IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Migrating and upgrading your IBM BPM environment > Migrating from previous versions > Migrating your IBM BPM Advanced V7.5.x or WebSphere Process Server V7.x or V6.2.x runtime

Runtime migration procedures

Each of the runtime migration procedures contains a set of steps and subprocedures. In addition to understanding how the procedures work, it is important to consider how you will test the migration procedure you select.

It is critical that any production migrations are thoroughly tested in a staging environment before they are attempted in a production setting. In addition, it is important that the backup steps in the procedures are followed carefully to enable rollback in cases where the configuration data or the applications failed to migrate successful to the target environment. Application migration and artifact migration methods are often used in conjunction with runtime migration to validate that a typical application or all applications can be deployed to the new environment without issue, or that the applications can be migrated by the development tools successfully. This provides greater assurance that compatibility with the previous version will be maintained for the application. If you plan to migrate an ND environment, it is helpful to start first with a stand-alone environment in a staging environment, so that you learn how to use the tools and the basics of the runtime migration process before using the more involved ND full downtime or minimal downtime procedures.


Choose the procedure for a ND environment

There are two procedures for migrating ND environments that differ depending on the length of your downtime migration window. The full downtime procedure is the simplest procedure and is recommended if your downtime window can accommodate the migration. The length of the migration will depend on several factors including the source version; the number of cells, clusters, nodes, and applications; and the amount of data in the database. To determine how long your migration will take, use the full migration process in your staging environment. It is critical that you follow the ND procedure steps carefully and in the order they are listed to ensure that you successfully migrate your ND environment.

Use the minimal downtime procedure if you are unable to accommodate the migration using the full downtime procedure for your migration window and you can accommodate the downtime required for the minimal downtime procedure, or in scenarios where the amount of downtime required for the migration directly impacts your business. The minimal downtime procedure is more complex than the full downtime procedure, and should be used only when the length of the downtime is critical.

If you are not able to accommodate minimal downtime, you should consider either the artifact migration method or the application migration method instead of the runtime migration method. The minimal downtime procedure involves splitting the migration into two groups and migrating one group while the other is still running, minimizing the downtime for the cluster. The minimal downtime occurs just before you bring the migrated group of nodes online to update the database schema and the product data.

Migrating your IBM BPM Advanced V7.5.x or WebSphere Process Server V7.x or V6.2.x runtime


Related concepts:
Migration methods