Upgrading the UniData LYNX Integration From a Previous Version

This document is for any customers who already have the UniData extension of LYNX installed and now wish to upgrade to the latest version (4.0.4.5). Follow these steps to upgrade each technical component.

If you don't have version 2+ installed already, please follow the standard installation steps.

How to find your CNColleagueLYNXLink version:

Inside the CNColleagueLYNXLink directory, locate the CNColleagueLYNXLink.exe file.  Right-click on the file and navigate to Properties > Details. The version will be listed in the Product Version row.

Download Components

Download the version 4 components from:  

URL: https://collegenet.files.com/f/e2802722d3c860d3/LYNX

(Contact Series25 Support at support@collegenet.com for credentials.)


Back up your CNColleagueLYNXLink.exe.config file to a different directory.  Then copy the files within the newly downloaded ~\CNColleagueLYNXLink\ folder to the existing \CNColleagueLYNXLink\ folder on the application server and replace the existing files, and restore your backup of the .config file if needed. After upgrading, be sure that lines 7 & 8 in the CNColleagueLYNXLink.exe.config file reflect the current SDK version.

 i.e. Version=1.23.0.0

Update the Colleague Package

This upgrade is recommended if your current CNColleagueLYNXLink is a version earlier than 4.0.3.0.

  1. Run the command to extract the contents of folder ~\LYNX-Colleague-Unidata.zip\
  2. Copy .\Colleague_Package\G78_X25.LIVE.DATA.EXC_JT3_002\ to the Colleague application server.
  3. Log into Colleague as an administrative user.
  4. Within the CPIE form, import the package contents into LPR:
    • Package Name: G78_X25.LIVE.DATA.EXC_JT3
    • Package ID: G78_X25.LIVE.DATA.EXC_JT3*002
  5. Use the process to apply the update to Colleague to import the package contents (just like a normal Ellucian update).
  6. Within the MSUG form, install the package from LPR to the appropriate Colleague environment. The Colleague data contract (X.25LIVE.DATA.EXCHANGE.TRN) will be used by CNColleagueLYNXLink.exe.

Update CNColleagueLYNXLink Assets on the Application Server

  1. Extract the contents of ~\LYNX-Colleague-Unidata.zip\ on the application server.

If the configuration file "CNColleagueLYNXLink.exe.config" is overwritten in the following step, re-enter the configuration values of these XML sections:

  • <CNConnectorConfiguration>
  • <ColleagueSettings>
  • Copy and replace the updated .dll, .pdb, .exe files from ~\LYNX-Colleague-Unidata.zip\CNColleagueLYNXLink\ to the current folder in which ~\CNColleagueLYNXLink.exe is installed

    • CNColleagueLYNXConnector.dll
    • CNColleagueLYNXConnector.pdb
    • CNColleagueLYNXLink.exe
    • CNColleagueLYNXLink.pdb
  • Add new XML node elements to CNColleagueLYNXLink.exe.config. (This step can be skipped if version 3+ or greater is already installed.)

    • Make a copy of the current ~\CNColleagueLYNXLink\CNColleagueLYNXLink.exe.config file.
    • Add the following XML nodes and properties to the XML node, then save changes.
      • <Location buildingDelimiter=" " />
        • Confirm the character used as a delimiter in Colleague between Building and Room code information. This is set as a space (" ") character by default, but should be changed if a different character is used in Colleague. 
      • <Instructor primaryInstructorFirst="true" />
    • This excerpt shows the differences between version 2 and 3 of the configuration file:

<!-- Version 2 of <CNConnectorConfiguration> section in CNColleagueLYNXLink.exe.config -->
    <CNConnectorConfiguration>
      <institution code="" name="" preferredEmailType="" connectionString="" testing="true"/>
      <Email logErrors="false" from="" addresses="" cc="" server="" port="" username="" password=""/>
      <Logging logToConsole="true" saveLogs="1"/>
      <Colleague username="" password="" testing="true"/>
      <Branding signature="" display="false"/>
    </CNConnectorConfiguration>
 
<!-- Version 3 of <CNConnectorConfiguration> section in CNColleagueLYNXLink.exe.config -->
    <CNConnectorConfiguration>
        <institution code="" name="" preferredEmailType="" connectionString="" testing="true"/>
        <Email logErrors="false" from="" addresses="" cc="" server="" port="" username="" password=""/>
        <Logging logToConsole="true" saveLogs="1"/>
        <Colleague username="" password="" testing="true"/>
        <Branding signature="" display="false"/>
        <Location buildingDelimiter=" " />
        <Instructor primaryInstructorFirst="true" />
      </CNConnectorConfiguration>

Deploy the SQL Scripts

This procedure will run the latest versions of the necessary scripts for the LYNX history tables deployed in your MSS database.

Obtain and Prepare the Scripts

  1. Review the a_uni_sis_mssql_security.sql script which was run previously in your environment during prior installation. This script created a LYNX user to interact with your database.
  2. Extract the contents of folder ~\LYNX-Colleague-Unidata.zip\MS_SQL_Schema\ to get the latest version of the following scripts:
    • b_uni_sis_mssql_schema.sql (B script)
    • c_uni_sis_mssql_routines.sql (C script)
    • f_col_sis_mssql_unidata.sql (F script)
  3. For each script, modify 'LYNX_USER' to the username created earlier.
    • Line 16 of the B script
    • Line 16 of the C script
    • Line 10 of the F script

Run the Updated Scripts

Some of the following scripts contain the warning DO NOT RERUN THIS SCRIPT AFTER LYNX-APP HAS BEEN DEPLOYED AND RUNNING. Please ignore this warning for the purpose of upgrading from the previous version. You should not need to run the scripts again afterward.

  1. Run the B script for database tables, sequences, and triggers.
  2. Run the C script for database functions and procedures.
  3. Run the F script to update the following portions of the LYNX schema:
    • Staging tables that will synchronize data between Colleague (UniData) and LYNX Universal
    • Procedures that will perform regular maintenance of staging tables
    • Procedures used to pass initialization from LYNX-UI
  4. Disconnect from the LYNX database.