CM 3.3

["Enyeart, Michael J." <>]

I want to share some of my experience installing Call Manager 3.3 with the group.  Unlike previous CM upgrades, Cisco only distributes 3.3 by CD.  I think this is probably because the “upgrade” is actually a (fresh) reinstallation.  Apparently the underlying SQL schema is substantially changed, because to migrate the 3.x (where x = 0,1,2) configuration, one must install an upgraded Cisco Backup Utility (STI) to backup the 3.x database, which is then imported to the 3.3 database.  Sounds complicated, but actually it went fairly well.  It took me about a day to complete the work.

 

Here are some suggestions, based on my experience, for your consideration.

1.         Order the CDs early.  It took about 2 weeks to receive the 3.3 CDs from Cisco.  Although its not clearly stated on the www.cisco.com site, apparently there is no charge for the CDs if your maintenance contract is in good standing.

2.         Make a Ghost, or similar, hard disk image backup of your existing CM system.  This is a life saver if you need to go back and review your old configuration, or back out of the installation.  Better yet, make 2 images, just in case.

3.         Print out screen shots of your old configuration, especially route plans and device configurations.

 

I’m just beginning to learn the new features of 3.3.  So far, I see that it supports multiple gatekeepers and allows you to share media resources among cluster members.

 

If you need help configuring your I2 GK connection after the upgrade, give me a buzz.

 

Respectfully,

-Mike Enyeart