- 13 minutes to read

Release Notes

Managing the Nodinite Install and Update Tool

Info

This guide teaches you how to use the Nodinite Install and Update Tool. If you are looking into updating Nodinite, please review the Update Nodinite Core Services section.

Note

Use the latest Nodinite Install and Update Tool to perform installations and updates; see the release notes for details about the specific version.

What is the address of the Nodinite Install and Update Tool?

The installer can opt to change the default installation paths; the actual address in use may vary between different installations.

Try any of the following first (replace %hostname% accordingly):

  • HTTPS - https://%hostname%/NodiniteUpdate/UpdateClient/
  • HTTP - http://%hostname%/NodiniteUpdate/UpdateClient/ or http://localhost/NodiniteUpdate/UpdateClient/

If you don't know the address (URI) to the Nodinite Install and Update Tool, log on locally on the Nodinite Application Server with administrative privileges. Then, you can try to use the default address http://localhost/NodiniteUpdate/UpdateClient/.

But, of course, you can always find and access the address using the IIS MMC (%windir%\system32\inetsrv\InetMgr.exe).

Features

You can manage the following features using the Nodinite Install and Update Tool:

Manage Nodinite instances

Assign Access rights

The initial installer can configure, thus limiting the set of users (or Windows AD Groups) with a grant to access and use the Nodinite Install and Update Tool.

The users and groups differ in the Nodinite Install and Update Tool, and the Nodinite Core Service instances.

The Nodinite Install and Update Tool complains with a yellow warning bar that you still need to apply the access restrictions, encouraging you to perform the configuration. But beware, access to the tool is otherwise fully open and accessible for everyone on the network with access to the host.

How do I restrict access?

Make sure to comply to your security policies and limit access to this tool.

Important

Add yourself to the list of allowed Users, before adding other people.

You can Add and Remove users and groups from the Settings tab/page You must know the exact name from the Active Directory. Use the following format (you can see the current account name at the top right):

  1. Domain\User Name
  2. Domain\Group Name
    overview
    Settings tab, where an authenticated and assigned user can add and remove users and groups to allow/prevent access to this tool.

Important

The changes are immediately effective when you click on the Add/Remove buttons.

The settings are instantly applied; if you do not add your own account first, you will be locked out of the tool.

Remove User

You can remove a user by clicking on the Remove button.
Remove User

Remove Active Directory Group

You can remove an Active Directory Group by clicking on the Remove button.
Remove Active Directory Group

Configuration file

You should only edit this file if you lock yourself out of the tool or try to perform an advanced update/reconfiguration. Make sure to first create a backup of this file.

Users and groups may be edited in the underlying Settings.json file.

Tip

You need to be an administrator with access to the file system to read and change the content of this file. Remember to open an elevated Notepad, or even better, use Notepad++

appsettings.json (partial)

ActiveDirectoryUsers": [
  {
    "Name": "DOMAIN\\JohnDoe"
  },
  {
    "Name": "DOMAIN\\JaneDoe"
  }
],
"ActiveDirectoryGroups": [
  {
    "Name": "DOMAIN\\administrators"
  }
]

Package Management

The package management feature allows you to:

You can download and remove previously downloaded packages that are no longer in use from within the Nodinite Install and Update Tool. First, click on the Package Management button from the page loaded from the Instances main menu item.
Package Management

Remove Package

You can list and remove previously downloaded Packages from within the Packages tab:
Packages tab
List of previously downloaded Packages with versioning information.

Important

When you click on the Remove button the package is instantly removed. You can always download it again.

Manage Files

At the bottom of the page, there is a list of backup files that the Nodinite Update Service keeps (the last 2 are kept automatically). If your installation/update is successful, you can opt to clean up these files. Manage files

  1. Manage files - displays the files and size in total
  2. Refresh - Click this button to refresh the list
  3. Remove All - Click this button to remove all backup files
  4. Restore backup - Click this button to stop the IIS App Pool, remove the current installation, then replace the files, then restart the IIS App pool
  5. Download - Click this button to download the zip file
  6. Remove - Click this button to remove the specific zip file

Download package

Release Notes

You must first download a package to either Install or Update.

The Nodinite Core Services comes as a single zip file. There are two ways to download a version of Nodinite into the Nodinite Install and Update Tool:

  1. Download from the Internet
  2. Add Manually - Download to the local file system (including external media like USB...).
    • Once manually downloaded, you then need to Upload the ZIP file.

The currently installed version of Nodinite is printed in the Web Client; read more in the Nodinite Version user guide.

1. Download from the Internet

The selected version and its accompanying Release Notes forNodinite are displayed in the panel to the right.

  • Click the Download package button to download from the Internet.
    Direct download of Nodinite
    Download a new Nodinite version directly from the Internet.

To download from the Internet, the following addresses must be whitelisted in your firewall (TCP port 443):

Also, it would be handy if you could access the Nodinite portal:

Step 2: Continue with either Install or Update

2. Add Manually

For Nodinite instances without any access to the Internet, you must manually download a Nodinite release from another host with access to the Internet. This option is standard for installing a Preview or Release Candidate for a POC.

Add Manually tab
Here's an example of the 'Add Manually' tab.

  1. Make sure you have a Nodinite ZIP file, or download it from the Nodinite Portal.
  2. Click the Browse button and select the Nodinite package to Upload.
  3. Select the file to upload from the local file system.
  4. Click the Upload button to start the upload.
    png_UploadButton

Important

DO NOT INTERRUPT THIS OPERATION!!! The operation should typically complete within 10-30 seconds, depending on the current load.

  1. This operation may take a few seconds because the content of the ZIP file is first validated and then extracted.
    Upload started operation
  2. When the download completes, you should see the following alert on the screen:
    Download completed

Now, you can continue with either an Installation or an Update:

Install a new instance of Nodinite

You can install new instances of Nodinite using the Nodinite Install and Update Tool. Follow the steps in the Installing and Configuring - Nodinite user guide to get Nodinite installed and configured for first use.

If all prerequisites are met, you should now only be 15-30 minutes away from running your Nodinite instance.

Update an existing instance of Nodinite

Before executing the Update, ensure you have downloaded the latest version of the Nodinite Core Services.

Important

Always use the latest version of the Nodinite Install and Update Tool; see Release Notes for more information.

Existing instances of Nodinite are updated using the Nodinite Install and Update Tool. An Update operation always uses the highest version from the list of uploaded packages. It's only possible to perform an Update to a higher version; you can not downgrade.

  • You can change the name of the Customer in the list of instances if you click the Edit button. Manage Customer name

Use the Action button to perform operations on the Environment.

Step 1: Select Environment

Begin with selecting the instance to Update:

  1. Click the environment name to update
  2. Or Click the Action button and select the Update menu item
    Select environment
    List of available instances to update.

There can be multiple instances to manage from the list of installed Nodinite instances. There is one table for each Customer.

Step 2: Review Update

Next, a summary of installed components eligible for an update is present in the table.

Important

If there is an update to any of the Nodinite Log Databases, the update tool will only allow you to perform the Update once you have manually updated these.

We aim hard to only release an update of the Log Databases for major releases (features), never to minor builds (bugs). If you need to update the Log Databases; please follow step 3.

Application Update Database and Application Update
  1. There is an Update available for the Configuration Database. In step 4 the database is automatically updated by the system. Usually, you should not need to perform a manual update.

If there is a problem updating the database or you want to update it manually, follow the How to manually update database user guide.

  1. No update is available for the Log Database since the Manual Update button does not exist. The '...' button is available to help you get the script if you need it.

If there is an update available, please review step 3.

  1. There is an Update available for the Nodinite Log API.
  2. Click the Update All button to open the update modal.

The Update all button is only enabled when and if a higher package version exists; please review the Download Package step.

If any of the Log Databases has version '0.0.0.0' chances are you are using SQL Server Always On Availability groups. If so, you must execute the scripts manually to update the schema. Please review the Manage Log Databases step.

Step 3: Manage Log Databases

If there is an update to the Log databases; then, you must always first update these manually using the provided scripts. There is also more to read in the How to manually update database user guide.

If there is an update to the Log databases; click on the Manage Log Databases Log Databases button:
Manage Log Databases Button

Follow the steps in the guide to manually update the Log databases.
Manage Log Databases

You can also verify if there is a need to update the Log databases in step 3. If there is nothing to update, please close this page and return to step 4.
No Log Database to update

New 6.0.0.65 From time to time, we change the indexing scheme and apply this as an optional update. You can apply this update by clicking on the Ignore Version Differences checkbox. Run the scripts to make sure you are using the latest definitions. Doing so may drastically improve the performance and reduce IO for SQL Server.

Ignore Version Differences

Tip

If the database is in FULL recovery mode You can temporarily change to SIMPLE recovery mode to speed up the update process.

Step 1: Stop Logging/Monitoring Services

Turning the services off before starting is recommended to make sure they aren't writing to the databases.

Click the Stop button to stop the Logging- and the Monitoring Service.
Stopped Services
Example with stopped Services.

Click the Next button to proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Put all archive databases into read-only mode

Click the Read-Only button to put all Archive Log databases into read-only mode.
Set read-only

Click the Next button to proceed to the next step.

Step 3: Command line scripts

There are scripts available to update all the Log databases.

  • Active - the panel to the left. This is always just one database.
  • Archive - the panel to the right. There can be many archive databases.

Sample scripts to update Log Databases

Copy the script(s) and run in a CMD-prompt using the same account as the Logging Service. Then, repeat the operation using the scripts for both the Active and Archive Log Databases.

Important

The conversion process may allocate a lot of disk space. Therefore, make sure to shrink the Log Databases to reclaim the disk space as required.

Click the Next button to proceed to the next step.

Step 4: Set archive databases back from read-only mode

When all Log Databases are up to date, click on the Unset read-only mode button.
Unset read-only mode

Click the Next button to proceed to the next step.

Step 5: Restart services

Click the Start button to start the Logging- and the Monitoring Service.
Start Button

The services should promptly start and display with green icons.

Click the Next button to proceed to the next step.

Step 6: Continue updating Nodinite

Click the back to the previous page link to return to the instance view from where you can continue the update by clicking on the Update all button.

Step 4: Perform Update

Now that all your Log Databases are up to date, you can initialize the update process. For each account in use for the Core Services, you must provide its password.

Advanced tab

Different versions of the SqlPackage (DacFX) use different parameters to connect to the SQL Server. Please review the SqlPackageParams System Parameter for additional details on this topic.
Advanced Tab
SSL Options for connecting with the SQL Server instance.

Note

Changes are stored in the SqlPackageParams System Parameter upon a successful update.

Update steps

  1. Select the version to update to (by default, the highest available version is pre-selected).

[!IMPORTANT!] If you perform manual updates to any of the databases in the previous steps, then make sure to select and verify the SAME version in this dialogue is selected.

  1. Enter the password for the installation/service account(s) and click on the Validate Account button.
    png_Update_Modal_Password
    Example: Enter the 'Password' for the account in use to perform the installation.

  2. When all accounts are validated, you can initialize the Update process by clicking on the Update Nodinite button.
    png_Update_Modal_StartUpdate
    Example: All fields validated

  3. A progress bar will be displayed; wait for the Update to finish (usually takes between 15 seconds and 3-5 minutes, depending on current workload, often the longest time for the update is to gracefully stop processes with work in progress).
    png_Update_Modal_ProgressBar

  4. When completed successfully, click the Close button
    Update completed with success

Congratulations, Nodinite is now up to date.

You can subscribe to new releases using the Nodinite Portal

Manage BizTalk Server Logging

Add and Remove Microsoft BizTalk Server Logging Agents is detailed in the 'Configure Microsoft BizTalk Server Logging Agent' user guide.

Manage System Parameters

Each instance of Nodinite has its own set of System Parameters. Please read the 'How do I change the System Parameters' user guide to change these.

Manage License

To manage the License, click on the Manage License button:
Manage License Button

From within this page, you can edit the following properties:

  1. Customer Name
  2. Product Key

Manage License

When you click the Save button, the page's heading information is updated, and the License gets validated. This feature helps you visually detect when the product key is about to expire.

The ability to modify the license, as documented in this section, was introduced with the 5.2 release. For example, if your list of Nodinite instances has the following icon displayed, simply open the manage license page and click on the Save button.

Update License Icon
Here's an example of license as displayed after updating to 5.2.

Next Step