If you're a Managed Hosting (SaaS) customer, this topic doesn't apply to you.
The Blackboard Learn Installer and Updater scans the server and either installs a new installation of Blackboard Learn or updates an existing installation. The Installer and Updater also handles the capabilities that your institution can license with Blackboard Learn.
- Course delivery
- Community engagement
- Content management
- Outcomes assessment
The features related to these capabilities are installed or updated based on the license file. This means that all users follow the same install and update procedures regardless of which capabilities your institution has access to.
The Installer and Updater are one tool
Install and update tasks are accomplished using the same tool. When this tool is referred to as the Installer, it is describing how the tool functions when installing software for the first time. When this tool is referred to as the Updater, it is describing how the tool functions when it is run on an existing installation.
Updating a system requires downtime where Blackboard Learn will be unavailable and may take a considerable amount of time depending on the size and scale of your Learn environment. Testing updates on a clone of your production system is HIGHLY recommended.
The update process
The Installer and Updater will update the system when run on an existing installation. Updates are used to install new releases over existing installations.
What the Installer and Updater can do
The Installer and Updater can install set of capabilities in Blackboard Learn. It can be run on single-server, dual-server, and load-balanced configurations. The Installer and Updater can be run more than once. If stopped, the Installer and Updater must be restarted from the beginning.
The Installer and Updater presents two options when it is run on a new server:
- Full Installation: Installs Blackboard Learn and the supporting database schema and shared content folders. This is required for single, two server installations and the first server in a Load-balanced configuration.
- Appserver-only Installation: Installs only the Learn application and not the supporting database schema or shared content folders. This is used for installing additional application servers in a Load-balanced configuration.
The Installer and Updater present several options when it is run on an existing installation:
- Update: Installs the new features and fixes associated with a new release. An error message will appear if it is not possible to update from the current version to the Updater version.
- Uninstall: This option removes Blackboard Learn capabilities.
- Uninstall App Server Only: This option removes Blackboard Learn capabilities from a dedicated App Server in a load-balanced installation. It does not remove the database or shared file system. It does not remove any software from the other App servers.
- Pre-Update Change Report: Reviews the current system configuration to ensure that the Updater can be run successfully. This is only available in Blackboard Learn 9.1 Q4 2015 and earlier.
- Provide New License: This option processes a new license file for the system. It is used to license additional capabilities or change the licensing of current capabilities. This is only available in Blackboard Learn 9.1 Q4 2015 and earlier.
When providing a new license, downtime is required. This installation option will perform a full upgrade, shutting down services.
What the Installer and Updater can't do
The Installer and Updater cannot be used to return to an earlier release. Running the Installer of an earlier version on a newer installation will not successfully convert the installation to the earlier release.
The Installer and Updater does not install any other software, including prerequisite operating systems and databases.
Beginning with the Blackboard Learn 9.1 Q2 2016 release, the Installer and Updater does not start Blackboard Learn services automatically.
Finally, the Installer and Updater does not perform configuration on settings and functionality which are handled via the System Administrator Learn user interface such as setting up LDAP Authentication, TLS, or Virtual Installation. To learn more, see About the Authentication Framework, About TLS, and Virtualizing the Blackboard Reference Architecture.