How Updates Work on ABM Service Server
Two things on an ABM Service server are updated, in two different ways. The ABM web application that people use in the browser updates itself from the software supplier's update feed, every night at the apply time. The server manager and the service software under it are updated only when someone runs a newer ABM Service Server setup. Both are shown at the foot of ABM Service Server Manager.
How does the ABM web application update itself?
Each company checks the update feed every five minutes, and when a newer version is there it installs it at the apply time, which is midnight, server time, unless you change it. The update restarts the company, so people using it at that moment are interrupted briefly, and everyone signed in to that company, office staff and Customer portal users alike, is signed out and has to sign in again. There is no setting to switch the nightly update off, keep a company on the version it has, or choose an older version: Apply at... chooses only when it happens, and Update now always takes the newest.
The foot of ABM Service Server Manager shows it on the ABM web application line: the version the companies run, then up to date or the newer version followed by available, then updates automatically at the apply time. Under it, Last checked says how long ago the update feed last answered.
- could not check in place of up to date means the company's latest check of the update feed failed. The line under it then says The update feed has not answered since the service started., even when the feed answered earlier. Check the server can reach the update address,
updates.abm-portal.com, over HTTPS. - none in place of the version means the company has not installed a web application yet.
- could not check (no company is answering) means every company is stopped or not answering, so there is nobody to ask.
- A company with no web application yet, such as one just added, does not wait for the apply time: it installs the newest version straight away.
The web application is downloaded once for all the companies on the server and kept in C:\ProgramData\ABM Service\Server\packages. Every download is checked against the software supplier's signature before it is used; a download that fails the check is refused.
The ABM web application line shows what the first answering company reports. Companies normally run the same version, but one that was stopped overnight, or was added later, can differ until its next update.
How do I change the time ABM Service updates at night?
Press Apply at... at the foot of ABM Service Server Manager, set the Hour and Minute, and press Set. The dialog Apply updates at reminds you the time is Local time at this server. Applies to every company.
- Open ABM Service Server Manager.
- Press Apply at... on the ABM web application line at the foot of the window.
- Choose the Hour, from 0 to 23, and the Minute, from 0 to 59. The dialog starts at 00:00 each time, whatever the current setting is.
- Press Set. The line then says updates automatically at the new time.
The time is sent to every company that is answering the manager at that moment, including one whose web server was stopped with Stop. A company whose Windows service is stopped or not answering, and a company added later, keeps its own time (midnight for a new company): press Apply at... again once its line shows it answering.
Pick a time when nobody uses ABM Service and the server is not busy with backups. Because the time is the server's own clock, a server whose clock is wrong updates at the wrong hour. An apply time that passes while the server is switched off, or while the company's Windows service is restarting, is not made up when it starts again: the update waits for the same time the next day. For a server that is off at night, choose a time when it is on, or press Update now.
What happens to the nightly update when the clocks change?
A waiting update still installs once on the night the clocks change, never twice and never skipped. The apply time set with Apply at... in ABM Service Server Manager is local time at the server, so it follows the server's clock through summer time.
- In spring, when the clocks go forward, an apply time inside the hour that does not exist that night, such as 01:30 where the clocks jump from 01:00 to 02:00, is not skipped. The update installs at the first real minute after the missing hour, which in that example is 02:00 by the new time. The next night it is back at 01:30.
- In autumn, when the clocks go back, an apply time inside the hour that happens twice, such as 01:30 where the clocks fall back from 02:00 to 01:00, is taken the first time it comes round only, before the clocks go back. The update does not install again an hour later.
Nothing has to be set for either night. If you would rather the changeover nights were never involved, choose an apply time outside the changeover hour, such as midnight, the default, or a time after 03:00. A server whose clock or time zone is set wrongly applies at what its own clock says, so check the server's time settings if updates arrive at an unexpected hour.
How do I install a web application update straight away?
Press Update now under the company in ABM Service Server Manager and confirm. The company checks the update feed there and then and moves to the newest version, restarting as it does.
The confirmation says how many people are connected, for example Update ... now? Nobody is connected. or 2 users are connected and will be interrupted. When the company cannot say, it reads Whether anyone is connected could not be checked. Press OK to go ahead or Cancel to leave it.
A window titled Updating followed by the company's name shows asking the company to update now... until the company has decided. If it cannot update, the manager tells you why, for example the feed could not be checked: followed by the reason, or still on the current version followed by the reason it did not move.
When the company already runs the newest version, Update now changes nothing and the window simply closes. Update now also retries a version that failed to start on this server before. The nightly update never retries such a version by itself.
What happens when a new version of the web application will not start?
The company goes back to the version it had. After an update, the new version has a minute to answer and three tries; if it does not, the company is put back on the previous version and that version is marked as failed on this server, so the nightly update does not try it again.
Nobody has to do anything for the company to keep working: it is back on the version that last worked. The company's launcher log records every step, so Open logs shows why the new version did not start. Once the software supplier has published a fixed version, the next nightly update installs it; to try the failed version again, press Update now.
The previous version stays on the server so that going back is quick; older ones are cleared away automatically.
How do I update the server manager and the service software?
Run a newer ABM Service Server setup on the server. The server manager and the service software do not update themselves; the foot of the manager says so: updated by running a newer ABM Service Server setup.
The setup moves every company onto the new service software in one go: it stops them all, points them at the new version, starts again the ones that were running and checks each one answers. A company whose Windows service was stopped stays stopped. Every company is offline for about ten seconds. Close ABM Service Server Manager first, because the setup waits while it is open.
- Every company answers with the new version: the setup finishes with a tick.
- A company does not answer with the new version within a minute: every company is put back on the previous service software, which is kept on the server, and the setup reports that it could not move them.
- The companies moved but a company's web server did not come back within 90 seconds: the setup finishes with a warning to open the manager. It does not put them back by itself, because the cause may be the web application rather than the service software.
What is the Update launchers button in the server manager?
Update launchers appears at the foot of ABM Service Server Manager only when some companies still run an older service software than the installed server manager, for example after an update that was put back. The manager's own messages call the service software "the server software", and a company's running copy of it "its launcher". The ABM Service Server line then says how many companies still run an older launcher, and when the last attempt was put back, when and why.
- Press Update launchers at the foot of ABM Service Server Manager. The note under it warns Every company on this server will be offline for about ten seconds.
- Confirm Move every company onto the server software and the version, with OK. The previous version is kept on the server.
- Read the result. Every company now runs the server software and the version, and is serving again. means it worked.
If a company did not answer with the new service software within a minute, every company is put back on the previous version by itself, and the manager says The server software and the version was not applied, with the reason and which version they are back on. If the companies moved but a web server did not come back, the window titled The update did not finish cleanly offers to put every company back on the previous version. Check the company's logs first, then answer Yes to put them back or No to leave them. When nothing needs moving the line says every company runs it and the button is not shown.