Preparing to upgrade

Before you start the upgrade process:

Back up your replication system. The upgrade process makes changes to the system databases that you cannot roll back if the upgrade fails. Restore the system databases if the upgrade fails.

If you plan to install the Replication Server software in a directory other than an existing Sybase version directory, verify that the interfaces (sql.ini) file is accessible.

See “Requirements for upgrading to version 15.5 and later” and read the release bulletin for your platform for any special installation instructions about mixed-version environments, installing, or upgrading.
Use rs_helpsub to check that all subscriptions are valid. The upgrade fails if there are subscriptions that are not in a valid state before upgrading.
Install Replication Server, following the instructions in the Replication Server Installation Guide for your platform.
Verify the system-wide and route versions and upgrade to version 12.6 if necessary:
1. Execute sysadmin system_version on the current Replication Server. If the system version is 1260 or later, you can upgrade your Replication Server now. If the system version is earlier than 12.6, proceed to step 5b.
```
sysadmin system_version
go
```
  An example of the output is:
```
The current system version is 1102.
```
2. Set the system version on the ID Server to 1260:
```
sysadmin system_version,1260
go
```
  If setting the system version is unsuccessful, this message appears and you must proceed to step 5c:
```
The system version could not be set.  The specifed version ‘1260’ is higher than the lowest Replication Server version in the system ‘1250’
```
  If setting the system version is successful, this message appears and you can proceed to step 5d:
```
The system version has been reset from 1102 to 1260
```
3. Upgrade Replication Server to 12.6 and set the site version to 12.6 for any Replication Server with version earlier than 12.6 in the domain. Repeat step 5b.
4. Execute sysadmin system_version again on the current Replication Server. If the system version is 12.6 or later, proceed to step 5e.
5. Execute admin show_route_version to verify all route versions are 1260 or later. If the route version is lower than 12.6, see “Upgrading routes,” in Chapter 6, “Managing Routes” in the Replication Server Administration Guide Volume 1 to upgrade the route version. After you upgrade the routes, you can upgrade the current Replication Server.