How to build a test environment for ServiceDesk Plus

How to build a test environment for ServiceDesk Plus

  1. Building a test environment is very helpful while upgrading ServiceDesk Plus. When you are planning to upgrade ServiceDesk Plus to the latest version, it is highly advisable to try the upgrade on the test environment first so that you will be confident about the upgrade on the Production server.

  2. Info
    For Microsoft SQL Server

    • Ensure that the Master Key password is available.

    • To validate the Master Key password, run:

               
      
          
      
           
      
            
      
           
      
          
      
          
      
           
            
      
             QuoteUSE <Database_Name>; OPEN MASTER KEY DECRYPTION BY PASSWORD = '<master_key_password>';

    • If the Master Key password is not known, create a new one using:

               
      
          
      
           
      
            
      
           
      
          
      
          
      
           
            
      
             QuoteUSE <Database_Name>; ALTER MASTER KEY ADD ENCRYPTION BY PASSWORD = '<new_master_key_password>';

    • Important: Make sure to securely back up or record the new password for future reference.

  3. Step 1: Stop Manage Engine Service Desk Plus service on the production server.

  4. Step 2: From command prompt, go to [SDP-Home]\bin directory and execute backUpData.bat command to start the data backup. Where, [SDP-Home]-> Drive:\ManageEngine\ServiceDesk


  6. Once the backup is complete, a backup file with .data extension is placed in the Backup folder under ServiceDesk Plus Home directory. This backup file contains information such as the Build number of ServiceDesk Plus, and the date and time of when the backup was performed. Here is the format of the backup file.

  7. "Backup_ ServiceDesk_ [Build number] _Month _date _ Year _ Hour _Minutes"


    For example, a backup taken in Version 9 and Build 9213 of ServiceDesk Plus looks like this

  9. backup_servicedesk_9213_fullbackup_02_24_2016_07_51_part_1.data




  2. Step 3: Install ServiceDesk Plus on the new server.

  3. Data can be restored only to the same builds of ServiceDesk Plus version. (i.e.) data backed up in 9213 build of ServiceDesk Plus can be restored only in 9213 build. Please check if the old build and new build are of same build versions.
  4. Build version can be checked,

    2. By clicking on the About link in the application. [OR]
    3. From buildInfo.xml file under [SDP-Home]/server/default/conf directory.
      If the old build is a different build, then the same build needs to be installed on the new server. You can download earlier builds of ServiceDesk Plus from our Archives website. 

      http://archives.manageengine.com/service-desk/

If you are going to use the production MSSQL server for the test instance too, then invoke ChangeDBServer.bat from [SDP-Home]/bin directory and create a new database(say servicedesktest) as the default database name(servicedesk) may point to the production database running. Once new database is created, start and stop the application once so tables will be created.



  3. Step 4: Copy the backup taken from the production server to the Test server.

  4. Step 5: To restore the backed up data, Go to [SDP-Home]\bin directory and execute restoreData.bat. Choose the backup file while prompted as in the screenshot given below,


cmd> [SDP-Home]\bin

  1. cmd> restoreData.bat >out.txt

out.txt is a file redirected to bin directory which will store the restore activity, it helps us to analyse in case restore fails.








  3. Step 6: Click 'No' when it prompts for a user input to choose whether it's the production server restore you are trying to do, by saying 'No' it will disable Mail fetching, Sending activities automatically.



  5. Step 7: Start the ServiceDesk Plus server once after restoring the data in the Test server and log in to check if everything looks fine.