Upgrading from Cloverleaf 6.2.3 to 22.09 – Testing and Issues

[Linc]

Hello Cloverleaf Community,

We’re in the process of upgrading our Cloverleaf Integration Engine from version 6.2.3 to the latest release, 22.09. As part of this upgrade, we want to gather insights from fellow users who have already made the transition.

1. Testing Approach:
   • How did you approach testing during your upgrade? Any specific methodologies?
   • Did you encounter unexpected issues during testing? How did you handle them?
2. Common Challenges:
   • What challenges did you face during the upgrade to 22.09? (e.g., compatibility, performance, database migration)
   • How did you overcome these challenges?
3. Performance Monitoring:
   • Tools or techniques used to monitor performance post-upgrade?
   • Any noticeable improvements or regressions?
4. Post-Upgrade Support:
   • How did your support team handle issues reported by end-users?
   • Were critical patches or hotfixes necessary?
5. Lessons Learned:
   • Valuable insights from your upgrade experience?
   • Best practices for others planning a similar upgrade?

Best regards!

Topic

[Tim Pancost]

While we didn’t go all the way to 22.09, we did go from 6.2.3 to 20.1.1.3.  FWIW, we’re also on AIX.  Different O/S’ may have different upgrade paths.

1. Testing – Our testing was based on identifying a several dozen key interfaces and focusing on them.  We also made sure we had a good diversity of systems(e.g. ADT-only, radiology, lab, cardiology, etc…) and message types(e.g. ADT, orders, scheduling, results, documents, etc…).  Testing each thread individually, of 2500+, just wouldn’t be feasible.  Once the new version was installed on the test box, we transferred inbound production SMAT DB’s over to the test box, then ran them through the Route Testing tool in both the old and new versions.  We then compared the output files to ensure they were either identical, or we could explain why they weren’t.  Almost all of them were, and none that did have differences couldn’t be explained(e.g. ‘T’ vs ‘P’ for the HL7 processing type in the MSH segment).
2. Challenges – Our only really challenge with the upgrade was that we didn’t realize that Infor had changed the way they do security sometime around version 19(?).  This means that you’ll need to request a new customer certificate from Infor.  You can either put in a ticket in the Support Portal, or contact your rep.  We struggled with this one for a while, as we didn’t feel it was terribly well documented, at least not when you jump over the version where the switch occurred.
3. Performance – We just used standard O/S-based tools to watch performance, i.e. topas.  We really did not notice any performance difference.  Given that Cloverleaf is such a mature product, we weren’t really expecting any.  Versions now are more about added features and such, rather than updating the core of the engine.  It was fairly well optimized some time ago.
4. Support – We didn’t really have much of anything in the way upgrade-related issues, and certainly not that would be noticed by users of downstream systems.  Kinda the whole point of testing, so they DON’T see anything. 🙂  As for patches/hot-fixes, Infor doesn’t really do that, at least I’ve never known them to.
5. Lessons learned – Our experience was quite smooth, honestly, so I don’t know that there was much we would’ve done differently.  As for best practices, I would say those are the same as for anyone working with Cloverleaf.  Learn it.  Read everything you can about it.  Understand the engine internals.  Don’t just use the IDE, understand the file structure.  Once you have that, upgrades are mostly a matter of getting permission to bring the engine down for a couple hours when you upgrade production. 🙂

HTH,

TIM

Tim Pancost
Trinity Health

[Rob Abbott]

This is a great write-up Tim!

Regarding patches, we suggest that you install the latest patch for the release you’re upgrading to.   So if you’re going to 2022.09, you’d install the base 2022.09, and then the latest patch which is 2022.09.02.

 

Rob Abbott
Cloverleaf Emeritus

[Linc]

Tim,

Thank you so much for your detailed and insightful response! Your experience and advice are invaluable, and I appreciate the time you took to share them. Your tips on testing, dealing with challenges, and understanding the system will certainly guide us in our upgrade process.

And Rob, thank you for the notes on the patch version. We’ll be sure to include that in our steps.

Wish us luck!

Linc

[Tim Pancost]

Oops, forgot to turn on reply notifications, so a bit late “back to the game”.  I should clarify my comment about Infor not doing critical patches/hot-fixes.  I meant customer-specific critical patches/hot-fixes.  Versions and patches are released quite regularly, and Rob is absolutely spot-on with installing available patches.  When we went to 20.1, we also installed the 20.1.1.0 and 20.1.1.3 patches(those available at the time).

We’re planning on upgrading this fall, so wish us all luck! 😀

TIM

Tim Pancost
Trinity Health

[Author]

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