Major Installation Differences Between Msp 3.2.0 And Msp 3.2.1; Additional Installation Recommendations - Motorola MSP3-CNTRL-SW-1 - Mobility Services Platform Control Edition Installation Manual

Chapter 6 – Architecture Overview and Custom Installation Planning 37

Major Installation Differences between MSP 3.2.0 and MSP 3.2.1

The first important difference in MSP 3.2.1 is that the actual package files and the plug-in
definition documents are now stored in the database. Previously, in MSP 3.2.0 these were stored
as files in a special directory which the Web Application and the Services required access to. In
custom distributed scenarios, a specific shared directory had to be created for this shared user
data folder. There are several benefits to making this change. The primary benefit is that you no
longer have to backup the contents of the shared user data folder along with the MSP database
backups. Because the packages and all necessary data are stored entirely in the core database,
it is sufficient to only ensure an effective routine database backup procedure. There are no
needed files stored in any file system directory. The MSP folders are simply used as temporary
storage, the contents of which are repopulated as needed if they are lost. It's important to note
however, that the user data folders play an important role in the 3.2.1 installation process. The
temporary folders do contain the default packages and plug-in definition documents initially; they
are placed there during the Application Server installation. At the completion of the installation on
the Application Server, scripts are run which will upload all the default packages and definition
documents into the MSP database where they will be stored during the life of the MSP system
unless and until they are deleted. This means, however, that if you are installing MSP 3.2.1 as
part of an upgrade there may be an additional step required after you have uninstalled the
previous version. This would only be required for custom installations where the User Data Files
are stored on a remote shared folder. For detailed steps on this procedure, if required, see
Chapter 6.
The second major difference in MSP 3.2.1 is that it is now possible to use the data collection
feature without installing the integrated data analysis feature provided. This means that if no data
analysis is desired, the SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) is not a requirement. If your
specific enterprise setup calls for data collection without data analysis, you now have this option.
The following section which describes installation scenarios provides more details as well as
Chapter 2.
The third important difference in the MSP 3.2.1 installer is that the MSP Package Builder is
installed by default along with the MSP Web Application. In MSP 3.2.0 this was delivered as a
separate add-on installer. In MSP 3.2.1 the Package Builder will again appear as a tab section in
the Console User Interface.

Additional Installation Recommendations

This section describes several recommended steps that may be mandatory or optional depending
on you specific installation needs. Please review them all and consider the implications they may
have on your MSP setup scenario. Failure to observe recommended steps may result in an
unsuccessful installation experience.
The first recommendation is due to the changes made in MSP 3.2.1 with respect to the storage
location of packages and definition documents. If you are upgrading from an earlier version of
MSP, you should be aware that the previously used User Data Files shared folder will need to be
moved to a location where the 3.2.1 installer will recognize and pick up the files if they were
installed on a server separate from the MSP Application Server. The easiest way to ensure this
happens is to follow the recommended procedure at the end of Chapter 5. If the Custom Type
install was not used for your previous installation and the remote shared folder was never created
for this purpose, no action is required because the package files will reside in the default
\Motorola MSP directory as expected by the MSP 3.2.1 installer.
The second recommendation is dependent upon the feature set required from your MSP
installation. Beginning in MSP 3.2.1, you have greater flexibility in component requirements.
Previously, MSP 3.2.0 required the SQL Server 2005 WITH Analysis Services (SSAS) to use
Data Collection and Analysis and there was no middle road. You had to decide between having