Test - Production working scheme

For any company, constant modernization and updating play an important role. To adjust the ELMA configuration we recommend using the "Test – Production" scheme. This scheme illustrates the situation when a company needs to make critical changes to the system configuration with further debugging.

It is inadvisable that you adjust the system configuration on the production server (where all the users work) since when working with the configuration, you cannot provide users with seamless access to the system.

In this case, use a test server for adjusting and debugging the configuration. When you work with a test server the data (objects, processes, etc.) that need to be changed, are transferred from the production server to the test server, where then they are edited and debugged. While you do this, the users continue working on the production server as usual.

After successful debugging of the changes on the test server, you can transfer the configuration back to the production server. In this case, only the tested objects, processes, etc. will be transferred to the production server.

Note, that you do not need to purchase additional licenses to work with a test ELMA server. For the period of adjusting and debugging the system, you can be provided with a trial license (limited usage time).

Another important aspect of working with a test and production server is that ELMA versions, the number of licenses, activated and enabled system modules and capacities must exactly match on both servers.

Example of adjusting the system configuration using the "Test – Production" scheme

In the company "N" all the employees have been working on the production server for half a year. After this period, the company expands and needs to adjust its system configuration.

First, the company needs to deploy a test server. The same version and edition of ELMA must be installed on the test server as on the production server. The web server version is displayed in the authentication window of Web Application, on any page of the system and the Designer version is displayed on the Designer start screen and in the header of the Designer window. After installing the system on the test server, activate it and all the modules, installed on the production server. 

Next, backup the database of the production server to the test server; restore and connect this database. The procedures involved in backing up, restoring and connecting a database depends on the DBMS, used by ELMA (Firebird, MS SQL, PostgreSQL). To learn more, see this knowledge base article.

After restoring and connecting the database on the test server, you can start editing the configuration. Note that after making changes to the configuration, it is necessary to debug scripts, business processes, etc., run test starts, create test object instances and check different sets of data.

After successful testing, the data can be transferred to the main server. It is best to use the configuration export and import mechanism to transfer data. Note, that all the changed and linked data, such as objects, document types, project types, forms and scripts, must be transferred to the production server.