Update Service and Deployment
From time to time, ASCI will issue an Update or ServicePack installation kit to those customers who are either on warranty or have subscribed to an annual customer support plan. These ServicePack kits are meant to be installed on a machine that has an existing installation of ActiveBatch. A ServicePack is always cumulative. That means that if ServicePack 2 is issued, there is no requirement for you to first install any previous ServicePack kits (such as ServicePack 1). That's because each new ServicePack kit contains all previously issued changes. When a new ServicePack is issued, Advanced Systems will also issue a new complete installation kit (including ServicePack changes) for those customers who might need to install ActiveBatch "from scratch". Since the kit would contain the ServicePack changes embedded within, there is no requirement to reapply the ServicePack kit. That said, there is no harm in reapplying a ServicePack and the ServicePack logic will prevent you from installing an earlier ServicePack on top of a newer release.
It is important to note that a ServicePack will stop any applicable ActiveBatch Services or Daemons prior to the actual installation. As a result, ServicePack installations should be carefully planned to coincide with any scheduled downtime or other maintenance planning. Typically the application of a ServicePack takes a few minutes. Please read the Release notes accompanying the ServicePack for information on specific installation notes as well as what changed as part of a particular ServicePack.
To help you with obtaining new kits (Full and/or ServicePack) a utility program is available named “ActiveBatch Update Service” (the image name is AbatUpdateService.exe). You can start the program by navigating to \program files\ASCI\ActiveBatchVxx\bin\AbatUpdateService.exe). You can also access it through the ActiveBatch Program Group.
This program will initially prompt you for a Username and Password for accessing the Advanced Systems Concepts (ASCI) website. If you don’t have an account on our website please take a moment to visit the website at http://www.advsyscon.com and register your company’s usage. Once you have a My ASCI account, you can use the ActiveBatch Update Service to periodically check when new kits are available.
You must execute this program as an Administrator.
Entering Support Account Information
When you first start this program, a dialog box will appear asking for your ASCI Support account information. This information consists of your E-Mail and password that you used to access serial numbers (and other information) at the ASCI web site.
Enter your E-Mail address and password into the fields provided and click the OK button.
Check for Updates
Once you’ve entered the support information and a successful connection to the ASCI website is achieved, a list of kits will appear.
The window is divided into two (2) areas: Available Downloads and Download Description.
The Available Downloads area indicates what Kits or ServicePacks are available for download. A Kit (or Full Kit) is a complete installation of the product. The kit will also include whatever current ServicePack is applicable. A ServicePack is an update of the software. A ServicePack requires that the software already be present before the ServicePack can be applied to perform the update. By default, kits you have already downloaded are not shown. You can change that via the Preferences menu operation.
The Download Description area displays the information pertaining to the currently selected download.
Download Software
To select software for downloading, simply select the checkbox next to the kit you desire. To select multiple kits you can select multiple checkboxes. To begin the download, click on the Download button.
Product kits are downloaded into the “UpdatesArea” sub-directory of where you installed ActiveBatch. Using the Preferences option you can specify another share or directory specification. A progress bar shows each individual kit as it’s downloaded. Now that a kit has been downloaded you’re ready for the next phase: Installation. Depending on the software installation policies that your company adheres to you can perform an ActiveBatch installation (interactive or silent) or use one of a popular number of Microsoft or third-party tools for deployment.