Install Guides

 

Release 3.0.14.bb9

March 14, 2010

 

• Blackboard 9.0

NOTES:

• For information on new features and/or bugs fixed in this version, please read the release notes.
• Upgrading to Blackboard 9: If you are upgrading to Blackboard 9, before starting the upgrade, it is recommended that you install Search LX 3.0.x. If upgrading from a 2.8.x or later version of Search LX, be sure to run the "Archive tool links" administration task PRIOR to uninstalling Search LX. For more step-by-step instructions, see the "Update/Upgrade" section below. If upgrading from a 2.7.x or earlier version of Search LX, please contact support@learningobjects.com for additional upgrade details.
• Building block update: If upgrading from a 2.8.x or later version of Search LX, be sure to run the "Archive tool links" administration task PRIOR to uninstalling Search LX. For more step-by-step instructions, see the "Update/Upgrade" section below.

IMPORTANT: If you have a previous release of Search LX on your server, please review the update section at the end of this document.

1.       Download the loi-searchlx-3.0.x.war file from the download site and save it to your desktop.

2.       Navigate to the System Admin tab in Blackboard.

3.       Click on Manage Building Blocks.

4.       Click on Install Building Block.

5.       Click on the Browse button.

6.       Navigate to your desktop, and find and select the saved loi-searchlx-3.0.x.war file.

7.       Click the Submit button on the web page. The file will then upload.

8.       Click on the OK button on the receipt page to return to the Manage Building Blocks page.

9.       Change the status of Search LX to Available.

10.   Click on the OK button on the Make Building Block Available page.

11.   The extension is now installed.

After installation, the extension must be registered with Learning Objects if you have not already registered or if you do not already have a license key for the application. To register, perform the following steps:

1.       Login to the Blackboard server as an administrator.

2.       Click on the System Admin tab.

3.       Click on Manage Search LX link under Tools.

4.       Click on the Register your extension link.

5.       Complete the form on the Register Search LX page and accept the license. If you do not have a promotional code, leave that field blank.

6.       Click submit on the form.

7.       Click OK on the receipt page.

Within 24 hours, a registration key will be emailed to the address entered in the form.

8.       Return to the Search LX License page.

9.       Click on the Install your key link.

10.   Copy the key from your email into the text box.

11.   Accept the license.

12.   Click submit on the form.

13.   The extension is now registered.

1.       As a Blackboard administrator, go to System Admin > Manage Search LX

2.       Click on Change Indexing Options

1.       Change the Scheduling options to index at one of the predefined times or choose manual

2.       Only change the performance options if advised to by Learning Objects

3.       The Shared Index File Location can be changed to a network share, if desired

4.       The Local Index File Location must be on the same machines as the application server

NOTE: The first run of the indexer will put significant load on the application server. Users on the server during this initial run may experience decreased responsiveness. Also note that indexing requires a significant amount file space.

1.       As a Blackboard administrator, go to System Admin > Manage Search LX

2.       Click on Configure Top Frame Search Bar

3.       Follow the instruction there

1.       As a Blackboard administrator, go to System Admin > Manage Search LX

2.       Click on Configure Search Portal Module

3.       Follow the instruction there

If a previous release of Search LX is installed, it must be uninstalled by following the uninstall instructions (below), and then installing the newer release.

If upgrading from a 2.7.x or earlier version of Search LX, please contact support@learningobjects.com for additional upgrade details.
If upgrading from a 2.8.x version of Search LX, you must execute the "archive tool links" admin task PRIOR to uninstalling in order to ensure that tool links will not be lost. To do this, perform the following steps:

1.       Navigate to the Admin Panel and select the Manage Search LX link.

2.       Select the "Administration Tasks" link.

3.       Select the "Execute" button for the "Archive tool links" task.

4.       When the archive task is complete, the state will be listed as "ok." Once the task is complete, uninstall the Search LX Building Block and install the new version.

5.       Install the new version of Search LX and make it available.

6.       After installation is complete, navigate back to the "Administration Tasks" page.

7.       Select the "Execute" button for the "Restore tool links" task.

8.       When the archive task is complete, the state will be listed as "ok" and all tool links to the search tool will be restored.

• All indexing and searching configuration setting are retained after the update.
• If a link to the Search LX course tool existed in the course menu prior to upgrade, the link must be re-created after upgrade.
• If a link to the Search LX institution tool existed in the tool panel prior to upgrade, the link must be re-created after upgrade. Likewise, if a tool tab was created for the Search LX tool prior to upgrade, that tab must be re-created after upgrade.
• If a license key was installed with the previous release, it will continue to function with the newer release. The license does not need to be reapplied.
• If the Search LX course tool was disabled, it must be disabled again after the update.
• If the top frame search bar was configured in a version of Search prior to Search 2.7.3, swap out the script tags in the existing HTML for the top frame search with the following:

·                 

·                <!--BEGIN SEARCH FORM--> <script id="scriptTag" src="/webapps/lobj-search2-bb_bb60/scripts/topFrame.js"></script> <!--END SEARCH FORM--> 

If you have a load-balanced configuration, special care must be taken when upgrading to be sure that all of the application servers properly reload the new version. The best way to ensure this is to restart each application server after upgrading each of the Campus Pack applications. If you are unable to restart your application servers, please wait 2 to 5 minutes after removing the old versions before attempting to install the new ones.

You can check to be sure that each of the application servers upgraded correctly by viewing the Search LX logs.

1.       Login to the Blackboard server as an administrator.

2.       Click on the System Admin tab.

3.       Click on Manage Search LX.

4.       Click Download Logs.

5.       When prompted, save the log archive to a temporary location.

6.       Open the ZIP file and view each of the included Search LX log files. There should be one for each application server.

7.       Look in each log for a message showing that the old version stopped, and a following message showing that the new version started.
Example:

2009-06-22 14:50:42|INFO: Search LX v2.8.0.4488 stopped [com.learningobjects.util.ExtensionUtil.destroy]

2009-06-22 14:58:41|INFO: Logging at level INFO [com.learningobjects.util.ExtensionUtil.initLogging]

2009-06-22 14:58:41|INFO: Search LX vx.x.x.x started on Blackboard v7.1.1.374 [com.learningobjects.util.ExtensionUtil.init]

8.       If any application server is missing these messages, restart Tomcat on that server to force it to reload the application. After it finishes restarting, check the log for that host again to ensure that the correct version is running.

If you are upgrading to Blackboard 9, before starting the upgrade, it is recommended that you install Search LX 3.0.x. If upgrading from a 2.8.x or later version of Search LX, be sure to run the "Archive tool links" administration task PRIOR to uninstalling Search LX. For more step-by-step instructions, see the "Update/Upgrade" section. If upgrading from a 2.7.x or earlier version of Search LX, please contact support@learningobjects.com for additional upgrade details.

One special consideration needs to be made when upgrading from a Blackboard 6.x version to 7.x on a load-balanced Windows installation. Search LX may fail to function correctly if the paths to the shared index files location or temporary index files location are incorrect. Because Blackboard 7.0 Windows load balancing switches from mapped-drive file sharing to the UNC path system, you will need to edit the Search LX configuration to correct the paths before using Search LX.

1.       Log into Blackboard as a system administrator

2.       Go to the System Admin tab

3.       Choose the Manage Search LX link

4.       Choose the Search Options link

5.       Ensure that the Shared Index Files Location and Temporary Index Files Location refer to valid paths

6.       Click Submit