After several years of being the go-to tool for updating and managing WSO2 products, the WSO2 Update Manager (WUM) is being retired in favour of a new and improved system called WSO2 Update 2.0 as of March 7th.
Updating your WSO2 requires a product support licence which is tied to your organization, ensuring that you have access to updates and patches for the software. Over the years, WUM has served as a reliable way to ensure that customers had access to all of the latest announced versions and patches for their WSO2 products; however, due to changes in product architecture and increasing user demand it was decided that a more advanced solution must be created in order to meet current needs.
Therefore, we are pleased to announce that WSO2’s new platform, WSO2 Update 2.0 will now serve as its primary update manager providing users with security patches, feature improvements both on-premise deployments and cloud environments alike – so don’t forget to upgrade!
Why update your WSO2 products?
Updates are essential to ensure system security and features by patching any vulnerabilities, improving performance, and fixing bugs. It also helps keep systems up to date with the latest technological advancements to maximize the efficiency of operations. Furthermore, staying up to date with updates means that organizations can quickly respond to changing conditions in their environment or industry and take advantage of new opportunities for optimization.
Staying up to date with updates offers several advantages for a business or organization such as improved system performance, better security protocols, access to new features or tools that may prove useful in daily activities, as well as greater customer satisfaction due to more reliable services being offered. Additionally, if an unexpected issue arises during operation that would require technical assistance from a service provider such as WSO2 it is possible that support requests may lead directly into improvements or hotfixes that are then patched into the platform via an update.
Update strategy
The first rule of thumb when dealing with WSO2 updates is to ensure that you are always using the most recent version of any given product pack. Most often, WSO2 releases updates bi-weekly. It is suggested that users update their products frequently (preferably biweekly), so they never fall behind on important security patching or issue resolution releases. Not only limited more frequent product updates, WSO2 also releases urgent security fixes and specific hotfixes that may only be applied to your infrastructure, such as a specific feature implementation that is unique to your architecture. You do not need to wait until the next update is released as WSO2 delivers the urgent updates immediately. Before applying any type of update in your production environment though, it is recommended you apply them first in lower-level environments such as testing or staging that have similar product distributions as what is found in your production environment. This helps ensure everything works properly before deployment across multiple instances upon completion.
Next up is understanding how custom configurations should be handled during an update process without having too many merging conflicts. Such merging conflicts occur on either side due to conflicts between changes being made by an organization versus those being added by WSO2 itself. Following guidelines when adding customization can reduce merge conflicts.
Additionally, running tests after each step of a successful deployment will allow validating if every feature remains functioning correctly. There are variety of test types that you may incorporate in your upgrade strategy to ensure quality aspects of the continuous update strategy.
Functional Testing:
Functional tests should be performed after each update to ensure that all functions are working as expected. This type of testing can take the form of regression, integration, and acceptance tests to verify the functionality of each feature or component in the system. These tests help developers uncover any bugs and can improve user experience by ensuring a product is performing correctly after every update.
- Regression Testing: It is recommended to conduct regression testing as part of the update process. This type of testing verifies that the changes made in latest updates do not interfere with existing features. The goal is to identify any unintended side effects or errors related to recent changes and ensure that the product is still providing a positive user experience after each update.
- Integration Testing: Next, we need to conduct integration testing as part of the functional testing process, to verify that all the components within a WSO2 platform are working together harmoniously after an update has been applied. This type of testing helps detect any incompatibilities between various parts of the system, as well as ensuring that all features are communicating properly with each other. Integration tests can help ensure a successful update by identifying and fixing any issues before they become major problems. In this type of testing, you should test your business use cases against the updated product and confirm all the expected business use cases are working as expected.
- Acceptance Testing: Finally, performing acceptance testing on top of the updated platform is crucial to enforce all the expected criterion is met with the newly updated product. For example, it would make sure your deployment is in an accepted state that you previously defined regarding either, performance, functionality or any other metric. This type of testing helps evaluate whether an application meets all specified criteria before being deployed, ensuring that an updated version can deliver the desired functionalities effectively, efficiently, and reliably. Performing acceptance tests helps reduce risk and improve user experience by ensuring a deployed system meets all requirements and expectations before going live deployment.
Non-Functional Testing:
Non-functional testing should also be conducted as part of the update process in order to ensure that a WSO2 platform meets all performance, scalability and security criteria required. This type of testing helps to verify that the system is working within its desired specifications, as well as providing a positive user experience after each update. Non-functional tests can help identify any bottlenecks or security vulnerabilities in the system before deployment, helping to reduce risk and improve user experience.
- Performance Testing: Performance testing should also be conducted whenever WSO2 updates are applied as this will ensure that the system performs according to specifications after every update. This type of testing helps detect any potential issues before they affect the performance of production systems, allowing users to mitigate potential risks associated with WSO2 updates before they become too serious or costly.
- Security Testing: Security testing should be conducted whenever WSO2 updates are applied to ensure that the system is secure against any potential malicious attacks. This type of testing helps identify any security vulnerabilities or threats that could be exploited by attackers, allowing organizations to take proactive steps to protect their systems and data from such risks. Security tests can also help detect any configuration errors or misconfigurations that could potentially lead to a breach if left unchecked.
Furthermore, there may come a time where customers will need to receive updates within an enclosed network which has no access points outwards to the internet for downloading update packages. These scenarios could be addressed by receiving update packages in a lower environment that is connected to internet. And then promoting update packages to the production environment following through necessary testing, and security validation protocols mandate by your organization.
However, do not feel discouraged about all the things you should do. It can be automated, and you do not have to do everything yourself (more about that later).
Configuration management tools like Puppet & Ansible makes the CI/CD process more predictable, repeatable, and efficient. It reduces the time to market, and operational risks of your WSO2 solutions. And it helps to carry configuration changes flawlessly to the production environment.
Automation is the key
Automation has revolutionized WSO2’s update processes by drastically reducing time-to-market for product updates while simultaneously introducing consistency in deployments across multiple environments — production, staging, QA — allowing developers to have more control over their release cadences on these environments. By automating repetitive tasks such as configuration management activities (e.g., policy changes), product upgrades become more efficient while mitigating potential human errors caused by manual interventions along the way; this results in a streamlined environment which supports faster, and robust deployments. Additionally, automation ensures all changes made across different environments remain consistent throughout every stage of development until deployment into production, thereby eliminating potential issues during go-live stages due to discrepancies between different environments.
What has changed in the update process
WSO2 Updates 2.0 introduces a streamlined and efficient update process, ensuring that customers receive the latest product improvements and bug-fixes quickly. The new update process provides a way for customers to stay up to date with all available updates, eliminating any potential issue-blocking instances during the deployment processes. Additionally, all security updates are addressed through this model as well, ensuring that customer production environments are secure.
The new update process is more user friendly than ever before thanks to the introduction of “update levels” which make the updating process easier and more intuitive than ever before – no longer do users have to bother with timestamps or complicated commands like they did before to take full advantage of updates! The WSO2 Update 2.0 simplifies the entire updating experience by reducing the time spent downloading updates while also following proper industry standards & protocols so customers can rest assured knowing their product deployments are always secure and up to date.
WSO2 Updates 2.0 also introduces several new features & improvements such as Hotfixes for quick fixes delivered upon customer requests or Support incidents, making sure customers receive their requested fixes as quickly and seamlessly as possible so they can move on with their tasks without any interruption or delay in service delivery quality from WSO2 products/services/support teams! Furthermore, users can also take advantage of other features such as “Update Channels” which deliver all available updates including security ones directly into your project lifecycle – ensuring your project remains healthy & secure throughout its lifetime!
The WSO2 Update Portal is an amazing tool that provides users with the ability to easily find and access updates for the WSO2 products they use. With its self-service, intuitive design, users can instantly search and filter through available updates while also monitoring the status of their product’s current version.
Diving into WSO2 subscription services
WSO2 offers both Open source and Subscribed versions of its middleware solutions. The open-source edition is available freely, and provides the full features of WSO2, including all core components. With the open-source version, users are responsible for hosting and managing the platform as well as providing their own technical support. Also, regular security updates, hot fixes, and the customer service are not available for the Open-source distributions of WSO2 products.
On the other hand, subscribed versions provide access to supported distributions, subscription to WSO2 updates, optimizations, and other benefits such as 24/7 customer service with a team of experts to help you troubleshoot any incident you encounter while using the platform. Most importantly, the WSO2 subscription also include bug fixes and security patches which are important for keeping data secure when hosted on public clouds or other managed services environments.
Farewell, WUM
WUM (WSO2 Update Manager) has retired as of 7th of August 2021. This means that from this date onwards, WSO2 Update 2.0 will become the primary update and patch management solution for all WSO2 products.
The decision to retire WUM was made to improve customer experience and to allow for faster patching, enhanced security, improved scalability, and a more intuitive user interface when using the latest version of the update service – WSO2 Update 2.0.
For customers who are still using WUM as their main update service, WSO2 documentation on [Migrating to Updates 2.0] (https://updates.docs.wso2.com/en/latest/updates/migrating-to-updates2.0/) guide is available to help with migrating over to Update 2.0 and getting familiarized with that.
What is coming next?
It is highly recommended migrating your WSO2 update strategy to the latest WSO2 Update 2.0 tool to ensure your platform is getting continuous security updates, and you are safe with the unforeseen incidents by opening doors to hot fixes.
Migrating from WUM and In-place to Updates 2.0 involves [updating the current product pack to its latest update level using WUM tool] (https://docs.wso2.com/display/updates100/WUM+Commands+Guide), then running the new Update Tool which can be found in the <product_home>/bin directory. This will make the product pack comply with WSO2 Updates 2.0, ensuring it is up to date with its latest update level. For more detailed information on running and using Update Tool commands, please refer to the Useful Update Commands (https://updates.docs.wso2.com/en/latest/updates/update-commands/ )of the WSO2 website.
To ensure a successful WSO2 Update tool migration, it is important to consider the entire spectrum of the migration process critically. As WSO2 experts, Yenlo suggests that the following factors should be taken into consideration for your next migration task:
1. Review your existing WSO2 services that may potentially be impacted by the retirement of WUM:
Gather the versions and update levels of the WSO2 products that you are using. Also, check for the latest upgrade level at the point where you decide to update. WSO2 upgrades usually are backward compatible. But there are chances that certain specific implementations may have impacted by any of the later update level. Therefore, check the change log of the product and compare it with the specific features that you are using. That information could be easily found at [WSO2 Updates Information Portal] (https://updates-info.wso2.com/).
2. Foresee risks and develop rollback plans:
Identify potential risks during migration, analyse their impact and create contingency plans accordingly in case a rollback is necessary. Developing rollback strategies allow organizations to be prepared for any unforeseen circumstances during or after migration process is complete.
3. Update deployment strategy, scripts, and release pipeline accordingly:
After assessing how existing deployment scripts need to be changed based on requirements, rewrite them as per the latest version standards and integrate them into your software release pipeline accordingly so that they take effect when ready for production use.
4. Plan for an outage-free migration plan
Your business and mission critical systems are need be updated considering an outage-free migration approach so that your platform can still operate in case any issues arise during or post migrations. Blue green deployment and Rolling deployment strategies may be the saviour for outage-free migration and deployment of monolithic applications like WSO2 Enterprise Integrator, WSO2 Identity Server and WSO2 API Manager.
5. Plan out a structured change control process for successful migration:
Change control processes provide an organized structure to carry out transitions between different iterations & versions smoothly without disruption which will aid with successful migrations from retirement of critical systems like WSO2 Update Manager.
6. Set a maintenance window when the migration will take effect & ensure no disruption to user flows occur during this window:
Establishing maintenance windows can help stakeholders to foresee disruptions due to updates being done. Plan it properly by providing time windows and communicating within which these changes would be affected while also ensuring user flows are not disrupted.
7. Prepare backups of files and databases before rollback or upgrade process begins:
Ensure that adequate backups are taken of both file systems and databases prior to commencing upgrades so that you have a backup source if something goes wrong during or after upgrading process is completed successfully before going into production environment(s).
8. Perform testing to verify that the platform works as expected before the upgrade process:
It is important to perform comprehensive testing of all components in your system’s architecture including APIs, functionalities & performance metrics before upgrading the platform. So, you are certain that your testing scenarios are correct, and the platform operates without any issue before the upgrade. It is highly encouraged to keep your automated testing scripts updated and integrated to your CI/CD pipeline.
9. Deploy to staging environment to verify that the platform works as expected before going into production environment(s)
This step involves deploying your WSO2 Upgrades onto a separate clean environment (staging servers), which would run through all the tests & usage scenarios that you would normally put into production use but without impacting any aspects of your actual production system. This helps in verifying successful upgradation process and any potential bugs can be identified & squashed out ahead of time when releasing it for general production use.
10. Perform functional tests to ensure proper completion of migrations:
Upon completion of all modifications required by migrating away from WUM, verify functionality tests against APIs, platform functionality checks alongside performance benchmarks prior pushing them live into production environments
11. Run performance tests post-migration if necessary:
Running benchmarking tests post- maturation stages allows organizations have an idea regarding what kind effects their changes would have on overall performance gains/losses & identify points where extra optimization could help improve these figures.
12. Reach out experts / advice if needed:
Last but not least, enable yourself to open channels such as forums or even mentors seeking guidance related to troubleshooting certain WSO2 issues.
Also, when troubleshooting WSO2 technologies, it is important to consider the complex nature of the platform and its integration with other technologies. This requires an understanding of the underlying architecture, tools, and patterns used. Additionally, having a broad knowledge of middleware services standards and protocols can be beneficial in identifying potential issues. To ensure a successful resolution of any issues that arise involving WSO2, it is always recommended to reach out to experienced professionals for advice or assistance. Professional experts are equipped with the technical knowledge and experience needed to quickly identify root causes and recommend strategies for resolving problems in a timely manner.
We are always there to help
Yenlo is your trusted WSO2 partner with a team of experts dedicated to helping customers transition to the new WSO2 Update 2.0. Our experts can provide a range of services that encompass all aspects of implementing, migrating, upgrading, and running WSO2 middleware systems.
Our services include:
- WSO2 solution architecture service that design your future-proof middleware solutions and platforms.
- WSO2 middleware solution development service that craft high-performance middleware systems, following the best practice and years of experience.
- Full operational support to maintain your WSO2 middleware platform, that include incident support, priority issue handling, change control, upgrading and migration.
- Assessing and evaluating existing implementations for upgrade, performance tuning and optimizations.
- Designing and Developing WSO2 upgrade strategies that tailored for individual customer needs.
- Upgrading deployment scripts, implement CI/CD strategies for WSO2 middleware platforms.
- Developing and Verifying functionality tests against APIs, platform functionality checks alongside performance metrics
- Supporting customers with benchmarking tests post migration to evaluate performance gains/losses, performance analysis, and optimizations.
Yenlo also provides expert advice and support throughout the entire migration process. We offer one on one consulting sessions along with technical guidance throughout the entire journey giving our clients the assurance needed when working with mission critical systems like WSO2 middleware.
Yenlo managed solutions are always there to help companies simplify complex IT-infrastructure and technology: Connext Platform (a Platform-as-a-Service solution) and Connext Go! (An Integration-as-a-Service solution). Both solutions provide 24/7 managed infrastructure, platform building blocks including monitoring & incident handling, periodical platform upgrades & software updates, as well as secure software components to professionally manage integration issues.
An iPaaS like Connext can provide organizations with a reliable, secure, and cost-effective cloud platform to manage mission-critical WSO2 workloads. With an integrated suite of services, such as Enterprise Integration, API management, Identity and Access Management (IAM), and Analytics streamline the complex integration processes without having unique expertise or technical labour. Also provides an easy-to-use platform that makes it easy for developers to build, manage and deploy applications quickly in the cloud while giving you more freedom to focus on your core business objectives with peace of mind.
Summary
WSO2 Update Manager (WUM) is being retired and replaced with WSO2 Update 2.0, a more advanced and user-friendly solution for keeping WSO2 middleware up to date with the latest updates, security patches, and feature improvements.
Regular updates are essential for system security, performance improvement and bug fixing; it also helps organizations maximize their efficiency and stay up to date with modern technology advancements.
It is important to update your WSO2 products regularly and test them in a staging environment before pushing any updates to production. Deployment automation has drastically reduced time-to-market for product updates while introducing consistency to deployments across multiple environments, resulting in faster and more robust releases. Additionally, automation eliminates potential issues due to discrepancies between different environments.
WSO2 Updates 2.0 introduces a streamlined and efficient update for all WSO2 product support subscribers. With the introduction of “update levels”, Hotfixes, and “Update Channels” ensuring customers to receive the latest updates, product improvements and bug-fixes quickly and securely.
In this blog we described the migration path to this new WSO2 Updates system. Ensure adequate backups are taken, perform comprehensive testing before upgrading, deploy to staging environments for verification and run performance tests post-migration if necessary. Also reach out to our experts for advice if needed.
Yenlo is a trusted WSO2 partner that provides expert services such as solution architecture, solution development, operational support, and assessing/evaluating implementation operations. They also provide benchmarking tests post migration to ensure a successful transition to WSO2 Update 2.0. Yenlo offers consulting and technical guidance to ensure successful migrations for their clients.
