Tip of the Month: Using the BarnOwl Updater

Posted on by ninja tech

Did you know?

BarnOwl has created an Updater tool, which enables you to quickly and easily upgrade your version of BarnOwl to the latest version. The BarnOwl Updater can be run on your BarnOwl Application server, and once the update has been completed, all user workstations will be updated when the user opens the BarnOwl application. Note that the user workstation must be on the network, and must be able to access the Application server.
There are 5 steps to running the BarnOwl Updater:

  • Downloading and running the BarnOwl Updater
  • Creating a Master Database
  • Creating & Configuring Database Environments
  • Specifying Database Sets for each Environment
  • Updating Environments

Before you Begin

Before you begin, please note the following prerequisites:

  • The BarnOwl Server Update can only be run if BarnOwl has been installed.
  • The Windows user who is running the update needs full access to the following folders on the Application Server:
    • The IIS BarnOwl Web Interface (note that there may be one or more BarnOwl Web Interface folders depending upon the number of BarnOwl databases with web access).
    • The IIS BarnOwl Web service
    • The IIS BarnOwl Sync service
    • The BarnOwl Windows service
    • The BarnOwl Client update


Not all of the folders listed above may have been created during installation.

  • The user running the update needs the following permissions to the SQL Server(s) where the BarnOwl Databases reside:
    • If you do not have a BarnOwl Master Database, you require CREATE DATABASE, CREATE ANY DATABASE or ALTER ANY DATABASE permissions on the SQL Server.
    • To update the BarnOwl Databases, the user requires sufficient permissions to read, create, amend and delete all objects (for example, tables, views, stored procedures, functions, triggers etc.) in every BarnOwl Database. This user could be the database owner (who usually has the SQL Server Login barnowl_user) or a SQL Server user login that has sysadmin permissions.
    • To automatically back up the databases during the update process (which is an upgrade option), the user requires BACK UP DATABASE and BACKUP LOG permissions. This user could also be the database owner, but if the update fails, the automatic restore process requires you to have CREATE DATABASE permissions.

Step 1: Downloading and Running the BarnOwl Updater

BarnOwl will send out a notification when a new version of BarnOwl is available. You can download the upgrade files from the BarnOwl Customer Hub Knowledge Base. For more information, see Downloading and Running the Updater.
Click the link which contains the Upgrade files.

Running the BarnOwl Update

  1. Open the File Explorer and navigate to the BarnOwl Server Update files you downloaded.

  1. Double-click the IDI.Evolution.BarnOwlUpdate.UI.exe file to open the BarnOwl Updater.

Step 2: Creating a Master Database


If you are using the Server Update for the first time, you will need to configure your Master database, create environments, and specify database sets for those environments. This only needs to be done once.
For more information, see About the Master Database.
The first time you open the BarnOwl Updater, you will be prompted to specify a Master Database. After you have created and specified the BarnOwl Master database, you do not need to perform this step again. The BarnOwl Server Update will automatically connect to the master database you have specified.
To create a new Master Database:

  1. Select the Server name from the Server name drop-down list.
  2. Select the type of authentication required.

If you select Windows authentication, your Windows credentials will be used, and the Login and Password fields are not enabled. If you are using Windows authentication, please ensure that you have the correct SQL permissions.

If you select SQL Server authentication, enter the Login name and password. In this example, we are using SQL Server Authentication.

  1. Click the

    button to connect to the server you have specified. Pressing this button establishes a connection to the selected SQL server using the Login credentials supplied.
  • If a master database exists on the server you specified, you will automatically be connected to the master database, and the BarnOwl Update Manager form is displayed.
  • If the BarnOwl Master Database does not exist (and you are certain that you have connected to the correct server), click the Create New Master Database… link.


BarnOwl will automatically create a new master database called BarnOwl_Master, on the selected SQL server. The files BarnOwl_Master.mdf and BarnOwl_Master_log.ldf will be created in the SQL server default locations for data and log files.

If you rename the master database (for example, BarnOwl_master_ABC) the Server Update will not detect it on the server.

  1. When you have added or selected the master database, click OK.

Step 3: Creating and Configuring Database Environments

The BarnOwl Server Update enables you to add and edit your database environments[1].

If you are running the BarnOwl Updater for the first time, you need to add and configure your Environments. If you have not yet created environments in the Server Update, the form will be blank, and you need to add new environments in the Environment form, accessed by clicking the

button.
If you have already set up Environments, you can simply click the environment in the list.

Step 4: Configuring Data Sets for an Environment

After you click the

button (for a new environment) or select an existing environment, you need to specify the Environment Directories and configure Data Sets[2] for the environment.

For detailed information on the Environment Directories, see Configuring Environment Directory Settings.

Step 4: Configuring Database Sets

This form enables you to specify all the database information as well as the BarnOwl Web location and Warehouse ETL location. Click the

to open the Database Set form.
A database set consists of between one and three databases:

  • The BarnOwl database, which stores the BarnOwl Application data.
  • The BarnOwl Warehouse database, which stores snapshots of the application data in a reporting format. This is an optional feature which can be used for reporting purposes.
  • The BarnOwl Snapshot database, which stores snapshots of closed Audit Projects so that the projects can be viewed with the data as at the date and time when the project was closed. This is an optional feature for the Internal Audit module.

Each environment can contain more than one database set. For example, you can have an environment called Production for a database called ABC. Within that database, you can have different sets which are used by different users. Therefore, within your production database, you might have database sets called Production Testing, Production Documentation and Production Development. Each of these database sets can have a BarnOwl database, a Warehouse database and a Snapshot database, as required.
For detailed information, see Configuring Database Sets.

Step 5: Updating the BarnOwl Environment(s)

After you have specified and configured all your environment and database sets, you are ready to upgrade! For more detailed information, see Updating a BarnOwl Environment.


The Environment directories and databases must have the status Ready for Update.
Click the

button. A message is displayed requesting confirmation of the update, and displaying all the directories and databases which will be updated. A server log form is displayed.
If you experience a problem, contact BarnOwl Support.

  1. An environment is a set of BarnOwl SQL databases and their associated server software components ↑
  2. A collection of databases, which can include a snapshot database and warehouse database (optional). ↑

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