Upgrade FAQs
This topic provides answers to frequently asked questions about the BMC Remedyforce upgrade process.
What are my upgrade options?
Starting with version 20.15.01 (Winter 15), BMC Remedyforce implemented the Hybrid Upgrade Model. This model provides the following options for upgrading your existing BMC Remedyforce environment to version 20.16.01:
- Automatic Upgrade: Wait for BMC to automatically upgrade your organization.
For information about dates on which BMC will automatically upgrade all sandbox and production organizations that are on the latest version of 20.15.03.xxx and its hotfixes, see Release-schedules. Because of the number of queued upgrades, BMC cannot provide a specific time for upgrading any specific organization besides the date. - Self-Upgrade: Perform the upgrade according to your own schedule and requirements.
Based on your organization's needs and internal change control processes, you can perform a self-upgrade at any time or on any day before the scheduled automatic upgrade by BMC. The self-upgrade process provides you the highest level of flexibility and control of your upgrade, and requires no intervention from BMC. Please take note about grayout dates so that your upgrade does not conflict with any other system or platform maintenance. For possible grayout dates, see Release-schedules.
What can I do to prepare for the upgrade?
Before your organization is upgraded to 20.16.01, you must review enhancements to the 20.16.01 release and understand the actions that you must perform after BMC upgrades your organization. For more information, see 20-16-01-enhancements, Configuring-profile-level-permissions-after-self-upgrade-or-automatic-upgrade, and Enabling-new-features-in-20-16-01
How do I know what version is currently installed on my organization?
System administrators can log on to each organization and navigate to Setup > Installed Packages. The version number is listed next to the BMC Remedyforce managed package. The following is a mapping of BMC Remedyforce version numbers to the more commonly known names:
Name | Version |
---|---|
Summer 16 | 20.16.01.xxx |
Summer 15 | 20.15.03.xxx |
Spring 15 | 20.15.02.xxx |
Winter 15 | 20.15.01.xxx |
Summer 14 | 20.14.02.xxx |
Winter 14 | 20.14.01.xxx |
Summer 13 | 20.13.02.xxx |
Spring 13 | 20.13.01.xxx |
Winter 13 | 20.12.02.xxx |
Spring 12 | 20.12.01.xxx |
Winter 11 | 20.11.03.xxx |
Will BMC upgrade my organization automatically?
If you do not Self Upgrade your organization prior to the scheduled dates for the Automatic Upgrade, BMC will automatically upgrade your organization. For more information, see Release-schedules.
Can BMC upgrade my organization prior to the dates for the automatic upgrade?
BMC performs the upgrade for you only during the specified dates for the Automatic Upgrade option. If you have customizations or other special requirements, contact your Customer Success Manager.
Can I opt out of the upgrade to the latest version?
You may opt out of the Self Upgrade option but not the Automatic Upgrade option. Unless you self-upgrade your organization prior to the scheduled dates for the Automatic Upgrade, BMC will automatically upgrade your organization. For more information, see Release-schedules. If you have customizations or other special requirements, contact your Customer Success Manager.
What about upgrading sandbox organizations?
Because production and sandbox organizations are separate environments, upgrading one will not impact the other. Also, the upgrade process is the same regardless of the type of organization. BMC recommends that you upgrade your sandbox organization prior to your production organization, although it is not mandatory. It is also not a requirement to have a sandbox organization. For additional information about sandbox organizations, see Salesforce Help.
Prior to upgrading a sandbox organization, you must click the Remedyforce Administration tab, and you must not navigate to any other page until the Remedyforce Administration page is loaded completely. The initial load might take several seconds. Sometimes when sandbox organizations are refreshed, the system administrator does not open the Remedyforce Administration tab, which causes an Out Of The Box missing notice during the upgrade.
Will my sandbox organizations be upgraded before my production organizations?
If you choose the Self Upgrade option, you can upgrade any organization at any time as long as you upgrade before the Automatic Upgrade dates listed previously. BMC recommends that you upgrade your sandbox organization prior to your production organization, although it is not mandatory.
For the Automatic Upgrade option, the organization types will be upgraded as defined in Release-schedules.
Will there be any down time during the upgrade?
You should not see any down time during the upgrade process. BMC recommends that you upgrade sandbox organizations before production organizations, especially if you use custom code, objects, or classes.
What actions do I need to perform after the upgrade?
You must perform all of the required post-upgrade actions, taking a special note of permission sets and profiles. For more information, see Configuring-profile-level-permissions-after-self-upgrade-or-automatic-upgrade. To perform additional steps to enable the new features in Summer 16 (20.16.01), see Enabling-new-features-in-20-16-01.
For information about the overall upgrade process, see Overview-of-the-self-upgrade-and-automatic-upgrade-processes.
What is a Grayout and when does it apply?
Grayouts are defined as periods when BMC recommends avoiding a self-upgrade or making other major changes to a BMC Remedyforce environment. BMC will flag grayouts based on available information, including Salesforce maintenance or other changes to the overall Salesforce, BMC Remedyforce, or BMC MyIT systems and platforms. You can still perform upgrades and changes during a grayout if you need to. However, BMC recommends that you avoid doing so to avoid potential conflicts and to ease the troubleshooting procedure if an issue arises. Refer to the Release-schedules for possible grayout dates.
Why are clients unable to view files attached to records?
You might have enabled a Salesforce setting, which uploads files as Salesforce files, not as attachments. To enable clients to view files attached to records, perform the following steps:
- Navigate to Setup > Customize > Salesforce Files > Settings > General Settings.
- Click Edit.
- Clear the Files uploaded to the Attachments related list on records are uploaded as Salesforce Files, not as attachments check box.
- Click Save.
Note: Files uploaded prior to enabling this setting are unaffected by this change. However, if you have uploaded any files while this setting was enabled, the clients cannot view these files.