Created by James Hurrell on Apr 16, 2021

Manage Extensions

CAST provides a range of extensions to CAST AIP to provide support for a wide range of technologies, both in terms of analysis and also in terms of source code extraction and discovery. These extensions have a release life cycle that is different to the CAST AIP life cycle, in other words new releases of extensions can be made public at any time.

The Manage Extensions interface in CAST Server Manager allows you to:

  • install/uninstall/upgrade an extension at any time after the installation of the CAST AIP schemas/databases
  • install an extension during the installation of new CAST schemas/databases

Please see:

Prerequisites

Before installing an extension to an existing triplet of CAST AIP schemas that contains analysis results/snapshots, CAST recommends that this data is backed up. You should backup the following items as a basic minimum so that the existing AIP environment can be restored in case an error occurs during the extension install process:

Item to backupHow to back it up
CAST schemas: Management / Analysis / Dashboard / Measurement (where applicable) ServicesCAST Storage Service

Use the CAST Storage Service backup tools (CSSBackup) to backup each CAST schema you intend to install an extension on - please refer to the documentation for the version of CAST AIP you are working with for more information.

Commercial RDBMS (Oracle Server or Microsoft SQL Server)

Use the built in backup tools for your RDBMS to backup each CAST schema you intend to install an extension on.

CAST Delivery folderPlease ensure that you make a copy of your CAST Delivery folder - simply by copying the folder to another location on disk (unrelated to CAST AIP).
Custom Environment ProfilesIf any custom Environment Profiles are in use (not Environment Profiles provided by CAST) please back them up so that you can restore them after the extension is installed. To export your custom Environment Profiles, you need to:
  • Open CAST Management Studio
  • Right click the Analysis Service (to which you will install the extension) in the Services view and select Environment Profile > Export
  • When prompted, select Yes to choose a folder for the export location, or No to choose a single file for export. CAST recommends choosing No.
  • A standard Windows Save As dialog box will be displayed
  • Choose a name and location for the file
  • Click Save to finish
  • All user-defined custom Environment Profiles will then be exported to one single file (with an .aex extension).
Installing a new extension with existing CAST AIP schemas/databases
  • You can install a new extension only to Combined Installations (i.e. installed all at the same time) and the Combined Installation must be up-to-date. Qualifying installations will be listed under Combined installations (up-to-date). Find the Combined Installation you want to install the new extension on (i.e. the schemas in which the target Application is managed), for example, these schemas marked "v836_1704" have been installed at the same time as a combined install and are up-to-date:

  • Right click the Combined Installation (marked "v836_1704" in the below image) and then select Manage Extensions:

  • The following screen will be displayed listing all the extensions that:
    • have been downloaded with the CAST Extension Downloader and are ready to install (Not installed will be displayed in the Version column)
    • have been installed already whether automatically during a new Combined Installation or manually (the version number of the extension will be displayed in the Version column)

  • You now need to choose the Extension Version you would like to install with CAST Server Manager. To do so use the drop down list in the Version column:

  • You must ensure that any extensions that your selected extension requires (i.e. Dependencies) are also selected for installation. A warning message will inform you that other extensions must also be selected for installation and the Next button will be disabled until they are selected:

  • Once all required extensions have been selected for installation, click the Next button to continue.
  • The summary screen will show the proposed extension installation:

  • Click to Proceed to start the installation.
  • On completion, your chosen extensions will have been installed.
Installing a new extension with new CAST AIP schemas/databases
  • Click Schema Installation > Schema Installation or Database Installation > Database Installation on the toolbar
  • Select either Application Analytics platform installation or Additional Analysis platform as per your requirements, then click Next.
  • The following screen will be displayed listing all the extensions that:
    • have been downloaded with the CAST Extension Downloader and are ready to install (Not installed will be displayed in the Version column)
    • have been installed already whether automatically during a new Combined Installation or manually (the version number of the extension will be displayed in the Version column)

  • You now need to choose the Version you would like to install with CAST Server Manager. To do so use the drop down list in the Version column:

  • You must ensure that any extensions that your selected extension requires (i.e. Dependencies) are also selected for installation. A warning message will inform you that other extensions must also be selected for installation and the Next button will be disabled until they are selected:

  • Once all required extensions have been selected for installation, click the Next button to continue.
  • The CAST AIP schema installation options will now now be displayed.
  • The summary screen will show the extensions as part of the proposed installation:

  • Click to Proceed to start the installation.
  • On completion of the CAST schema installation process, your chosen extensions will also have been installed.
Deactivating an existing extension

To deactivate an extension that you have already installed:

  • Right click the Combined Installation (marked "v836_1704" in the below image) and then select Manage Extensions:

  • The following screen will be displayed listing all the extensions that:
    • have been downloaded with the CAST Extension Downloader and are ready to install (not installed will be displayed in the Version column)
    • have been installed already whether automatically during a new Combined Installation or manually (the version number of the extension will be displayed in the Version column)

    Extensions that have been installed and can therefore be deactivated are those with a version number in the Version column:

  • For any extensions you wish to deactivate, select Deactivate in the Version column and then click Next:

  • The summary will then be displayed showing the proposed changes:

  • Click to Proceed to start the deactivation.
  • On completion, your chosen extensions will have been deactivated.
Upgrading an existing extension
Please note that the new version of an extension must be more recent than the existing version.

If you want to install a different version of an existing extension, please do as follows:

  • Right click the Combined Installation (marked "v836_1704" in the below image) and then select Manage Extensions:

  • The following screen will be displayed listing all the extensions that:
    • have been downloaded with the CAST Extension Downloader and are ready to install (not installed will be displayed in the Version column)
    • have been installed already whether automatically during a new Combined Installation or manually (the version number of the extension will be displayed in the Version column)

    Extensions that have been installed and can therefore be upgraded are those with a version number in the Version column:

  • For any extensions you wish to upgrade, select the new version number in the Version column and then click Next:

  • The summary will then be displayed showing the proposed changes:

  • Click to Proceed to start the upgrade.
  • On completion, your chosen extensions will have been upgraded.
Re-import Custom Environment Profiles

If:

  • You are installing/upgrading the extension to existing CAST AIP schemas, AND
  • If you are using any custom Environment Profiles

...you will need to import any custom Environment Profiles from file (they should already have been backed up). To import the custom Environment Profiles:

  • Open CAST Management Studio
  • Right click the Analysis Service (to which you have installed the extension) in the Services view and select Environment Profile > Import
  • A standard Windows Open dialog box will be displayed
  • Select the .aex file containing your exported Environment Profiles
  • Click OK to start the import process.

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