ANSWER ID:9423

For security reasons RetailManager will not allow you to upgrade your database over the network. This support note provides a step by step process on the best way to upgrade your RetailManager Database when it is stored on a networked machine or dedicated Server.

Note: Before beginning, ensure you have already installed the latest version of the software on the computer you want to use to upgrade the database.

Initial setup

Before we can upgrade the database, we must create a folder on the computer where RetailManager is installed.

1. Create a new folder on the local hard drive.
   
   1. Open Windows Explorer by right-clicking the Windows Start button and choosing Explore.
      
   2. Double-click Local Disk (typically the "C:" drive).
      
   3. In the right hand panel of the window (where the contents of the C: drive are displayed), right-click in an empty space and choose New then choose Folder.
      
   4. Name the new folder RMUPGRADE.
      
2. Open RetailManager on any machine on the network.
3. Go to the File menu and choose Configuration.
   
4. Take a note of the database path for each of your databases.

Backup your database

The next step is to backup your database to a machine that has RetailManager installed. 

1. Open RetailManager and open your shopfront.
   
2. Go to the File menu and choose Configuration.
   
3. Click Yes to close your shopfront.
   
4. Click to highlight your database then click the Maintenance tab.
   
5. In the Save As window, save the file into the folder created earlier, for example C:\RMUPGRADE. See our example below.
   
   
   
6. Click OK to the message confirming the backup completion.

Restoring your database

Now that we have made a backup of the database from the server, we are now ready to restore this backup to a machine that has RetailManager.

1. From the Configuration window, click Restore.
   
2. In the Select file to restore window, find the backup we created earlier. It will be in the folder you selected when making the backup, for example C:\RMUPGRADE. See our example below.
   
   
   
3. When the following window is displayed, select the option Create a new shopfront using restored data. This will create a new Shopfront.
   
   
   
   
   If you have a look in your Shopfront Selection window, you will have a new Shopfront present as shown in the following example.
   
   
   
4. Close the Configuration window.
   
5. In the next window select the Restored_RMxxxxxx Shopfront.

Upgrading your database

At this stage we have a copy of our database on the same machine that RetailManager is installed on. Now we are ready to upgrade the database.

Open RetailManager and open the database Restored_RMXXXXX. Click Yes to upgrade your database.

Moving your upgraded database to the server

Once your database has been upgraded we can now move your database back to the server machine. 

Backing up your database

1. Go to the File menu and choose Configuration.
   
2. Click Yes to close your shopfront.
   
3. Highlight the Restored_XXXX database and click the Maintenance tab.
   
4. Click Backup.
   
5. Change the file name to RMUpgraded and save it in the RMUpgrade folder created earlier.
   
6. Click OK to the backup confirmation, then click the Shopfront tab.
   
7. Since we no longer need the Restored_xxxx database, remove it by highlighting it and selecting the disconnect button.

Restoring the upgraded database to your server

1. Go to the File menu and choose Configuration.
   
2. Click Yes to close your shopfront.
   
3. Click the Maintenance tab.
   
4. Click Restore.
   
5. Select the option Restore your shopfront to a new folder then click OK.
   
6. In the Save As window, save the file in the location you note at the start of this support note (see step 4 of Initial setup).  This will ask to overwrite the existing database. Click Yes.
   
7. You will now be able to run the new version on all machines.