When should I install a Service Pack?

When should I install a Service Pack (SP)?

We have two clients, one at Update 6 SP19.1 and another at Update 6 SP20. We have done a fair amount of customization of both systems.

I have only ever done the installation of Service Packs when I was installing the base system, so impact on our developments was nil.

I have read that Service Packs should be installed as soon as they become available. Is this the case? Should I go ahead and install SP21 at both of these sites? Are SP's very high impact?

Thanks in advance.

If its not broke don't fix it!

We are happily running on SP14.2!

If there is a fix you need urgently then possible consider it, otherwise
leave well alone.



OW733.3 Xe SP 14.2
Enterprise Server - Intel NT + Oracle 8.0.6
Client - Citrix TSE + 4 NT PC's for development

Tim :

My theory is that we should pursue both client's and our own 'happiness'.
If your client is satisfied and its business runs fine on SP nn then ...
Let it be!

I always ask myself :

* Is it worth to install a SP? i.e. Does my client actually need it?
* If things go wrong... When and how will I support it?

I have a bunch of clients in remote areas in South America, some of them
in arid deserts, high mountains or in the middle of the jungle, and
have learned from Texan wisdom that :

If things ain't broken, don't fix'em!

Sebastian

Hi Tim

While some people may disagree, i do not think there is huge benefit of adding service packs unnecessarily. If your system is working, leave it. If you have to apply SAR'S or ESU's then look at the SP requirement. I have just added SP20 and it caused my post batches application to not work on the server. I have had to run them locally until I can add the SAR that fixes this problem.


Therefore, adding the SP caused me problems although JDEdwards say it should not

Tim,

I agree, don't apply them unneccessarily(sp?). However, if you decide to apply a SP make sure you have your users test it in-depth. Same with ESUs. Someone really would need to come up with a comprehensive checklist and sign-off on it before the change is put into production. This gets more complicated the more you modify the software, becuase then part of your checking will be to make sure any changes you made prior are not affected by the SP and ESU.

The stated policy of JD Edwards is to only add a service pack if it addresses a specific issue on your system.

Tim,

I'll echo the suggestion to only apply a SP if it addresses a known issue for you. We started on B733.1 back in Nov., 1999 and were on SP7.1. I think we moved to SP11 later. Then we upgraded to XE in July, 2001 with SP15.1. We stayed on SP15.1 until Oct., 2002, at which time we upgraded so SP20_E1 because it fixed problems with accepting update packages on Windows XP clients.

We use Optio, and SP's can definitely affect how the .pdf output files look, which can affect how Optio handles them. I believe this type of change can affect other document management/processing systems, too.

I echo the previous sentiments. Often a SP is released and the first
customers putting it down find issues, thus comes the one-offs. So I
don't recommend applying a new SP until a month or so after its GA.
Also, since most SP's now have feature upgrades to the Web client, there
can be significant training issues for users that you didn't anticipate
because you were more concerned with some other feature.

Since most of us strive for a stable system, I generally am of the camp
that says "if it ain't broke, you can't make it drink...er....don't fix
it". Of course, as stated by those posting before me, sometimes you have
to bite the bullet if applying an E/ASU/Update.

On Wed, 26 Feb 2003 06:07:55 -0800 (PST) timallen <[email protected]>
writes:

We have two clients, one

I have only ever done

I have read that

Thanks in advance.

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Sebastian, that's Tennessee Mountaineer wisdom. The Texans learned it from us and then claimed it as their own. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

You Texans and Southern Boys are a bunch of wimps! Come over to the bleeding edge with us New Yorkers and stay current with JDE. New York philosophy, "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

OK, to be serious, apply Service Packs, ESUs, ASUs, and Updates if you have the need. Be careful not to fall to far behind because that will make it that much harder to catch up once you have the business need to be current. Never be the first guy on the block to install anything, wait for a bit and the first or second round of service packs. That's good advice for any piece of software, JDE is just bigger and WAY more complex than most software out there. The other good practice is to have a test system to try it out on first before touching production. Have a good partnership between business and IT to test the changes. Once you do decide to apply it to your production system, make sure you have a good backup plan. We have the tape backup and make a backup of the System directory pre-upgrade. When we cutover the service pack, we keep the old system directory out on the terminal and enterprise servers for a few days in case we need to roll-back. Ditto with packages, we keep one or two old copies of a package on "hot-standby" on all of our servers just in case something slipped past our testers. In the two years that I have worked as a CNC at Praxair, we have only had to do one "rollback". Not a bad track record considering we are current on service packs and Updates and do enough custom development work that we do (at least) weekly PD and PY full builds and deploys.

Gregg Larkin
North American CNC, Praxair

XE, sp21, Update 6, Win 2K, Citrix XP, Web client under development