Yes for the automatic update to occur.

• The SOFTWARE.INF file is an ASCII file containing a small amount of information. In fact, here are the entire contents of the SOFTWARE.INF file from the GroupWise 7 SDD:

  [General] BuildNumber=3004

  
  

  The BuildNumber is really the version number in development terms. But to you and me, GroupWise releases versions of the GroupWise software in versions that we typically know as 6.5, 6.5.4, and 7.0. The BuildNumber of 3004 is the GroupWise 7 client at the moment of writing this book. The BuildNumber version of the GroupWise 6.5 Support Pack #4 client is 2615.

  Now here's what the BuildNumber means to the auto-update algorithm. Whenever the GroupWise client is installed, the BuildNumber of the GroupWise client is placed into the Windows Registry, as shown in Figure 12.13. The BuildNumber string value is kept in the following location:

  Figure 12.13. The GroupWise BuildNumber in the Windows Registry

  
  
  

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Novell\GroupWise

  
  

The Bump and Build Numbers

It is important to understand the relevance of the BuildNumber value. You might remember that every GroupWise post office has an SDD associated with it. The SDD has a bump number associated with it. Each time the GroupWise client loads, it asks for the bump number associated with the SDD for the user's post office. This bump number is obtained for the GroupWise client from the WPHOST.DB file. When the GroupWise client loads and contacts the POA, the conversation goes something like this:

CLIENT: Hi, post office agent (POA) at IP address 192.168.100.237, port 1677. I need a client/server session with you. Here are my authentication credentials.

POA: Here's a client/server session, and here's the port we will use to speak.

CLIENT: Hey, POA, before I load the user interface of this client, what is the bump number for the SDD associated with my post office?

POA: It's 5.

CLIENT: Okay, let's see, the last time I installed the GroupWise client, the bump number was 4. This is held in the Windows Registry at the following location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Novell\GroupWise\Client\5.0

The value is called NewSoftwareBump. In this example, you see that the bump number for the SDD is different from the bump number in the Windows Registry. Thus, the GroupWise client must look further to see whether it is essential to upgrade the GroupWise client. Let's keep going:

CLIENT: Hey, POA, what's the location of my SDD?

POA: It's in the WWWFS1\VOL1\CORPPO\GW70SDD folder.

CLIENT: Okay, let me look at the SOFTWARE.INF file from the CORPPO\GW70SDD\CLIENT folder. The BuildNumber is 3004 in the SOFTWARE.INF file, and the BuildNumber in the Windows Registry on my machine is 1807. It seems like it's time to upgrade. Now let me find the SETUP.CFG file from the SDD\CLIENT folder to see whether the [AutoUpdate] section of this file has a line that reads Enabled=Yes. Yes, it does! It's upgrade time!

Here is a quick synopsis of what has transpired:

• If the bump number for the SDD associated with a post office is different (not higher per se, just different) than the bump number in the Windows Registry, the client compares the build number in the SOFTWARE.INF file with the build number in the Windows Registry.

• If the build number in the SOFTWARE.INF file is greater than the build in the Windows Registry, the GroupWise client looks at the SETUP.CFG file.

• If the [AutoUpdate] section in the SETUP.CFG file contains Enabled=Yes, the GroupWise client will attempt to upgrade itself.

• The GroupWise client can then upgrade itself by launching SETUP.EXE from the SDD\CLIENT\WIN32 folder, or by launching SETUPIP.EXE that the POA sends to the GroupWise client that it retrieved for the client from the SDD\CLIENT\WIN32 folder.

This section explained the auto-update algorithm, which is essential to understand if you want the GroupWise client to update automatically.

Upgrading All Users on a Post Office with a Mapped Drive to the GroupWise SDD

The GroupWise administrator can fully configure what users will see during the GroupWise client upgrade, and just what will be installed. Before covering the upgrade steps, let's walk through an example. The following example looks at WorldWide Widget Corporation's technical directives with regard to the upgrade of the GroupWise client:

• Users will be forced to upgrade/update their GroupWise clients.

• The default IP address and port for a POA in the system will be indicated.

• Users should not be prompted to answer any installation questions.

• Notify will not be placed in the Windows startup group.

• Document Integration will be disabled.

• Users will not be prompted for the language to install; this installation will include two languages, US English and another local language (in this example, Dutch).

• All other factory defaults for the installation are accepted.

The following steps are sample procedures for upgrading a post office. After reading this section, you should be able to modify this scenario to match the needs of your organization:

1.	Physically create and configure a slimmed-down GroupWise 7 SDD. To do this, create a folder within the post office folder called GW70SDD and copy the GroupWise 7 SDD\CLIENT folder structure to the post office\GW70 folder. In the end, you will have a folder structure that looks like this: Post Office Directory\GW70SDD\CLIENT. The SDD you create needs a full copy of the CLIENT folder and subfolders from a GroupWise 7 SDD. Note You are welcome to place the SDD in some other location than the post office folder. As long as the users have rights to the location and no other folders or files in the post office folder structure, you can place it in the post office folder.
2.	Go to the SDD\CLIENT folder. Locate the SETUP.CFG file and copy it to the SDD\CLIENT\WIN32 folder.
3.	Locate the SETUP.CFG file that you copied to the SDD\CLIENT\WIN32 folder. Edit the properties of the file in Windows Explorer, and remove the read-only attribute, if necessary.
4.	Use Windows Notepad to edit the SETUP.CFG file.

The next order of business is to make changes to the files. See the sections earlier in this chapter titled "GroupWise Client Installation Requirements Scenario" and "SETUP.CFG and SETUP.INI Changes." In addition, change the line in the SETUP.CFG file that reads ForceUpdate=No to ForceUpdate=Yes to force users to update.

Testing the Installation

You still have a little ways to go, but to confirm that your SETUP.CFG and SETUP.INI files are configured correctly, run the SETUP.EXE file in the SDD\CLIENT\WIN32 folder. If the installation behaves in the manner you expect, proceed to the next section. If it does not behave in the manner you expect, tweak the SETUP.CFG file as needed.

Defining a GroupWise SDD

To logically define the newly created GroupWise 7 SDD, follow these steps:

1.	Go into ConsoleOne. Be sure to connect to the primary domain. Tip Whenever you are going to make a change or an addition through System Operations, it is best to be connected to the primary domain.
2.	In ConsoleOne, select Tools, GroupWise System Operations, Software Directory Management.
3.	Click the Create button. Give the SDD a name and a descriptionfor example, Corporate Post Office SDD. Define the UNC path to the SDD, which in these examples is the post office folder\GW70SDD folder. The UNC path should not point all the way to the post office folder\GW70SDD\CLIENT folder, because the CLIENT portion is assumed. See Figure 12.14. Figure 12.14. A newly defined GroupWise 7 SDD
4.	Click OK and then Close to get to the main ConsoleOne screen.

This section described how to create an SDD. Now you need to select an SDD to associate with the post office.

Selecting an SDD for a Post Office

The steps to assign the new GroupWise 7 SDD to the post office are as given here:

1.	Edit the properties of the post office and select the Post Office Settings property page from the GroupWise tab.
2.	In the SDD field, select the appropriate SDD for this post office, and then click OK.

This might be enough to kick off the auto-update process. But there's also a chance that it isn't. If the original GroupWise 6.x SDD for the post office you are upgrading had the same bump number as the SDD for the GroupWise 7 SDD you just created, the GroupWise client doesn't pick up on a bump-number change. A change in the bump number is the first part of the auto-update algorithm, so the bump number must change before GroupWise will discover the new GroupWise client it should upgrade to. If the upgrade process does not seem to be happening, and you want it to, you can proceed to the steps outlined under the next task.

This section simply talked about how to associate an SDD with a post office. This might have been enough to kick off the upgrade, and it might not have been. Be sure to take the steps explained in the next section.

Updating the Bump Number of a GroupWise SDD

To initiate the GroupWise client upgrade with the Update feature, follow these steps:

1.	Go into ConsoleOne and connect to the primary domain.
2.	In the GroupWise view in ConsoleOne, select Tools, GroupWise System Operations, Software Directory Management.
3.	Highlight the new GroupWise 7 SDD you recently created and click the Update button.
4.	In the next dialog box, select the check box for Force Auto-Update Check by GroupWise Components. Click the OK button.
5.	If needed, repeat steps 14 if users are not being prompted to upgrade their GroupWise clients. Remember that users will be prompted to upgrade only if the BuildNumber in their local Registry is lower than the BuildNumber in the SDD\CLIENT\SOFTWARE.INF file.

Now that all of the steps are in place, the users should be prompted to upgrade their GroupWise client the next time they log into GroupWise.

Upgrading the GroupWise Client with SETUPIP

To use SETUPIP, you must have already configured a SETUPIP GroupWise Client Distribution System as explained earlier in this chapter.

After the SETUPIP System is working, you can take the SETUPIP Client SETUPIP.EXE and distribute it in whatever manner you would like. For example, you can post it to a web page, or you can email it to users and tell them to right-click on the SETUPIP.EXE file and select Open.

You can also design your GroupWise post office to use SETUPIP as the upgrade mechanism. This is what the users will experience:

1. Users are prompted to upgrade, and they are presented with two buttons: OK and Cancel.

2. After the user has clicked OK, SETUPIP downloads the GroupWise client software from the web server.

3. After the GroupWise client is downloaded and expanded, the Windows Client Setup screen shows when the SETUP.EXE program is launched. The GroupWise client installs.

By using the SETUPIP Client installation method, you eliminate the need for users to have rights to a network drive. Also, the installation process creates less network traffic when SETUPIP is used.

Here's how you configure GroupWise so that when users are prompted to upgrade, they will launch SETUPIP.EXE:

1. Follow all the steps in the section of this chapter titled "Creating a SETUPIP GroupWise Client Distribution System."

2. Follow all the steps in the section of this chapter titled "Upgrading the GroupWise Client via a Network Drive." Make sure that the POA has rights to access the SDD for the post office to be upgraded. The GroupWise POA will scoop up the SETUPIP.EXE and some other files on behalf of the GroupWise client running at the desktop, and send them down to the GroupWise client to execute SETUPIP.EXE locally. If the POA needs to scoop up files from the SDD, the POA must have rights to the SDD. You can assign these rights by adding the /user and /password switches in the startup file of the POA, or you can place the SDD on the same server where the post office is located, and where the POA is executing.

3. Make sure that users do not have rights to the SDD for the post office, or their clients will not be prompted to install via SETUPIP. Instead, their clients will execute SETUP.EXE.

4. Place the SETUPIP.EXE in the Post Office SDD\CLIENT\WIN32 folder.

5. Edit the SETUP.CFG file in the Post Office SDD\CLIENT\WIN32 folder. Make this additional change to the SETUP.CFGfind the argument that reads SetupIPEnabled=No and change it to SetupIPEnabled=Yes.

This section explained how to get the SETUPIP.EXE utility to launch automatically without users taking any action.