[bespeon]

Domino 6.5.1 and BES 2.2.3.11 is our present environment. I've read the upgrade guide and installation guide as well as many posts on this forum but have a few things I'm unclear on.

1. Pending Messages
I've noticed in the Domino console it shows BES Global Pending Count over 154,000 messages. When I added up all the pending messages within the Manager it's slightly over 200. I also checked the BlackBerryOutbox.nsf database which appears to be a complete mess. It has over 11,000 entries and some over a year old and still marked as New Message. Should I be concerned with any of this prior to the upgrade?

2. Preparing for Upgrade
All the BB device software is at least 4.x. Is this all that is needed in order for the new service books and policies to be sent out automatically once the upgrade is complete? Or are other steps necessary?

3. Upgrade Sequence
I planned on upgrading Domino from 6.5.1 to 6.5.6 FP1 first then BES. Has anyone heard of any issues doing this in that order? I thought at one point BES Support mentioned I should do the BES upgrade BEFORE Domino since they're not sure of 2.2 supporting 6.5.6 FP1 databases.

4. Clean Up
Is there any DB's I can remove after the upgrade that are no longer needed?


Any input/suggestions would be appreciated especially if you have done a similiar upgrade path. I plan on doing the upgrade late next week and want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row before I proceed.

Thanks in advance!

[dev]

You have stated your question quite well...sign of a good sys admin.
Pending Messages
In the earlier BES versions (2.0.x), the BlackBerryOutbox.nsf was prone to corruption and caused a lot of mail delivery issues. Your high pending counts may be a sum total of what's currently visible in the BlackBerryOutbox.nsf + what may have been deleted from the view but not entirely purged + what's on the wireless network + what's reported by the BB Manager.
A good way to look at it is to check the db properties of the BlackBerryOutbox.nsf and compare the # of documents that's reported in the properties view and what's actually visible. All this would do is satisfy your curiosity....in the end just purge all the pending messages prior to upgrading to 4.1. It will spit up a lot of error messages on the BES domino console, but that's ok. I would say do this a couple of days before if possible. In addition to this I would suggest you do a proper "housekeeping" exercise before you begin your upgrade. Use all the typical domino maintenance tasks (fixup updall,compact), backup the domino logs and BES logs (for reference) and then clear them. Allow the BES to run for a couple hours in this "clean" state to ensure all's well. This way you do not carry-over any junk during the upgrade.

Preparing for the Upgrade
Handhelds whose device OS is pre-4.0 will continue to work and end-users will continue to experience all the features/benefits that they have in the past, however they will be unable to experience any new updated 4.0 and above functionality.
It has been observed that some devices (16MB and lower) experience performance issues with some basic functionalities (synchronization, activation). In such cases it may be necessary to perform a xxx8220;wipe and re-loadxxx8221; of the devicexxx8217;s software, with a minimal amount of applications installed in order to efficiently use the available resources.

Upgrade Sequence
Upgrading domino first then BES would be the recommended path. Any reason you're not considering going to R7?

Clean Up
The BlackBerryDirectory database (BBDir.nsf) has been replaced with the new SQL-type configuration database. This can be removed after the upgrade since it's no longer used.
The BlackBerryOutbox.nsf would no longer be necessary after the upgrade.
The Profiles.nsf and the users State databases are absolutely required.

Suggestions
Prepare a roll-back plan - critical, since this upgrade makes significant changes to the BES infrastructure and you cannot down-grade or roll back to ver 2.2.x.
Make your users aware of the new features and what to expect. Many may see new icons show up on the devices and some may work or not...depending on the device OS version.
Have the users themselves perform some good housekeeping on their mail files before the upgrade. Once done, you should run some of those maintenance tools (you may have it already scheduled already).
Remove any disabled/deleted accounts from the BES - double check the Profiles.nsf
Prior to the upgrade - ensure that most of your users are within coverage and have turned-on their wireless radio.
Expect some issues with those users that have extremely large calendar entries.

My two cents worth. Good luck

[Aroc]

Right. Do the Domino upgrade first. I would run the DB fixup and compact utilities (Standard maintence) and make sure there are no pending Administrative requests in admin4.nsf and that the router mailboxes (mail*.box) are empty of pending messages.

I would do a two step upgrade on BES. Take BES to 2.2.6 (or whatever the latest 2.2.x version was). The do the upgrade to 4.1.4, then apply MR1 to 4.1.4

[rhbergman]

Aroc has the right idea, but goto the latest MR for 4.1.3 instead. 4.1.4 has a memory leak problem with a high probability of occurance in environments with signficant load. A MR for 4.1.4 is planned for mid-October that will address the problem.

Note: I have gotten by the memory leak problem with 4.1.4 via upgrading Domino to 6.5.6 FP1, but only in certain environments. Earlier versions of Domino in the 6.5.x family also have a memory leak problem. You'll also probably have to stick this parameter in your Notes.ini before you upgrade (it resolves other memory leak issues when serveral profile documents are simultaneously accessed):

NSF_DOCCACHE_THREAD=1

If you're at 4.1.4 and Domino 6.5.6 FP1 and are still having memory leak problems, you'll probably have to downgrade back to BES 4.1.3 with the latest MR. There are some posts floating around here about downgrading, but RIM is working on an official procedure for this. No ETA on its release but it will help in these kind of situations (there was also a similiar situation with a MR for BES 4.0.6 for Domino during the DST period).

[bespeon]

Thanks for the replies, they help reinforce my assumptions.

BUT now I have one last question I hope to clear up before I do the upgrade in the next few hours.

With the BB devices on a mixture of 4.x, will any of the users need to have their BB's connected to their Desktop Software before the upgrade? Or will they receive the new service books OTA? Also am I understanding every BB will perform an auto EA right after?

[dev]

No need to be connected to the desktop. The devices however should be within coverage, otherwise they'll not receive the new service books OTA.

[Aroc]

Ditto. My handhelds all received new service books OTA after my 2.2.6 --> 4.1.4 upgrade. I didn't have to do anything special, the service books were automatically sent.

Did you decide on 4.1.4 or are you sticking with 4.1.3?

[bespeon]

Well the upgrade is done and working, as far as I can tell. Domino is now 6.5.6 FP1 (may go to Exchange within the next year) and I went with BES 4.1.4 SP4 w/ MR1 rollup.

And what is with all the logging within windows Event Viewer now? When I spoke with RIM support they say a bulk of these errors are normal and have to do with messages that have been moved or deleted out of the users mailbox.

Is there a reference anywhere to know if these errors are really errors and not just informative? On that same note, has anyone tweaked the log settings so the Event Viewer isn't flooded on a daily basis?

Also what are some typical memory usage sizes regarding BES services? Last I looked it was close to 900 megs for just one of the services.