REDCap Upgrading Exercise. What REDCap Project Owners need to know, and prepare for

Transcription

1 REDCap Upgrading Exercise What REDCap Project Owners need to know, and prepare for

2 [A]. INTRODUCTION (1) What is the REDCap Upgrading Exercise? NHG will be upgrading its REDCap system to a new version. The Upgrading Exercise will improve the current functionality as well as introduce new features for the REDCap users and address any existing bugs. The objectives of the Upgrading Exercise are: To upgrade the NHG REDCap system to the next available Long-Term Stable (LTS) version. To minimize disruption to Data Collection Activities of researchers. To preserve the integrity of all existing REDCap Projects on the Production Server. To ensure that all REDCap Projects are successfully migrated onto the new REDCap system, and are fully functional. (2) How does this impact my REDCap Project / Data collection activities on REDCap? To ensure that the Upgrading Exercise will be successful with minimal disruption to Projects on the REDCap Production Server and data collection activities, the Upgrading Exercise will take place over 2 Phases. Phase 1: Project Verification on Trial Server - There will be no disruptions to the REDCap Production Server. However Project Owners will be required to check and verify their Projects on the Trial Server. Phase 2: Upgrading the Production Server The actual REDCap Production Server will have to be shutdown to enable the upgrading to take place. Data collection activities will be impacted during this phase. IMPORTANT As REDCap Project Owners & Administrators, you will need to be aware of how the Upgrading Exercise will impact your REDCap Project and data collection activities, and what are the necessary actions to take to minimize any disruptions to your research activity. You will also have an important role in verifying the integrity of your REDCap Project after the Upgrading Exercise (both in Phase 1 and Phase 2) to ensure there are no unexpected problems with your REDCap Project. (3) What will I need to do as the REDCap Project Owner and/or Project Administrator? Please do spend some time to read this document. The document contains: Details about Upgrading Exercise. How you should prepare to for each Phase of the Upgrading Exercise. Specific actions you must take as part of the Upgrading Exercise in each Phase. We would also recommend sharing this document with the rest of your REDCap project team members. (4) Who do I contact if I have any queries? You can contact the NHG REDCap Administrators at REDCAP@NHG.COM.SG NHG REDCap Upgrading Exercise Brief, V2, 7 March 2019 P a g e 2

3 Phase 1: Project Verification on the Trial Server NHG REDCap Upgrading Exercise Brief, V2, 7 March 2019 P a g e 3

4 [B]. Phase 1: Project Verification on the Trial Server In Phase 1, we have completed a trial upgrade or rehearsal upgrade to a cloned copy of the current REDCap Production Server the TRIAL SERVER. This enables us to perform system checks and tests without affecting the actual Production Server. During the Phase 1 period, there will be no disruption to the current/actual REDCap Production Server and any live on-going data collection activities. More significantly, the Trial Upgrade in Phase 1 will provide the Project Owners with the opportunity to detect and resolve any unexpected problems that may arise with the upgrading exercise. Cloned copy of the Production Server (with REDCap UPGRADED) Phase 1: Project Verification Popularity of Chicken Rice Study Normal Operation No disruption during Phase 1. Popularity of Chicken Rice Study Perform Verification Checks for any problems with Project Forms, Data and User-Rights. Report any problems to REDCap Admin. ACTION REQUIRED: Trial Server Project Verification ACTION REQUIRED All REDCap Project Owners must login to the Trial Server to check and verify that (the copies of) their REDCap Projects remain functional, or to report any problems arising after the Upgrading. See Phase 1: Project Verification Checklist (Page 6) for the instructions on how to login to the Trial Server and verify your REDCap Projects. Project Owner s Phase 1 Verification Period: Start: 20 March 2019 End: 28 March 2019 Deadline for Reporting of Problems : END: 29 March 2019, 6pm NHG REDCap Upgrading Exercise Brief, V2, 7 March 2019 P a g e 4

5 [C]. Phase 1: Project Verification Checklist (Trial Server) The Projects on the Trial Server are clones/copies from the original Production Server made for the purpose of testing the impact of the upgraded REDCap system on current Projects. You may find that the user-interface looks slightly different from the current system we are using. However all the major functionalities remain the same. IMPORTANT The Projects on the Trial Server will be destroyed after the Upgrading Exercise. NO REAL DATA should be entered in the Trial Server. NO CHANGES TO THE PROJECT (eg: Instruments) should be made in the Trial Server. NONE OF THE CHANGES MADE on the Trial Server will be carried over into the final Upgraded Server. How to check and verify your REDCap Projects To assist Project Owners in checking and verifying their REDCap Projects, we have created a simple checklist. The Phase 1 Project Verification Checklist is a guide for Project Owners to check ALL their Projects on the Trial Server for unexpected problems arising from the upgraded REDCap system. The Phase 1 Project Verification Checklist can be found on Page 6 of this document. The Phase 1 Project Verification Checklist DOES NOT NEED to be submitted. IMPORTANT It is important that Project Owners complete Checklist for each and every one of their REDCap Projects. This will ensure there will not be any unexpected problems when we upgrade the actual Production Server in Phase 2. Reporting of Detected Errors / Problems found in the Trial Server You may compare the Trial Server s Project to the actual Production Server s Project to see if the problem exists only on the Trial Server. If the same problem exists on both the Trial Server and Production Server, it is not a reportable problem. REPORTING PROBLEMS FROM THE TRIAL SERVER Please report any detected problems on the Trial Server at: (NHG Intranet only. No login required) Deadline for Reporting of Detected Problems : 29 March 2019, 6pm About Table Devices & the REDCap App Tablet device synching cannot be (and does not need to be) tested on the Trial Server. DO NOT attempt to connect or re-sync your Tablet device to the Trial Server as this will corrupt your Data collection on the actual Production Server. NHG REDCap Upgrading Exercise Brief, V2, 7 March 2019 P a g e 5

6 Phase 1 Project Verification Checklist (1) Login to TRIAL SERVER with your ADID (like how you would login to the Production Server) Pass (P), Fail (F) or Not Applicable (NA) TRIAL SERVER URL: (NHG INTRANET ACCESS ONLY) (2) Are all of your REDCap Projects present on the Trial Server? The Projects on the Trial Server should be the same as those on the Production Server. Pass: All of your Projects are present as expected. Fail: One or more of the Projects are missing; and/or extra Projects have appeared. (3) Is the Project Data intact? You may skip this if your Project is still in development, or has no data yet. The Project Data should be the same (eg: Same number of Records,) as of DD MMM Pass: The Project data is intact and there are no obvious missing or corrupted data. Fail: One or more Records have been altered, missing and/or corrupted. (4) Are the Project Forms (ie: Instruments) intact? The Project Forms should be the same as those on the Production Server. Pass: All of the Project Forms are present as expected. Fail: One or more Forms are missing; and/or extra Forms have appeared. (5) Are the Questions in each Form (ie: Instrument) intact? The Questions in each Project Form should be the same as those on the Production Server. Pass: All of the Questions in each Project Form are present as expected. Fail: One or more Questions are missing; and/or extra Questions have appeared. (6) Are the Data Validation Rules for each Question intact? The Questions in each Project Form should be the same as those on the Production Server. Pass: All of the Questions in each Project Form are present as expected. Fail: One or more Questions are missing; and/or extra Questions have appeared. (7) Are the Branching Logic Questions working as expected? You may skip this check if your Forms do not use Branching Logic. The Branching Logic Questions should be functional and behave in the expected manner. Pass: All of the Branching Logic Questions are working as expected. Fail: Branching Logic Questions are broken; and/or extra Branching Logic Questions have appeared. (8) Is Data Entry on all Project Forms working as expected? Data Entry should work as expected. You may consider entering a set of test/dummy data to check the Forms DO NOT use any real data. Pass: Data Entry is working as expected. Fail: Data Entry is not working; and/or Data entry is not saving the data. (9) Are the Project s List of Users and their assigned User-Rights and/or Roles intact? The List of Users and User-Rights/Roles assignment should be the same as those on the Production Server. Pass: The Project s List of Users and User-Rights/Roles assignment remains the same. Fail: The Project s List of Users and User-Rights/Roles assignment has been changed and does not correspond to those on the Production Server. NHG REDCap Upgrading Exercise Brief, V2, 7 March 2019 P a g e 6

7 Phase 2: Upgrading the Production Server (SHUTDOWN PERIOD) NHG REDCap Upgrading Exercise Brief, V2, 7 March 2019 P a g e 7

8 [D]. Overview of Phase 2: Upgrading the Production Server In Phase 2, we will be shutting down the actual REDCap Production Server to carry out the system upgrading. Given that the Upgrading has been tested, and any unexpected problems would have been detected and resolved in Phase 1, the upgrading of the current Production Server is expected to be carried out with minimal disruptions and problems. As a further precaution, we will also create a full-server backup of the existing Production Server before the upgrading takes place. Production Server SHUTDOWN Upgraded Production Server is back online. Current REDCap PRODUCTION Server Phase 2A Completion of Shutdown Checklist Phase 2B Upgrading of Production Server (Shutdown Period) UPGRADED REDCap PRODUCTION Server Phase 2A: Completion of Shutdown Checklist In Phase 2A, we will provide Project Owners with a Shutdown Checklist to ensure that Project Owners are fully prepared. The Checklist will enable Project Owners to independently create a full backup of their Projects to ensure that their Project s Forms and Data are not compromised. Phase 2B: Upgrading of Production Server (Shutdown Period) In Phase 2B, the actual REDCap Production Server will be shut down in order for the system upgrade to take place. There will not be any access to the REDCap Production Server for any activities, including data entry. During this period, Project Owners will need to plan and implement alternative manual data capture workflows to continue with data collection activities if necessary. During the Shutdown Period, we will also not be able to process any Requests for: New REDCap User Accounts, New REDCap Project Requests, New Project Amendments (when in Production mode) These administrative processes will resume once the Upgrading Exercise (Phase 2) has been successfully completed. [E]. Phase 2: Dates & Details We will need to evaluate the results of the Project Verification from Phase 1 before releasing the finalized dates for Phase 2. We will proceed with the Phase 2 upgrading only if the Project verification results are positive. Hence it is critical that Project Owners verify their Projects on the Trial Server in Phase 1. We are expecting to release the finalized dates as well as detailed pertinent information for Project Owners in the first week of April We will also update Project Owners if there are any changes in the project plan. NHG REDCap Upgrading Exercise Brief, V2, 7 March 2019 P a g e 8