Synergetic Upgrades

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• How to arrange an upgrade
• Which version should I update to?
• What do I need to do to prepare for the upgrade?
• Can users access Synergetic during the upgrade?
• What happens during an upgrade?
• What happens if the upgrade fails?
• How long will the upgrade take?
• Is there a cost for upgrades?
• SDT Self Upgrade **NEW**
  
  

Upgrading is an essential process to keep your Synergetic installation up to date with the latest security updates, bug fixes, improvements and new features. 

How to arrange an upgrade

Upgrades no longer require a Tes team member to perform the upgrade for you.
You can, or we will, use the Self Deployment Tool (SDT) for all upgrades.

However, if required, booking an upgrade is fairly straight forward with upgrades available during business hours (AEDT).
After hours upgrades have also recently been made available.

https://outlook.office.com/book/EHSynergeticupgrades@tes.com/

Be sure to let us know the preferred date and time as well as which environment that requires upgrading (production, test or development). We make every effort to ensure you have availability to secure a preferred booking date.

Which version should I update to?

Our development team are releasing updates on a more regular basis than ever before, so we strongly recommend updating to the latest version.

If you're unsure which version to upgrade to, feel free to give us a call to discuss. can find a list of available versions together with features and release notes here: Product Versions : Synergetic help and support portal.

What do I need to do to prepare for the upgrade?

There are a few items to check before the upgrade takes place.

• Make sure to provide a contact name and phone number for our team to call on the day. This person needs to be contactable and able to provide local support for the Synergetic environment - it's ok if they are not on-site, just as long as they can remotely connect and attend to issues
• The Synergetic servers need to be turned on and remotely accessible. This includes database servers, application and web servers
• Make sure to provide test user account details for each of the Synergetic products you have in use. ie: Synergetic Windows application, SynWeb, Community Portal
• Set a System Message (shutdown notice) to let users know in advance that Synergetic will be offline and unavailable on the date and time of the upgrade
• When the upgrade is due to commence, make sure all users have shutdown the Synergetic Windows application
• Check there is enough disk space to perform a full backup (if required) prior to the upgrade proceeding

Can users access Synergetic during the upgrade?

Synergetic will be offline and unavailable for all users during the upgrade process.
This includes Synergetic Windows application, web portals and SynMobile. Please make sure all users including staff and parents are aware of the outage and set the Synergetic 'shutdown' notice in advance for the date and time.

What happens during an upgrade?

Important Note: We will not contact you beforehand unless there is a change to the time or date, so you must note the date and time of the upgrade and ensure you have informed relevant staff not to use Synergetic during the allocated booking time.

1. Synergetic applications will be taken offline.
2. The databases and application folders will not be be backed up by default. +++
3. The databases and applications will be upgraded.
4. Synergetic applications will brought back online.
5. A series of tests will be performed to verify the upgrade completed successfully.
6. The SysAdmin will be contacted to be advised that the upgrade is complete.

What happens if the upgrade fails?

In the unlikely event that the upgrade fails for whatever reason, the databases and applications can be restored to the prior version. There will be no loss of data or functionality. However we will look to rectify any issues and roll forward where possible.

How long will the upgrade take?

The time taken to perform the upgrade depends on several factors including the Synergetic version, number of products installed, size of the databases and server performance.

We schedule for a standard of two hours of downtime which allows us to accomodate for most backups (where required) and also for the unexepected, but we're happy to discuss this based on your individual requirements.

• Synergetic software version updates (for our database patcher only) generally take less than half an hour to complete (excluding database backup). These are both minor build updates within the same major version (ie: v71.03 → v71.06) or updates to a newer major version. (ie: v70 → v71). ***
• We have an internal requirement to perform a database backup prior to all upgrades. As a result upgrade time is dependent upon the size of the Synergetic database and for any additional finance schemas- this may take several hours for particularly large databases. +++

*** Subject to generic SQL Server implementations excluding enterprise environments, where availability groups are not in use, and where there are no bespoke extensions to the Synergetic database objects.

+++ If the school System administrator can perform a VM server backup then that will eliminate the need for a database backup- let us know if this is applicable for you!

Is there a cost for upgrades?

Upgrading Synergetic during business hours (9am to 5pm AEDT) is covered under the Support costs.
Out of hours upgrades are available costed at our standard hourly rate and subject to availability. 

SDT Self Upgrade **NEW**

We are comfortable with creating a level of autonomy for clients to conduct upgrades independent of our team. 

As this may be new for you, we recommend upgrading your test environment first, if you have one.

Prerequisites for a self upgrade:

1. Confirm that the SDT is provisioned and configured on your server
2. Arrange a time with us for a SDT Handover session so you understand the upgrade process
3. Even if you are doing a self-upgrade, we request that you book a time with us so that we have somebody on call to support you
4. Ensure you are on version 70.20.4 or later
5. Configure Screen Connect in case our support is needed

Once you are comfortable with the upgrade procedures in your test environment, why not consider upgrading your production environment- it's going to be the same process!

If you have any questions please contact us via the support portal.