Cerner uses Confluence for just about everything. To support all of these use cases they created loads of custom features and plugins. With a focus on customization, upgrades fell behind. By the time Confluence 5.8 was released they had a lot of work to do to upgrade. With the help of a Technical Account Manager, and partnering with Comalatech they were able to upgrade with no downtime. This helped them create a disaster recovery instance, which is a key component for controlled documentation. With their upgrade, they added the ability to go through a certified approval process with reporting capability. Learn how they made the great leap with minimal impact on users. Products covered: Confluence

1. TODD STUCK
DIRECTOR • CERNER
@JAMESTSTUCK
The Big Migration
How Cerner Moved From Confluence 3.5 to 5.8 DC
KATE LOMAX
PROGRAM COORDINATOR • CERNER
@KATELOMAX7

2. Shark Bear
Who would win?
vs

3. Culture clash can influence change initiatives
Shark Bear
Are you prepared?
vs

4. InnovativeRegulatedTech Savvy High Availability
About Cerner
Healthcare IT company
with an advanced user
population
Healthcare industry
requires FDA and ISO
compliance
Hosting line of business
expects 99.999%
availability
A core value to the
company and key driver
for customization

5. The Aftermath
The Upgrade
The Journey
Background, goals, and planning tips
for a major upgrade
Tips and tricks for a successful
upgrade and no user down time
How to get your community to
settle into the “new normal”
The
Agenda

6. uCern Wiki Timeline
3.1.2
7,500 Cerner Associates
3.5
14,000 Cerner Associates
5.8 DC
24,000 Cerner Associates
2009 2013 2016

7. Today's Statistics
600K
Wiki Pages
160K
Controlled Pages
27M
Page Views per Year
130K
Registered Users
22
3rd party Plugins
15
Cerner
Customizations

8. uCern Wiki
(Confluence)
Today

9. Customizations Goals for Success Upgrade Planning Tips
The Upgrade Journey

10. Custom branding and theme so
that clients and associates have
a consistent Cerner experience

11. Custom banner visible only to
associates so they know clients
can view this content

12. Custom published workflow
banners and exports to meet
regulatory and legal
compliance

13. Shared identity, avatar, and
profile across uCern domain

14. Custom wiki book builder to
group wiki pages into “books”
for view, export, and print.

15. Required Domain Expertise to Edit
3.5 Challenges 5.8 Opportunities
Modernization and
Support
Long Load Times
and an Increase in
Down Times
Increase in
Performance and
Stability
Simpler Editing
Experience
Security
Vulnerabilities

16. Customizations Goals for Success Upgrade Planning Tips
The Upgrade Journey

17. Repeatable Upgrade Process Leverage TAM and 3
rd
Party Experts Reduce TCO via Automation
Wiki Upgrade Goals for Success

18. Customizations Goals for Success Upgrade Planning Tips
The Upgrade Journey

19. This screenshot is just an example of
piece of content that could be placed here.
If there is text to accompany the image in this area,
it should be as concise as possible. Please delete
this box and text.
Use Agile, Set Milestones
and Track Progress
Use Champions
for Early Testing
Have A Marketing
and Learning Plan

20. This screenshot is just an example of
piece of content that could be placed here.
If there is text to accompany the image in this area,
it should be as concise as possible. Please delete
this box and text.
Use Agile, Set Milestones and Track
Progress
UAT Testing Phase2 (2 weeks)
Use Champions
for Early Testing
Have A Marketing and Learning Plan
UAT Testing Phase1 (2 weeks)

21. This screenshot is just an example of
piece of content that could be placed here.
If there is text to accompany the image in this area,
it should be as concise as possible. Please delete
this box and text.
Use Agile, Set Milestones and Track
Progress
Use Champions
for Early Testing
Have A Marketing and Learning Plan

22. No Down Time Upgrade Upgrade Tech Tips Automation
The Upgrade

23. 3.5.17
Clustered
3.5.17
Standalone
4.3.7
Standalone
5.8.13
Standalone
.5h 2.5h 5.5h .5h
9 hours with NO down time…
5.8.13
Data Center
Our Upgrade Path

24. Load Balancer1
App
Node1
App
Node2
App
Node3
Oracle
DB1
Oracle
Node2
Sync
Load Balancer2
App
Node3
App
Node2
Oracle
DB2
wiki.ucern.com wikiupgrade.ucern.com
3) Take Nodes 2/3 out of load
2) Stop database synchronization
1) Hide the edit button for read-only
4) Upgrade Node2 & DB2
5) Test using wikiupgrade DNS
Confluence
3.5.17
Confluence
5.8.13
6) Upgrade Node3 for HA
7) Change wiki DNS to go live
How to Achieve No Down Time

25. No Down Time Upgrade Upgrade Tech Tips Automation
The Upgrade

26. Upgrade Tech Tips
Bypass Interim 4.x
Markup to XHtml and
Plugin Migration
Upgrade Steps:
1) Bypass interim markup to xhtml conversion by
removing wikiToXhtmlMigration task from
upgradeSubSystemContext.xml prior to 3.5 to 4.3
upgrade.
2) Bypass interim plugin upgrades by inserting
plugins binaries directly into the database prior to
4.3 to 5.8 upgrade. *
3) After 5.8 upgrade, manually run the markup to
xhtml conversion by re-inserting
wikiToXhtmlMigration task and launch force-
upgrade.action.
Time Savings: ~4 hours

27. Upgrade Tech Tips
Skip Automatic Search
Indexing
Upgrade Steps:
1) Skip automatic search indexing during interim
hops by setting this VM argument when starting
Confluence:
-Dconfluence.skip.reindex=true
2) After the 5.8 upgrade, use admin console to
manually kickoff the search re-indexing during
uptime.
Time Savings: ~24 hours

28. Upgrade Tech Tips
Bypass 5.x Recovery
File Generation
Time Savings: ~20 hours
Upgrade Steps:
1) Bypass 5.8 recovery file generation by setting this
VM argument when starting Confluence:
-Dconfluence.upgrade.recovery.file.enabled=false

29. Upgrade Tech Tips
Custom Scripts for
User Macros, Workflow,
and Page Content
Custom Scripts:
1) User macros weren’t compatible. Manually
converted user macros into 5.8 syntax in non-
prod. Custom post upgrade job to update macros
in the Bandana table.
2) Comala workflow definitions changed from
global to space level. Custom post upgrade job
using Comala workflow API to map spaces to
new definitions.
3) Page content conversion caused wiki pages to
render incorrectly. Custom post upgrade job to
convert embedded PDF “!example.pdf!” to the
viewFile macro.

30. Upgrade Tech Tips
Use Quick Restore DB
Utility for Dev/Test
Flashback Steps on Oracle Database:
1) After creating a restore point
“BEFORE_UPGRADE”, run the upgrade and
restore back to previous version in less than 30
minutes.
> shutdown immediate;
> startup mount;
> FLASHBACK DATABASE TO RESTORE POINT
"BEFORE_UPGRADE";
> shutdown immediate;
> startup mount;
> alter database open resetlogs;

31. No Down Time Upgrade Upgrade Tech Tips Automation
The Upgrade

32. Automated Builds and
Unit Testing using
Maven
Automated Certification
Testing using Selenium
Automated
Deployments using
Chef
Automation and DevOps

33. Next Steps
The Aftermath
Stakeholder
Reactions
Issues

34. CollaborationHelp DocVideos Classes
Preparing the Community

35. Next Steps
The Aftermath
Stakeholder
Reactions
Issues

36. Where is the Wiki Markup?
ASSOCIATE POPULATION, CERNER
“ ”

37. Next Steps
The Aftermath
Stakeholder
Reactions
Issues

38. Enhancements
Protecting the now and the next
Preparing for Disaster Recovery
Looking to the next

39. Thank you!
TODD STUCK
DIRECTOR • CERNER
@JAMESTSTUCK
KATE LOMAX
PROGRAM COORDINATOR • CERNER
@KATELOMAX7