Upgrade (PowerPivot for SharePoint)

Use the information in this topic to upgrade SQL Server 2008 R2 PowerPivot for SharePoint. For more information about new or changed in this release, see What's New (PowerPivot for SharePoint).

This topic contains the following sections:

Upgrade to Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Upgrade Multiple PowerPivot for SharePoint Servers in a SharePoint Farm

Apply a QFE to a PowerPivot Instance in the Farm

Check the Version of PowerPivot Servers in a Farm

Post-Upgrade Verification Tasks

Upgrade to Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Apply SP1 on each application server that includes an installation of PowerPivot for SharePoint. A restart is required after SP1 is installed.

Wait for the SharePoint timer job to synchronize the solution across web applications in the farm.

Optionally, run a health rule to immediately synchronize the solutions to the expected version. This approach requires that you reset IIS.

  1. In Central Administration, in Monitoring, click Review rule definitions.

  2. In the Configuration category, find and then click the following rule:

    PowerPivot: The deployed farm solution is not up-to-date.

  3. In the Health Analyzer Rule Definitions box for this rule, click Run Now.

  4. Reset IIS to ensure the older version is no longer available. To do this, open an Administrator command prompt and type IISRESET.

No further configuration steps are required, but you should perform the post-upgrade tasks to verify the server is operational (see Post-Upgrade Verification Tasks in this topic).

Upgrade Multiple PowerPivot for SharePoint Servers in a SharePoint Farm

If you have multiple PowerPivot for SharePoint servers, remember to apply SP1 to each one. In a multi-server topology that includes more than one PowerPivot for SharePoint server, all server instances and components must be the same version. The server that runs the highest version of the software sets the level for all servers in the farm. If you upgrade just some of the servers, the ones that are running older versions of the software will become unavailable until they are also upgraded.

PowerPivot solution files are upgraded in place on the physical computer, but are deployed to specific Web applications across the farm by a SharePoint timer job that runs on an hourly basis. The scheduling of the timer job determines how soon the program files are copied to the web front end computers that host the applications. If the timer job ran just prior to upgrade, it can take up to an hour for the PowerPivot web application solution upgrade to propagate across the farm. During that interval, requests for PowerPivot query processing and data refresh will be dropped. To work around this issue, you can manually run a health rule to immediately synchronize all servers to use the same version of a solution.

To upgrade a multi-server deployment, do the following:

  1. Run SQL Server Setup to upgrade the first PowerPivot for SharePoint instance. If you have multiple servers, you can choose any one. There is no concept of a primary server in a PowerPivot for SharePoint deployment. When you perform the upgrade, the solution packages used by all of the PowerPivot for SharePoint instances will be upgraded to the new version.

  2. Upgrade each additional server by running SQL Server Setup to upgrade PowerPivot for SharePoint.

  3. Wait for the SharePoint timer job to synchronize the solution across web applications in the farm.

    Optionally, run a health rule to immediately synchronize the solutions to the expected version. This approach requires that you reset IIS.

    1. In Central Administration, in Monitoring, click Review rule definitions.

    2. In the Configuration category, find and then click the following rule:

      PowerPivot: The deployed farm solution is not up-to-date.

    3. In the Health Analyzer Rule Definitions box for this rule, click Run Now.

    4. Reset IIS to ensure the older version is no longer available. To do this, open an Administrator command prompt and type IISRESET.

Apply a QFE to a PowerPivot Instance in the Farm

Patching a PowerPivot for SharePoint server updates existing program files with a newer version that includes a fix for a specific problem. When applying a QFE to a multi-server topology, there is no primary server that you must begin with. You can start with any server as long as you apply the same QFE to the other PowerPivot servers in the farm.

When you apply the QFE, server version information is updated in the farm configuration database. The version of the patched server becomes the new expected version for the farm. Servers that do not have the QFE will be taken offline until the patch is applied.

To ensure the QFE is applied, you must run the health analyzer rule that deploys PowerPivot solutions.

  1. Install the patch using the instructions that are provided with the QFE.

  2. In Central Administration, in Monitoring, click Review rule definitions.

  3. In the Configuration category, find an then click the following rule:

    PowerPivot: The deployed farm solution is not up-to-date

  4. In the Health Analyzer Rule Definitions box for this rule, click Run Now.

  5. Reset IIS to ensure the older version is no longer available. To do this, open an Administrator command prompt and type IISRESET.

To check version information for services in the farm, use the Check product and patch installation status page in the Upgrade and Patch Management section in Central Administration.

Check the Version of PowerPivot Servers in a Farm

All versions of PowerPivot System Service and Analysis Services service instances in the farm must be the same version. To verify that all server components are at the same version, check version information for the following:

  • Microsoft.AnalysisServices.SharePoint.Integration.dll file. This is the file that has the object model for the PowerPivot System Service.

  • Analysis Services service on each application server that has an installation of PowerPivot for SharePoint.

How to Check the Version of PowerPivot Solutions and PowerPivot System Service

  1. In \Windows\Assembly, find the Microsoft.AnalysisServices.SharePoint.Integration.dll file.

  2. Right-click Microsoft.AnalysisServices.SharePoint.Integration.dll, and select Properties.

  3. Click Details.

  4. File version should be 10.50.1600.1 for the product release.

There are multiple copies of Microsoft.AnalysisServices.SharePoint.Integration.dll on a PowerPivot for SharePoint server. Copies of the file will be found in the global assembly, \inetpub\wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories\80\bin\, and in \Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\SDK\Assemblies.

When checking for file versions in an installation, always use the version that is in the Assembly folder. This is the copy that Setup upgrades. Other copies of the file are added by the powerpivotwebapp.wsp solution package or by Setup if you install connectivity components. The solution package will update the copy it added. Depending on where you are in a multi-server upgrade operation, the copy that is in \inetpub might be newer than the version that is in the global assembly.

How to Check the Version of Analysis Services

If you upgraded only some of your PowerPivot for SharePoint servers in a farm, the instance of Analysis Services on un-upgraded servers will be older than the version expected in the farm.

  1. In <drive>:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSAS10_50.PowerPivot\OLAP\bin, find msmdsrv.exe.

  2. Right-click msmdsrv.exe, and select Properties.

  3. Click Details.

  4. File version should be 10.50.1600.1.

  5. Verify that this number is identical to the Microsoft.AnalysisServices.SharePoint.Integration.dll file.

  6. If msmdsrv.exe is older than Microsoft.AnalysisServices.SharePoint.Integration.dll, run SQL Server Setup to upgrade the Analysis Services instance.

Post-upgrade Verification Tasks

After you upgrade or patch your PowerPivot server, be sure to confirm the server is operational.

Task

Link

Verify that the Claims to Windows Token service is running

In Central Administration, in Manage services on server, verify that the Claims to Windows Token service is started.

In Administrative Tools, in Services, start the Claims to Windows Token Service if it is not running.

Verify that query and data processing are functional.

Open several workbooks that contain PowerPivot data. Click a slicer or filter to verify that query operations are functional. If the data changes in response to slicers or filters, the query was processed successfully.

If you have multiple servers, check for the presence of cached files on the hard drive. A cached file confirms that the data file was loaded on that physical server. Look for cached files in the \Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSAS10_50.POWERPIVOT\OLAP\Backup folder.

To verify that processing is functional, open the data refresh schedule of an existing workbook and select the Also refresh as soon as possible checkbox. Wait a few minutes for data refresh to complete, and then check the data refresh history page to verify it completed successfully.

Monitor data refresh reports in PowerPivot Management Dashboard over the next several days to confirm there are no changes to data refresh.

PowerPivot Management Dashboard

Verify that new service application configuration settings are available.

In Central Administration, in Manage service applications, open the configuration page and verify that new file caching limits are visible in the Data Refresh section.

NoteNote
Perform the remaining tasks only if the previous tasks were not successful.

Check the version of the SharePoint integration DLL to confirm that upgrade occurred.

Check the Version of PowerPivot servers in a farm

Verify the service is running on all computers that run PowerPivot for SharePoint.

Start or stop services on a PowerPivot for SharePoint instance

Verify feature activation at the site collection level

Activate PowerPivot Feature Integration for Site Collections

For more information about how to configure PowerPivot settings and features, see Configuration (PowerPivot for SharePoint).

For step-by-step instructions that guide you through all of the post-installation configuration tasks, see Install PowerPivot for SharePoint on an Existing SharePoint Server.