More and more of Pingahla customers realize and see the benefits of Talend Cloud and have started to migrate and move to Talend Cloud as well as current customers just upgrading to the latest on-prem platform. But before making this jump to Talend Cloud or utilizing new features, you have to make sure you are at least on version 7.x. The following is due to prior versions with Talend being the end of life and as well as having Talend Cloud support the data pipelines that have been built with the latest version of Talend Studio. But where and how should you start? This is the million-dollar questions many of our customers ask, so I thought it would be great to share insights if you are a Talend customer either moving to Talend Cloud or upgrading to the latest version of Talend.
Note: This blog post will focus on Talend main integration solution and not its sub solutions such as Data Stewardship or Data Preparation, which would also need to be upgraded
Before you get started with any type of upgrade, the first phase would be INVENTORY. First document and identify the number of data pipelines you have built with the studio, types of components/connectors being used, types of connections, and are the jobs built batch or real-time. This phase is important as many components/connectors in prior versions are either deprecated and replaced with new and improved components/connectors. Also, if you are using any connectors from the community, they may no longer work in which you will need to download the latest version if one is available.
Here is a listed of deprecated components/connectors for Talend Enterprise Solutions;
Talend Data Integration Solution
Talend Big Data Solution
Talend Data Management Solution
Talend Big Data Platform Solution
Talend Data Services (ESB) Solution
Talend Data Fabric Solution
Now that you have documented and defined your Talend inventory for your upgrade the next main question I have for you is that will you be upgrading to Talend Cloud, or will you stay with Talend’s on-prem solution? The reason I ask you this the question, because when upgrading to the latest Talend on-prem solution, in addition, to upgrading the Talend Studio jobs, you will also need to update Talend Administrator Console (TAC) along with its other components such as job servers, etc. But before we get into that, your next major step will need to be BACKUP. Backing up the environment and is key, and spending on your current version, Talend has done a great job in documenting the following steps.
Once you have completed your back up comes the phone part. Now upgrading Talend will not be as easy as 1, 2, 3. Depending on your current version, the following can be painful. Why so? If you are on still on version 5.x you won’t be able to easily move to 7.3 Talend’s latest version as of 2021. For you to move to the latest you will need to upgrade in iterations (PHASED APPROACH) along with possibly recreating and updating your pipelines. For this major step, I highlight recommend reaching out to your preferred Talend expert, Talend Professional services, or Pingahla :). But without giving up too much of Pingahla’s secret sauce, let me provide some high-level details.
CONTACT your Talend Support and let them know you are planning an upgrade. This is important as your support team will need to issue you a temp license based on the different versions. Due to this, getting new license keys can take anywhere from one week, we have seen. Please note: After the upgrade you will need to notify support to obtain a definitive license. Only do this once the upgrade is complete and everything is working as is, as requesting a definitive license for an upgrade can affect your current envoriment.
Don’t upgrade all environments at the same time! We had a customer request the following in which we advise was a bad decision fortune for us, they did listen. Start with a Sandbox or DEV to upgrade first. This will allow you to make sure the approach you are taking, along with the replacement of components/connectors, updates to pipelines, and servers, won’t have any impacts.
DOWNLOAD all necessary files before starting your upgrade. You would be surprised how simple this step is that it is often missed. If you notify your Talend Support, they will be emailing you the necessary files for download.
The upgrade will need to be a phased approach. For example, if you are on version 6.4, don’t just jump to version 7.3. UNDERSTAND what are the major releases in each version. For example, if you are on version 6.4, Pingahla would recommend moving to 7.0, then to 7.3. But again, it’s just not that easy. Understand what components/connectors need to be replaced, what new jobs will need to be updated, what new patches need to be applied to servers if using on-prem. These are just some of the things to keep in mind.
TEST, test, and test! It is critical to test the major updates in each phase of the upgrade. Waiting until you complete the upgrade to the latest version and testing will cause you major delays and headaches.
When upgrading besides from data pipelines, not working, other key aspects you would want to look out for is;
Security – Validating security with connections, Talend users, etc
Run-Times – Are the data pipelines running at the prior data load speeds and have or faster? This should not be slower.
Data Counts – Making sure data counts are the same, and data is not being dropped.
Plan go-live. With any major upgrade its important to let all the dependent processes and users that could be impacted.
· NOTIFY. Once the upgrade is completed, it is important to notify your Talend Support to let them know your upgrade is complete. During this time, the temp licenses they provided will be invalid, and you will now have a new key for the latest and greatest version.
If you need support in upgrading your Talend solution, please reach out to sales@pingahla.com as we discuss how we can support and get you onto the latest version of Talend.
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