Database Upgrades

Most Monitor installations configure a PostgreSQL database to permit historical data reporting about license usage and trends. The upgrade of a Monitor project to a new Monitor software version may require a concurrent upgrade of the PostgreSQL database to a newer format.

Overview

If a Monitor upgrade is required, determine whether a database upgrade is required, and which method is best suited for your needs.
  • If no database upgrade is needed, choose the Direct Upgrade method and follow steps 1 – 8.
  • If a database upgrade is needed, read the following section to decide which Monitor Upgrade is best for your situation. The subsequent sections describe the details of upgrading Monitor with the “Direct (Offline) Database Upgrade Method” or “Online Database Upgrade” methods.

Methods to Upgrade the PostgreSQL Database

Accelerator queues and Monitor projects can enable a PostgreSQL database during operation. Monitor stores historical license checkouts in a database to support usage report generation from the web UI. Accelerator stores some minimal long-term job historical data in an optional database. When an upgrade to a new Accelerator or Monitor version is planned, version 9.6 and prior PostgreSQL databases require upgrades of pre-existing database files to a new format.

There are two database upgrade methods, with the following characteristics and advantages/disadvantages. Choose the method that best fits your situation.

Direct (Offline) Database Upgrade Method
  • This method has fewer steps.
  • The database is converted to version 14.4 after the software upgrade has been done, while the Monitor project is up and running.
  • While the database upgrade (conversion) is taking place, historical usage reporting via the Monitor web UI will be offline. This period of down time could be several hours or days, depending on the size of the database. (Depending on the speed of the filesystem, a 1 TB database upgrade may take a full day.)
  • Free disk space 1.5x the size of the database is required so that a new copy of the database can be made.
Online Database Upgrade Method
  • The live database and the Monitor project continue to operate while the database upgrade process operates on a copy of the database. Thus, there is no long down time during which history usage report generation cannot be performed.
  • The database is converted to version 14.4 before the software upgrade is done.
  • The database conversion is performed on a copy of the live database.
  • The Monitor software upgrade is performed after the new version 14.4 database is created.
  • Once the new database goes online, Monitor will bring the historical content up to date quickly.
  • Free disk space 2.5x the size of the database is required to make two copies of the database during the upgrade.