Gradience Pro / Enterprise - Moving to a New Server while Upgrading from Optima

--IMPORTANT!-- The current version is no longer supported on XP, Vista or Server 2003.

Because Optima has been out for a while - Its database may be too old for the data to be transferred correctly to the latest version of Gradience. We do not have a workaround for this and thus we apologize for the inconvenience.

Please print this before proceeding further!

When you click to download the installation file, you will be taken away from these instructions. You'll need the print-out.

You will be installing version 12.

--IMPORTANT-- If your client workstations are running an older multi-digit version number than the one you will be installing on the new server, you MUST update Gradience on the clients as well. If you run different multi-digit versions on different computers, you will get strange, performance from the software and you risk corrupting your data beyond repair!

PROCESS:

Find and copy the folder containing your data & backups:

1. At the old server, open the Hrware.ini file. This file will tell you where your database file is located.

• On Server 2003 or an XP machine, the Hrware.ini file will be located at C:\Windows.

• On all newer operating systems, the Hrware.ini file will be located at C:\Programdata\Gradience

--NOTE-- The Programdata folder may be hidden. If you are unsure how to unhide it, you may go online to see how this is done for your operating system.

At the top, you will see three lines as shown here…

[HRWARE]

PATH=

SERVER=

2. The last item in the PATH line; (hrware.gdb) refers to the database.

3. Copy the folder that contains your database file. This way, you not only capture the data but all of your backups as well.

4. Paste a copy of this folder into a place where it can be retrieved later. 

Download the Installation File:

Click here to download the version 12 installation file. We recommend you save it to the desktop and run it from there rather than running it from our web site because you may need it to update your clients. 

Install Gradience on the New Server:

When given the option, select Server. [If] you see Test Connection don’t bother. The connection will fail because you don’t have the database engine yet. Click Next on each screen until you click Finish. Do not bother launching the program. You now have a new, blank database file on the new computer. The name of this new database s Hrware.gdb. By default, it is located at C:\Programdata\Gradience.

Copy & Move the Original Database to the New Server:

1. Retrieve the copy you made earlier of the folder that contains your original data and backups.

--NOTE-- If it is not already named Data, please rename it Data.

2. Use this copy to replace the Data folder at C:\Programdata that was created by the installation process.

3. Launch the program. You do not have to enter a product key because it came over with the rest of the data from the old server. 

Install version 12 on the existing Client workstations:

At the First Client:

1. Navigate to the neutral location where you saved the copied ini file from the new server.

2. Open the file and very near the top, you’ll see SERVER=Localhost.

3. Replace the word Localhost with the name of the new server and then save the change and close the file.

4. Copy the now-altered ini file and go to C:\ProgramData\Gradience.

5. Use the copied ini file to replace the existing Hrware.ini file. Do not change the path in any respect. Do not use UNC. Do not use a mapped drive. The path on the ini file of the client must be 100% identical to the path line of the ini file at the server. All that needs to be different between the ini file on a server and the ini file of a client is that…

• At the server the designation following SERVER= is the word Localhost while…
• At a client the designation following SERVER= is the name of the server.

You made these changes earlier so the file [should] be good-to-go.

6. Go to the neutral location where you pasted a copy of your installation file. Copy it again and paste it to the desktop and run it from there. [During] installation...

• Select Client when given the option.
• Select [only] the software title(s) you need.

At Each Additional [Existing] Client:

1. Navigate to where you saved the [altered copy] of ini file that you used at the first client.

2. Go to C:\ProgramData\Gradience and replace the existing ini file.

3. Go to the neutral location where you pasted a copy of your installation file. Copy it again and paste it to the desktop and run it from there. [During] installation...

• Select Client when given the option.
• Select [only] the software title(s) you need.

At any NEW, [virgin] Clients:

1. Navigate to where you saved the [altered copy] of ini file that you used at all of the other clients and copy it again.

2. Go to C:\ProgramData and create a folder there named Gradience.

3. Paste the copied ini file into the newly created Gradience folder.

4. Go to the neutral location where you pasted a copy of your installation file. Copy it again and paste it to the desktop and run it from there. [During] installation...

• Select Client when given the option.
• Select [only] the software title(s) you need.

By the way, if you haven’t done so already, we highly recommend that you automate Gradience backups and ensure that they are sent to a network folder or a folder on an external drive. Even if the server does nightly backups, it's just way faster and simpler to restore a Gradience backup than to recover a copy of the database captured by your nightly server backups. The links below cover this.

To allow Gradience to back up your data automatically visit this ARTICLE

To restore data that was previously backed up visit this ARTICLE

To troubleshoot connection issues visit this ARTICLE