Hi @vannapureddy
here https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/experience-manager-65/deploying/upgrading/in-place-upgrade.h... is the detailed documentation for in-place upgrade from 6.3 to 6.5.
and if you want a plan to execute refer the below.
1. List down the AEM Upgrade Scope and Requirements
Below are a few key elements which need special focus and require analysis both in the post and the pre-upgrade phase:
- Operating System
- Java Runtime: JRE 11 is supported by AEM 6.5. JRE 1.8 is the only version currently supported by Oracle till AEM 6.4.
- Hardware
- Content Repository (CRX or Oak): As we know from AEM 6.1, CRX2 is not supported. So, this is a high impact activity. This must be analyzed carefully.
- AEM Component / Content
- AEM Services
- Custom Application Services
- Customer Application Content
- Dispatcher
- Advance Caching strategy
When upgrading, it is always possible that you also need to upgrade other components in your technical stack, such as OS or JVM.
2. Find out the AEM Upgrade Complexity with Pattern Detector
AEM 6.5 release is an upgrade release on top of the AEM 6.4 codebase. A big focus of the AEM 6.5 release is to keep all the new features backward compatible. If you start with Pattern Detector, you will be in a better position to decide the path you want to take to reach a compatible state.
Pattern Detector helps you to predict accurately by giving a warning for an upgrade. However, there are some scenarios or use cases, where it generates false positives.
Hence it is always recommended to analyze this report with due diligence. Currently, Pattern Detector has the following scope:
- OSGi bundles exports and imports mismatch
- Sling resource types and supertypes (with search-path content overlays) over usages
- Definition of Oak indices (Compatibility)
- VLT packages (overuse)
- rep: User nodes compatibility (in context of OAuth configuration)
3. Assessing the AEM Upgrade Complexity due to Deprecation
If multiple customized applications are running on your AEM instance, it is always recommended to spend some time to determine the dependencies and the efforts which are expected in an upgrade.
As recommended by Adobe, you are first suggested to run the Pattern Detector to assess the complexity. This will also help in identifying unavailable APIs that are in use by the custom codebase.
In addition, you should also review “Deprecated and Removed Features” for the version you are upgrading. For Example, it is important to review the AEM 6.3 deprecated and removed features in addition to those of AEM 6.5.
4. Backward Compatibility in AEM 6.5
As you have AEM 6.3, you don’t need to change the code or do customization while doing the upgrade.
5. Pre-Upgrade Maintenance Tasks
Before starting an upgrade, it is recommended to identify or list down certain maintenance activities. Below are a few important activities which must be taken care of:
- Full Backup of AEM
- Back up changes to /etc
- Generate the quickstart.properties file
- Configure workflow and Audit Log Purging
- Disable custom login modules
- Disable custom schedule jobs
- Rotate Log files
- Upgrade the Database Schema if needed
- Execute Offline Revision Cleanup
- Stop any Cold Standby Instances
- Remove Updates from the /install directory
- Execute Datastore Garbage Collection
- Install, configure, and Run the Pre-Upgrade Task
6. Rollback strategy
Most of the time, an AEM customer forgets about this activity. In case your upgrade does not meet the requirement, you should plan a rollback strategy so that there should not be a production impact.
Your rollout documents should include:
- Information about full backup of AEM and all its component, properties etc
- Technical Instruction
- Communication instruction
- Contact Details of all stakeholders
7. Post AEM upgrade Checks
A post-upgrade checklist should be prepared to test the activities in order to finalize the upgrade. Your check-list must include the following important activities:
- Verify OSGi Bundle
- Verify Oak Version
- Inspect the PreUpgradeBackup folder
- Validation of all the pages
- Apply AEM services pack
- Enable Replication agents
- Enable Custom Scheduled Jobs
- Execute Test Plan
Before starting an upgrade, please make sure that your application codebase is stable and all the test cases will be executed as per the expected upgrade version.
I it recommend to first upgrade your author instance and based on the success or failure of the same, you should plan for the upgrade of publish instance.
