Migration Strategy; What Is About To Happen: A Simple Overview Of The Migration Process - IBM BS029ML - WebSphere Portal Server Self Help Manual

Document name
Recommended fixes and updates for WebSphere
Portal:
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?r
s=688&uid=swg27007603
With these directions in mind, it is a best practice to keep your application server (and
process server, if in use) at the current fix levels, as well as your portal. Be sure to check for
any specific recommendations from those product support teams to ensure any compatibility
issues or limitations are understood and accommodated.
If you identify a fix that is applicable to your environment and it is already integrated into a
service release (for example, a Fix Pack) that is more recent than your currently deployed
software level, it is generally a best practice to install the later Fix Pack rather than the Interim
Fix. Fix Packs have been more thoroughly tested than individual Interim Fixes, and offer a
greater level of confidence that the provided fixes will interoperate without issue. Again, first
install the Fix Pack in a non-production, testing environment to ensure that it not only corrects
the issue you are experiencing, but does not have unintended side effects on your unique
environment and custom content.
If you have trouble installing a fix or Fix Pack, use the IBM Automated Problem Determination
Tool (http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=688&uid=swg24008662) or the IBM
Support Assistant's Remote Log Collector utility
(http://www-306.ibm.com/software/support/isa/) to capture the diagnostic data and log
files necessary to find the root cause of the problem. Appendix A, "Using IBM tools to find
solutions and promote customer self-help" on page 169 contains the details about best
practices for using the IBM Support Assistant.

Migration strategy

This section contains a very high level overview of the core WebSphere Portal Server
migration process. See the Redpaper IBM WebSphere Portal V6: Best Practices for Migrating
from V5.1, REDP-4227, for a more detailed explanation of the migration steps, found at:
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/redp4227.html
There is also a section in IBM WebSphere Portal V6: Best Practices for Migrating from V5.1,
REDP-4227 regarding some additional components you may have used in your WebSphere
Portal Server, such as WebSphere Content Manager and Personalization.

What is about to happen: a simple overview of the migration process

Migration is the process of reconstructing an existing IBM WebSphere Portal Server V5.1
environment on an IBM WebSphere Portal Server V6 environment so that the latter is
identical to the former.
The following are the artifacts that are migrated in the process:
Themes and Skins
Pages
Screens
Portlet applications
Appendix B. Maintenance: Fix strategy, backup strategy, and migration strategy
Notes
Document describing IBM support's current
recommendations for WebSphere Portal.
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