How can I test that a new release works for my server?

Question

When upgrading a production system, it's natural to want to make sure the upgrade is going to work. No-one wants a broken production machine!  How can the upgrade installer be tested?

Answer 1

You can test run a new release of CompleteFTP against your production configuration on a test machine by following these steps. 

1. Install production's version of CompleteFTP on the test machine.
2. Locate the configuration file (config.sdf, or config.db from 22.0 onwards) on the prod machine. Typically, its location is C:\ProgramData\Enterprise Distributed Technologies\Complete FTP\config.sdf
3. Copy config.sdf to the same location on the test machine, creating directories as necessary. Make sure the SYSTEM user has full control of any directories you create.
4. Copy all data directories from the prod machine to the test. By default, these are subdirectories of the directory where config.sdf is stored, but directories in other locations may be referenced as well.
5. Restart the CompleteFTP service on the test machine. You now have a replica of prod - check it works with local connections (it will have the wrong activation key so you won't be able to connect from external machines).
6. Download the version of CompleteFTP you want to upgrade to from our customer site. You'll need to know your registered email address for your account if you've lost your account details. If you can't log in, please contact support. You'll need a current support agreement to get the latest version - the trial won't work.
7. Install the upgrade version of CompleteFTP on the test machine, choosing to keep the existing configuration, and confirm everything works locally (as noted, it will have the wrong activation key so you won't be able to connect from external machines).
8. If everything works fine on the test machine, you are ready to run the upgrade installer on your production machine.