Replacing Defective Laptops 

Purpose

Using the replacement mode, you can generate a replacement laptop with the same data that existed on a defective laptop.

To start the application in Replacement Mode, go to Start ®Programs ®SAP CRM Mobile Client ® Administration Tools ® Mobile Client Rollout Manager.

The Rollout Manager is invoked in the replacement mode only for the first time.

Process Flow

A diagrammatic representation of the data recovery process follows

The process flow is described below:

...

       1.      Ordering a replacement laptop:  The CRM Mobile Sales user communicates to the support group that his laptop is not functioning and needs to be replaced immediately. He also has to  transfer data (if any) from his outbound queue to the CRM server and then stop using his defective laptop.

       2.      Executing the Rollout Manager:- The laptop provider (support group in this case) executes the Rollout Manager on his computer (the stationary site that has a CRM Mobile Sales installation).

       3.      Connecting to the CRM Server:- Once the tool has started, a connection must be established with the CRM server.

·        Choose OK.

The CRM server Logon screen appears where you have to enter the login attributes to connect to the CRM server.

Enter:

Field	Entry
Destination name	Name of the CRM server
Application Server	IP Address (SAP Router String) of the CRM server
System Number	System Number of the CRM server
Client Number	The client of the CRM server you want to connect to
Login	Your user name
Password	Your password

 

The details you entered are stored in the registry and retrieved the next time you start the application. However, the password is not stored in the registry.

       4.      Choosing the Site ID of the laptops that are to be replaced:

·        Choose OK.

The Mode combo box appears from which you must choose whether you want to view rollout sites or replacement sites.

·        Choose Replacement.

All the mobile client replacement sites appear under Existing Sites (on the left side).

·        Select the Site ID (you can select more than one site at a time) of the laptop that needs to be replaced.

You can select the sites that you want, using the Advanced Find button. This allows you to choose sites based on organization or based on the user.

·        Choose OK to continue.

The processes that happen henceforth are automated.

Background Processing

...

       1.      Reading the stationary site details:  The details of the stationary site are read and recorded for further use.

       2.      Checking the inbound queue of the stationary site: The tool will check the inbound queue of the stationary site for unprocessed messages to avoid  data loss. The messages are processed and the inbound queue is kept empty.

       3.      Deleting the Database ID of the defective laptop:  The database ID(s) of the laptop that will be replaced is deleted from the CRM server.This ensures that the site which had the database id is free and can be used again. It also ensures that the CRM Mobile Sales user  cannot use his site until the replacement laptop arrives.

       4.      Deleting outbound queue entries of the defective laptop: The outbound queue entries of the replacement site are deleted in the CRM server. When the Administration Console‘s extract functionality is later used to extract data, it would extract all site-specific data and this will result in duplication of data in the outbound queue if the entries already exist.

       5.      Stopping ConnTrans NT Service on the stationary site:  Stopping the service avoids partial import of data during the backup process.

If the process is unable to proceed beyond this, restart the computer and then continue.

       6.      Starting ConnTrans: ConnTrans must be executed to start receiving data from the CRM server. If there are any pending entries in the outbound queue on the CRM server, the Rollout Manager automatically starts the data transfer to receive these messages.

       7.      Starting  the Admin Console extract functionality and getting  site-specific data from the Consolidated Database: Since the site id of the replacement laptop has been freed by deleting the database id, the site can be reused and all data relevant for that site need to be extracted from the consolidated database. The tool triggers a site-specific extract (excluding the bulk data) for each of the replacement sites.

       8.      Backing up the user database on the stationary site: The user database (IDES) must be backed-up so that it can be restored on the replacement laptop. Since ConnTrans has been executed before the backup, the user database will have the newest data.

The backup of the database is not a backup literally. The Microsoft SQL Server is shutdown and the data and log files are copied to the backup directory and the server is restarted. Later, during the restore process, these files are copied to the data directory of the replacement site and are attached to the target SQL server. This optimizes the performance of the Rollout Manager.

Before the backup begins, make sure that the IDES database is free and not being accessed. Also, Microsoft SQL Server must be running when the backup happens.

       9.      Restarting ConnTrans NT Service:  Restarts data transfer from the CRM server to the stationary site to keep it in synchronization with the CRM server.

   10.      Restoring the user database from the stationary site to the replacement laptop: Enter the machine name of the replacement laptop on which the user database must be restored and then select the Process Selected Sites button.

The restore is a serial process, i.e., only one restore can be done at a time. No simultaneous restores are supported.

   11.      Deleting data relevant to the stationary site from the replacement laptop:- This includes details like site-specific data present in the tables. During the restore process, even the site and queue-specific data that is relevant to the stationary site are sent across to the replacement site. This data must be deleted so that the site can be reused. The user information pertaining to CRM Mobile must also be recreated. This is automatically done. It runs an SQL Script "CleanDB.sql“ that is available in the installation path.

   12.      Reassigning the Assign Site ID: This will re-register the database id and queue id's of the replacement laptop with the CRM server.

   13.      Trigger ConnTrans: to start receiving data. If an instance of ConnTrans is already running on the stationary site, triggering ConnTrans via the Rollout Manager will fail.

Result

The replacement laptop is now ready for shipment to the CRM Mobile Sales user whose laptop was defective.