How to Avoid Liferay DXP Upgrading Pitfalls?
Timely upgrades can be proved a strategic move towards lifting the operational excellence to the next level. Experienced management individuals know very well that how the essential pieces of functionalities can greatly improve performance of process along with addressing the security challenges. Hence, they favor the technology upgrades anticipating reasonable amount of Return on Investment (ROI).
As Liferay DXP is a revolutionary version of Liferay enterprise portal launched in 2016, lot many organizations would rather opt for upgrading to Liferay DXP.
In general, migration or upgrading is a process of code transit from one software or application to another thought to be an enhanced one. And it takes place while safeguarding of the significant data and critical settings such as sites and community settings, third-party integrations as well as URL accessibility etc. Few considerations need to be taken care of while you upgrade to Liferay DXP.
An in-depth analysis of existing application
To have enough understanding about which level of data modifications, code modifications and infrastructure changes will be required, you need to ask several questions to yourself.
Which upgrade Path to follow?
As per the standard Liferay Development and upgrade approach, you need to go through the complete path of upgrade including previous versions. For example, if you are using Liferay portal 6.1 version, first you need to upgrade you data to 6.2 version and then to 7 or DXP. Data upgrade path will be like:
- Liferay 6.2 >> Liferay 7 or DXP
- Liferay 6.1 >> Liferay 6.2 >> Liferay 7 or DXP
- Liferay 6.0 >> Liferay 6.1 >> Liferay 6.2 >> Liferay 7 or DXP
- And so on
Which of the portlets, structures, templates and contents you would prefer to reuse?
How about converting to OSGi bundles?
Once you have carried out analysis, you can create potential blueprints for the upgrade process and you are better equipped with relevant risk management. You can also get the help from Liferay Consulting experts in performing this analysis.
Crucial Technological Considerations
It is crucial for you to consider all technological aspects. Make sure you have technology environment compatible for desired upgrade and Liferay Integration processes with futuristic approach. Be ready with:
Properly configured JDK8 server
Search engine – Liferay now needs the search engine to run as a separate JVM. It can be placed either on same server or on a dedicated physical or virtual server.
Deployment plan aligned with Liferay artifacts (WARs, modules, WABs) and OSGi containers
Since Liferay DXP uses Java 8, it is advisable that you port and validate your each application using Java 8
Well calculated estimate for over all required time
Once the time for the overall the major upgrading process is calculated after considering the actual magnitude and functional capabilities of new system in a precise manner, you need to spare some extra time for quality assurance. You can calculate total number of pages or forms in application in line with
- Testing time per page
- Bug resolution time per page
Conclusion
Technology upgrade is a process that involves massive amount risk if not handled in a right manner. Strategic and well planned approach towards migration and upgrading in line with appropriate risk management methodologies can save you from any hazardous pitfalls.
Author Bio
Namee Jani is a Passionate Digital Marketing Strategist working with Azilen Technologies. We have Liferay Certified Developers can transform the experience of customer & partner with Liferay DXP Technology.