PaperCut KB | [Legacy] Upgrading PaperCut Quota or PaperCut ChargeBack versions 6 or older

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[Legacy] Upgrading PaperCut Quota or PaperCut ChargeBack versions 6 or older

Note: this article applies to PaperCut Quota and PaperCut ChargeBack versions 6 or older. Users running PaperCut Quota may wish to consider upgrading to PaperCut NG. PaperCut Quota is in an end-of-life phase.

The PaperCut installer is designed to allow "install over the top" upgrades, however we advise against this in a production environment. Unlike desktop applications, servers are multi-user environments and often DLLs or components can be locked by other applications or users preventing complete upgrade. Hence we recommend an uninstall -> reinstall procedure as outlined below.

The process for upgrading PaperCut depends whether data should be retained between upgrades:

If no data needs to be retained, we recommend the Simple Upgrade
To maintain existing data, use the Standard Upgrade

Simple Upgrade Process

The simple upgrade process is appropriate if you do not need to retain any previous data (users, printers, etc). This is only recommended in situations like:

It is at the end of the school year, and this information is no longer required
You are upgrading after trialling and the data is not important

To perform the simple upgrade process (suitable for all versions):

1. Schedule approximately 10 minutes downtime

2. As a precaution, we recommend backing up the whole PaperCut directory before beginning.

3. Uninstall PaperCut via Add/Remove Programs

4. Restart the server. (Unlike a desktop application, PaperCut could still be in use when uninstalling, which can cause files to be locked during uninstallation. Rebooting will allow these files to be released.)

5. Install the latest release of PaperCut Quota from here

6. Run PaperCut and complete the setup wizard and re-add your printers and assign costs and other settings as appropriate

7. Enter your registration key under the "About" section

Standard Upgrade Process

We recommend the standard upgrade process when you want to keep information about your user balances, printers and Top-Up Cards.

1. Schedule approximately 15 minutes downtime

2. Copy the files:

         C:\Program Files\PaperCut\Database\pcuserdb.mdb
         C:\Program Files\PaperCut\Database\printerdb.mdb 
         C:\Program Files\PaperCut\Logs\*.mdb

to a safe place on the hard-drive (As a precaution, we recommend backing up the whole PaperCut directory as other files such as your custom reports may need to be preserved over the upgrade)

3. If running the PaperCut [Legacy] PaperCut Quota Web Tools interface, then you will need to [Legacy] Shut Down The Web Tools Interface. This will ensure that IIS is not locking any PaperCut files.

4. Uninstall PaperCut via Add/Remove Programs

5. Restart the server. (Unlike a desktop application, PaperCut could still be in use when uninstalling, which can cause files to be locked during uninstallation. Rebooting will allow these files to be released.)

6. Manually delete any files remaining in:

         C:\Program Files\PaperCut\*

(note: this step is optional and often not required)

7. Install the latest release of PaperCut from here (Note: do not run PaperCut after install)

8. Copy the pcuserdb.mdb file and other files backed-up in step 2 over the empty ones (Note: do this before running PaperCut for the first time):

         C:\Program Files\PaperCut\Database\pcuserdb.mdb
         C:\Program Files\PaperCut\Database\printerdb.mdb
         C:\Program Files\PaperCut\Logs\*.mdb

9. Run PaperCut and complete the setup wizard. Your users, printers and TopUp cards will be upgraded. Update the other PaperCut options to meet your requirements.

10. Enter your registration key under the "About" section

Categories: Legacy Articles, PaperCut Quota, Administration, Upgrading