A stellar new toy in the Deltek Cobra box called the “Database Upgrade Wizard” made its debut with the release of version 5.1.3 – and it’s a welcome addition to the tool-set.
If you’re been exploiting the recently added multiple data source selection capability as I have, you no longer have to be dissuaded from upgrading to newer versions of Cobra by the need to update a bunch of additional QA, test and training databases after the fact.
In this article, we take a brief look at the new Deltek Cobra Database Upgrade Wizard and how to use it.
In this line of work (implementation, training, testing, blogging) one ends up with a collection of Cobra databases of varying purpose. I have four on the go right now, and admittedly have been prevaricating somewhat about upgrading to version 5.1.3; largely due to time constraints and perceived risks surrounding the need to update all my additional databases.
However, the appearance of this new Database Upgrade Wizard (as seen in the Cobra 5.1.3 release notes) prompted me to get the upgrade done and at the same time test it for my Cobra Guy readers. In short, it makes the whole database upgrading process simple and very quick to do.
Step one is to run the upgrade data package as normal for any upgrade. During this process the installer will check to see of you are using more than one data source. If you are, then you will be prompted about upgrading these multiple data sources near the end of the installation.
If you choose to go ahead with the upgrades, the step two happens once the installation wizard is done with the software. Then you will see the Deltek Cobra Database Upgrade Wizard appear; shown in the following figure.
Upon clicking Next >, you can choose which of your data sources you would like to upgrade just by clicking on the desired items in the list.
Then you will see something similar to the following dialog, asking you in what way you want to perform the upgrade.
Assuming you choose the ‘Automatically run upgrade scripts during the wizard” option, then clicking Next> runs the database upgrade for the data source named in the prompt’s text. In this example it’s about to upgrade my DEFAULT Cobra database. Once completed, you will see this dialog again for the next database, and so on it goes until all your selected databases are done with.
In just a few minutes all your databases are upgraded to the correct version and you’ll be up and running right there. So far our tests of this new feature have been 100% successful, so it appears to be quite robust.
Summary
This is a terrific new feature and will save many hard-pressed IT folks reaching for the aspirin whenever Deltek release a new hotfix. I believe it will also encourage organizations to upgrade more frequently than perhaps they do now. Many of my customers run multiple instances to support their Cobra implementations. Typically these instances include a production database, a test database and a QA database. Therefore this well-conceived addition to the installation process takes care of these folks in a big way. Nice job Deltek.