StarQuest Technical Documents

Upgrading to 64-bit SQDR

Last Update: 26 October 2019
Product: StarQuest Data Replicator
Version: v4.50 and later
Article ID: SQV00DR029

Abstract

SQDR 4.1x and earlier was distributed as a 32-bit application, though frequently it was installed on 64-bit operating systems such as Windows Server 2012R2, 2016, etc. A 64-bit version of SQDR was released in v4.50, and the 32-bit version of SQDR was discontinued as of v5.10. Customers using 32-bit SQDR must upgrade to the 64-bit of SQDR.

You will need to uninstall the 32-bit version of SQDR and then install and configure the 64-bit version of SQDR. You may also need to install 64-bit versions of any ODBC drivers that you are using for sources and destinations, and recreate ODBC data sources. The SQL Server or DB2 LUW database used by SQDR for a control database will be preserved. The instructions below assume you are using a SQL Server control database.

Solution

1. Confirm that you are using a supported Windows platform (Windows Server 2012/2012R2/2016/2019 or Windows 8/8.1/10); Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP are no longer supported, and support for Server 2008R2 and Windows 7sp1 will be withdrawn in the near future.
2. Using Data Replicator Manager, pause any incremental groups.
3. Using Data Replicator Manager or the Services control panel, stop the SQDR service.
4. Create a precautionary backup of the ControlDB. Open SQL Server Studio or SQL Server Studio Express, connect to the SQL Server instance, select the database, and select right-click/Backup.
5. Use Regedit to create a precautionary backup of the SQDRSVC registry area HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\StarQuest\SQDRSVC. Note any non-default values.
6. Note contents of 32-bit ODBC DSN's for controlDB, sources & destinations. Use the 32-bit ODBC Administrator C:\Windows\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe; the (32-bit) SQDR and StarSQL Program Groups contain a shortcut to the correct ODBC Administrator.
7. Confirm that 64-bit version of all the ODBC drivers being used by SQDR are installed; for instance, install the 64-bit Informix, or Oracle Client or Instant Client if necessary. Recent versions of Microsoft SQL Server Native Client, IBM i Access and DB2 ODBC Driver already install both 32-bit and 64-bit ODBC drivers. Also, there is no need to install 64-bit StarSQL, as it will be installed by 64-bit SQDR installer.
8. Uninstall 32-bit SQDR, but reply No to the dialog that asks if you want to remove the control database.
9. Install 64-bit SQDR; this will also install 64-bit StarSQL.
10. Using the 64-bit ODBC Administrator, create a 64-bit SQL Server Native data source for controlDB.
    
11. If you are using data sources (rather than connection strings) for sources and destinations, create 64-bit data sources with the same name as the original 32-bit data sources. If you have a large number of StarSQL data sources, contact StarSQL support for advice on using the dsimport tool.
12. Run SQDR Configuaration; connect with the 64-bit SQL Server DSN and select existing controlDB & control tables.
13. If the SQDRSVC registry area contained any non-default values, recreate them, either with SQDR Configuration, Data Replictor Manager, or (for Advanced Settings) using the SQDR Properties application.
14. In Data Replictor Manager, examine your sources and destinations:
15. Any sources and destinations using ODBC data sources will continue to function if you have created 64-bit data sources with the same names as the original 32-bit data sources.
16. For sources and destinations using connection strings, you may need to adjust the connection string. For example, DB2 source and destinations that use StarSQL should be changed from StarSQL 32 to StarSQL (64-bit). In addition, the connection string to SQDR Plus staging agents also need to be adjusted. You can use the following SQL to change the connection string for StarSQL:
    

use ControlDB;
go

update [dbo].[srcdest]
set connection_string_override =
'DRIVER={StarSQL (64-bit)};' +
substring([connection_string_override],21,
len(connection_string_override)-20)
where connection_string_override like
'DRIVER={StarSQL 32};%' and
dbtype=3;
GO

update [dbo].[srcdest]
set dsn='StarSQL (64-bit)'
where dsn='StarSQL 32' and dbtype <> 3 and
coalesce(connection_string_override,'')<>'';
GO

17. If you are using incremental replication, refresh the Source objects by selecting the object, right-click and select Properties, make at least one change (e.g. change the notification address on the Advanced panel; you can revert this change if necessary), and then select OK. This will update the SQDR control database with the the proper form of the StarSQL connection string used to connect to the SQDR Plus staging database.
18. After examining the sources and destinations, resume the paused incremental groups.

Cleanup

After you are confident that the upgrade was successful, clean up the following 32-bit objects:

• Use Regedit to delete the 32-bit SQDRSVC registry area HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\StarQuest\SQDRSVC
• Delete 32-bit ODBC data sources if they are not being used by other applications
• Uninstall any 32-bit ODBC drivers that are not being used by other applications. For instance, the 32-bit version of StarSQL was installed by 32-bit SQDR, but it is not removed when you uninstall 32-bit SQDR.

Licensing

No action is required for licensing; your existing licenses for SQDR, SQDR Plus and StarSQL will work with the 64-bit applications.