This document aims to provide instructions how to obtain and apply a new release for your HotH system. HotH updates are always cumulative so the latest update can be applied at any time.
Release Numbers
HotH release numbers are a made up of a year number followed by a release increment. The example on this page is 2022.07f. If you have been sent a link to a latest release of HotH then the year number prefix (e.g. 2022) should match your current version and the number and letter following the decimal point should be greater than your current value. If this is not the case then you should get in touch with House-on-the-Hill to confirm the update process.
Download the Update
HotH updates are normally delivered in the form of a URL within an email, either ad hoc in response to an ongoing email conversation, or within the automatic Ticket closure email from our own HotH in which your tickets, problems and change requests are logged.
The URL usually takes a similar form to that shown below:
http://www.house-on-the-hill.com/latest/sd202207f.zip
Clicking on the URL starts an automatic download of the zip file. You will normally be sent the password to the zip file in the same email as the URL.
The first task is to download this file and then right mouse click the zip file and select Properties. If you see a button at the bottom right saying ‘Unblock’, click this to unblock the zip file. The next step is to unzip it to a separate directory to the current HotH installation. The zipped file normally contains approximately 80 files (plus files in subfolders), including a mixture of exe’s, dll’s and other files.
If you are downloading a V2013 or later zip file then the upgrade files have been split into sections. Unzipping the main zip file will provide all of the essential exe’s and dll’s but you will also see two sub-zip files, as shown below:
Webserver.zip contains files used by the webserver but not the *.htm files. Style sheets that control the look and feel of the web UI are also included in here. These files have been separated to avoid accidental overwrite of the web and loss of any bespoke web work that may have been applied by the customer. If you are running the standard Web UI and your customisations are all held in either a user.css file (which is not shipped) or a Branding Component Form then all of these files can also be applied as part of the upgrade.
Note: If you are utilising the Bookings folder, you must extract the webserver.zip and the webserver-htm.zip files containing the latest styling and scripts.js. Extract both of these files separately and then copy the extracted files into the HotH installation folder. Contact support@houseonthehill.com if you require any assistance.
Backing Up Your System
We would always advise that the HotH system be backed up prior to update. The backup of HotH consists of two parts, the database and the application. However your backups are managed it is worth being in a situation that you can roll back to the version of HotH prior to application of the update.
Prerequisites
Before applying the update the following must be done:
- Ensure all users of HotH are off the system.
- Stop the HotH websites or Application Pools in IIS on the machine running the HotH WebServer.
- Stop any HotH Services that have been added. These can be seen in the Windows Services control screen and at most there may be three.
- These should all be stopped through the Windows Services screen. (Right click on the Service > Stop)
Applying the Update
Once these actions have been carried out, and backups taken, the unzipped files can be copied into the HotH installation directory, overwriting any existing files that are in place.
If applying files extracted from the Webserver-htm.zip and webserver.zip files then these are also copied into the HotH installation directory. They should not be applied into subdirectories called Webserver and webserver-htm.
After the update has been applied and before anyone else logs back into the system it is best to login into the windows ui as a supervisor. If any database upgrades need to be applied these will be done so automatically and a warning message may be shown. The HotH version on the login banner should correspond with the name of the update and can be used to confirm that it has been applied.
If there are multiple Machines with HotH installations on (because of multiple web servers, or some Citrix environments) then the update must be applied to all instances that are connecting to the one database.
If the update ran smoothly, start the HotH websites or Application Pools and restart any services that you stopped. The version that is running on the Web can be identified by logging onto the Web UI with Supervisor rights and selecting the menu options “System Management” – “Settings” – then having scrolled down to the Advanced Settings section, click on “System Settings” when the version is shown.
Updating the License Key file
1. Ensure all users are logged out of House-on-the-Hill in both Windows and Web UI’s.
2. Stop any House-on-the-Hill Services that are running.
3. On the WebServer machine please stop the House-on-the-Hill Application Pool in IIS.
4. Rename the existing license file in the House-on-the-Hill installation directory HHSKEY32.DLL (so you can restore the file if necessary).
5. Copy the new license file into the installation directory of House-on-the-Hill.
6. Once copied over you can restart the House-on-the-Hill Application Pool.
7. Restart House-on-the-Hill services.
The services in this context relate to parts of the House-on-the-Hill application suite that can be set to run as Services. If you go to the server on which the House-on-the-Hill system is installed and open up the Services dialog, have a look for any services in the list that begin with SupportDesk. If any are seen then stop them whilst you do the upgrade, then start them again at the end.
Still haven’t found what you’re looking for? Contact documentation@houseonthehill.com
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