Automated upgrade

Read this section if you are upgrading to a new version of Granta MI Pro using the Automated upgrade method.

Prerequisites:
Note: For interactive upgrade instructions, skip to Interactive upgrade.
  • An Automated upgrade can only be done on an MI Pro system that was originally installed using the Automated install method.
  • Ensure that sufficient disk space is available on your application server before starting the upgrade, as all existing Granta MI Pro applications will be backed up before the new software is installed. Backup files are written to %ProgramData%\Granta\Granta MI\Backup\.

If you are using a remote Microsoft SQL Server instance with MI Pro, and it uses Windows Authentication for access management, you will be prompted to enter credentials for a Windows user account during upgrade. This account will be used to run the MI Selection Service Windows service, and to enable MI Selection Service to access the MIConfig database in your SQL Server instance. You can use the existing Granta MI service user account. If you choose to use a different Windows account:

  • BEFORE starting the upgrade, the account must be mapped to a valid SQL Server login with the db_owner role on the MIConfig database. See Database access management.
  • AFTER upgrading, if the account is not in the local machine Administrators group, you must edit the new ANSYS GRANTA SERVER CERTIFICATE installed during the upgrade to give the account read access to the certificate Private Key, and then restart the MI Selection Service Windows service. See SSL certificate setup. If the account you choose is a local administrator, you do not need to carry out this additional step.

In an Automated upgrade, a pre-configured script performs these tasks:

  • Upgrades the server software, installing the new version of all existing MI software components.
  • Installs any required new SSL certificates.
  • Makes a SQL backup of all your existing MI Pro databases.
  • Upgrades the database schema of all your existing Granta MI Pro reference databases.
  • Adds any new Granta MI Pro reference databases to your local SQL Server instance.
  • Updates your existing MI Pro materials database with the latest data from Ansys, preserving any in-house data.

To perform an automated upgrade:

  1. Log into your Granta MI Pro application server using an account with Administrator privileges.
  2. Unzip the MI_Pro_2024_R2_Automated_Upgrade.zip file into a temporary folder in the root directory of the drive where %ProgramFiles% is located, usually the C:\ drive.
  3. In the temporary folder, click Upgrade.exe to launch the upgrade tool.
  4. Click Upgrade MI Pro.

    The ANSYS GRANTA SERVER CERTIFICATE certificate used by MI Pro will be replaced by a new one, and you will see a message confirming this.

  5. If you are using a remote SQL Server instance with MI Pro, and it uses Windows Authentication for access management, you will be prompted for some required additional information before the upgrade can begin.
    1. Enter credentials for the Windows service account that MI Selection Service will use to access the MIConfig database in your SQL Server.
      This can be the same account used as the MI service user account, see Prerequisites above. If you use a different account, it must have a db_owner role on the MIConfig database.
    2. Enter credentials for a SQL administrator account that will be used to back up the MI Pro databases in SQL Server prior to upgrade.
    3. After the upgrade has completed, if the MI Selection Service service account you specified above is not a machine adminstrator, you must:
      • Edit the new ANSYS GRANTA SERVER CERTIFICATE installed during the upgrade to give the account read access to the certificate Private Key. See SSL certificate setup.
      • Restart the MI Selection Service Windows service.
  6. If you are upgrading from MI Pro version 2022 R2 or earlier, MI Material Calibration must be manually installed following the instructions in Installing MI Ansys Material Calibration Service.
    MI Material Calibration was introduced in version 2023 R1, and it will not be automatically installed when you upgrade from older MI Pro versions.
  7. Add any new MI Pro Reference databases to your Granta MI system. See Adding new/updated Ansys reference databases.
  8. Upgrade the MI Materials Gateway for MI Pro client software as detailed in the Granta MI Materials Gateway Installation Guide for Granta MI Pro.