Teamcenter Upgrade

Before Teamcenter upgrade is done following things need to be considered

• What is the exact version that you are targeting? Release notes of version should be read to decide which major and minor version should be targeted.
• NX version should also be considered (assuming NX as CAD software used) and compatability of Teamcenter with chosen NX version should be considered.
• If other CAD systems are being used then compatability with different CAD systems should also be considered before starting upgrade.

Download Teamcenter and NX media (and other CAD systems if required)

Prepare a sandbox that is exact replication of production environment. It can be prepared from Production backup

Old license server will not be compatible with new Teamcenter and NX versions. So License server will have to be upgraded before upgrade. New FlexLM will be compatible with old Teamcenter version

Sandbox environment upgrade involves upgrading File servers, Corporate Servers, HTTP Servers, Active Workspace, refiling of NX data

Upgrade the client machines that are setup for sandbox

This is very important step that generally people don’t take so seriously. If testing of any functionality is missed out in this step then after production deployment it could result in loss of many productive hours

Findings of user testing must be noted down and if any issues are identified then decision has to be taken if chosen Teamcenter version is sutiable or not. If Teamcenter version is not suitable then other suitable version of Teamcenter should be identified or the issues be reported to Siemens. If fixable issues are identified then those issues have to be fixed in sandbox and this should be incorporated into Production environment upgrade process.

Before production server is upgraded ensure that all data is backed up in case roll back has to be done. Prepare a checklist of items that needs to be checked during different stages of migration. It is best that upgrade is done during weekend or during holiday to ensure downtime is not there. All users must check-in all the data before upgrade is started and all users must close their sessions before upgrade. After that upgrade all production server components(Corporate server, volume servers, web servers).

An automated script should have been prepared to upgrade clients. This script can be configured to deploy  first time when users try to start Teamcenter client. If customers are using Active Workspace then this activity can be skipped