Upgrading from 7.1 - 7.9 to 8.2

This chapter describes the recommended procedure for upgrading from the latest version of JasperReports Server 7.1 through 7.9.x to JasperReports Server 8.2. If you're upgrading from version 8.1.x to 8.2, we recommend the procedure in Upgrading from 8.x to 8.2.

If you are upgrading from an earlier version of JasperReports Server, you need to go through an intermediate version before upgrading to 8.2. See Upgrading JasperReports Server 6.4.x or Earlier] for more information.

This upgrade procedure uses the JasperReports Server WAR File Distribution ZIP release package and the included buildomatic scripts. Our examples are for upgrading from version 7.9.

This chapter contains the following sections:

Upgrade Steps Overview

These are the general steps used in this section:

Upgrading with Customizations

If your current instance of JasperReports Server has modifications or extensions, keep track of these and re-integrate them into your 8.2 instance after upgrading. See Planning Your Upgrade to determine if any customizations you've made to your existing version of JasperReports Server are affected by changes to the updated version.

Back Up Your JasperReports Server Instance

First back up your JasperReports Server WAR file and jasperserver database so you can restore them if necessary. Perform these steps from the command line in a Windows or Linux shell.

This backup example is for Tomcat with the PostgreSQL or MySQL database. For other databases, consult your DB administration documentation for backup information.

Back up your JasperReports Server War File:

Back up your jasperserver Database:

cd <path>/JS_BACKUP

pg_dump --username=postgres  jasperserver  >  js-db-dump.sql

mysqldump --user=root --password=<password> jasperserver > js-db-dump.sql

mysqldump --user=root --password=<password> --host=127.0.0.1 jasperserver >
js-db-dump.sql

Back up your JasperReports Server Keystore:

Exporting Current Repository Data

To export using the js-export.bat/.sh script, navigate to the buildomatic folder, for example, <js‑install‑7.9>/buildomatic. If you're using the PostgreSQL database, the js-export script should already be configured to run. If you're using a different database, or you've changed database passwords, you may need to update the js‑export configuration.

Run the following commands:

cd <js-install-7.9>/buildomatic

js-export.bat --everything --output-zip js-7.9-export.zip 

./js-export.sh --everything --output-zip js-7.9-export.zip 

Preparing the JasperReports Server 8.2 WAR File Distribution

Use the buildomatic js-upgrade scripts included in the 8.2 WAR file distribution ZIP release package to carry out the upgrade. The WAR file distribution comes in a compressed ZIP file named TIB_js-jrs_8.2.0_bin.zip.

Follow these steps to obtain and unpack the WAR file distribution ZIP file:

After you unpack the WAR File Distribution, the resulting location will be known as:

<js-install-8.2>

Configuring Buildomatic for Your Database and Application Server

This upgrade procedure uses the js-upgrade-newdb shell script.

This section shows example configurations for the PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Oracle databases. Other databases are similar.

Example Buildomatic Configuration

The default_master.properties file handles the upgrade configuration. We provide a sample configuration file for each database. You must specify your database credentials and application server location, and rename the file to default_master.properties.

appServerType=tomcat (or wildfly, etc.)
appServerDir=c:\\Apache Software Foundation\\Tomcat 9.0 (for example)
dbUsername=postgres
dbPassword=postgres
dbHost=localhost

For the Split upgrade, configure the settings in the default_master.properties file as described in Additional Buildomatic Configuration for Split Installation Upgrade.

MySQL Example

To configure default_master.properties for MySQL:

appServerType=tomcat (or wildfly, etc.)
appServerDir=c:\\Apache Software Foundation\\Tomcat 9.0 (for example)
dbUsername=root
dbPassword=password
dbHost=localhost									

For the Split upgrade, configure the settings in the default_master.properties file as described in Additional Buildomatic Configuration for Split Installation Upgrade.

appServerType=tomcat (or wildfly, etc.)
appServerDir=c:\\Apache Software Foundation\\Tomcat 9.0 (for example)
dbUsername=jasperserver
dbPassword=password
sysUsername=system
sysPassword=password
dbHost=localhost

Upgrading to JasperReports Server 8.2

Now that your buildomatic scripts are configured, you can complete the upgrade.

If you are prompted to create a new keystore, this means that the server's original keystore was not found in the user's home directory. Proceed with caution:

js-upgrade Test Mode

Use the test option to run the js-upgrade script in test mode. For example, on Windows, enter:

cd <js-install-8.2>/buildomatic

js-upgrade-newdb.bat test <path>/js-7.9-export.zip

In test mode, the js-upgrade scripts check your default_master.properties settings and validate your application server location and its ability to connect to your database. Test mode can help you debug issues like an incorrect database password without altering your system.

Output Log Location

The js-upgrade script creates an output log that captures both standard and error output. If problems occur during script execution, or you just want to remember which options you chose, open the output log file located here:

<js-install-8.2>/buildomatic/logs/js-upgrade-<date>-<number>.log

Errors

If you encounter errors running the js-upgrade script, first look at the output log to see if you can spot the errors. For help, refer to the Troubleshooting appendix of the JasperReports Server Installation Guide. The information in this appendix applies to both js-upgrade scripts and js-install scripts.

If you need to modify values in your default_master.properties file, you can simply edit the file. When you run the js‑upgrade script again, it uses the new values.

Starting and Logging into JasperReports Server 8.2

Start your application server. Your database should already be running.

Clearing Your Browser Cache

Before you log in, make sure you and your end users clear the browser cache. JavaScript files, which enable the UI elements of JasperReports Server, are typically cached by the browser. Clear the cache to ensure that the newer files are used.

Logging into JasperReports Server

Log in using the following URL, user IDs, and passwords:

URL: http://localhost:8080/jasperserver-pro

superuser

<your-password>

jasperadmin

<your-password>

Your JasperReports Server instance has now been upgraded to 8.2. If you have startup or login problems, refer to the Troubleshooting appendix of the JasperReports Server Installation Guide.

Additional Tasks to Complete the Upgrade

Perform these tasks with the application server shut down.

Handling JasperReports Server Customizations

If you made modifications to the original JasperReports Server application, you'll need to manually copy configuration changes, like client-specific security classes or LDAP server configurations, from your previous environment and integrate them with your upgraded environment. These configurations are typically found in the files at the WEB-INF/ location, for example, applicationContext-*.xml, *.properties, *.js, *.jar, and so on.

Clearing the Application Server Work Folder

Application servers have work folders where JasperReports Server files are compiled and cached and other objects are stored. When you update the WAR file or license, the buildomatic deploy-webapp-pro target should automatically clear the application server’s work directory, but it’s a good practice to double-check. A permission problem, or some other problem, could prevent the clearing of the work folder.

To clear the work folder in Tomcat:

Clearing the Application Server Temp Folder

JasperReports Server uses caching to speed operations within the application. Caching files are created and stored in the application server, usually in a temp folder. Clear this temp folder to avoid any post-upgrade conflicts. Typically, the temp folder used by an application server corresponds to the path referenced by the java.io.tmpdir Java system property. For Apache Tomcat the temp folder is <tomcat>/temp.

To clear the temp folder in Apache Tomcat:

Clearing the Repository Cache Database Table

In the jasperserver database, compiled JasperReports Library resources are cached in the JIRepositoryCache table for increased efficiency at runtime. Because the JasperReports Library JAR is typically updated with each new release, old cached items can get out of date and cause errors at runtime. If you encounter errors that mention a JasperReports Library “local class incompatible,” check your repository cache table. In summary, you can clear your jasperserver database cache table as part of this upgrade process whether or not there are errors.

To manually clear the repository cache database table, run a SQL command similar to one shown below:

update JIRepositoryCache set item_reference = null;

delete from JIRepositoryCache;

Old Manual Upgrade Steps

This section describes the older, manual upgrade steps used before we implemented the js-upgrade shell scripts in release 4.0. They're provided here mainly as a reference for internal use.

We recommend using the js-upgrade shell scripts described in the beginning of this chapter instead of these manual commands.