Upgrading Opencast from 5.x to 6

This guide describes how to upgrade Opencast 5.x to 6.0. In case you need information about how to upgrade older versions of Opencast, please refer to the old release notes.

How to Upgrade

  1. Stop your current Opencast instance
  2. Replace Opencast 5.x with 6.x
  3. Back-up Opencast files and database (optional)
  4. Upgrade the database
  5. Rebuild Elasticsearch index
  6. Review the configuration and security configuration changes and adjust your configuration accordingly

Database Migration

The new asset manager extensions require a database migration. The migration should be very fast and uncritical but as with all database migrations, we recommend to make a database backup before attempting the upgrade regardless.

You can find the database upgrade script in docs/upgrade/5_to_6/.

Rebuild Elasticsearch Index

Admin Interface

The update requires an Elasticsearch index rebuild. For that, stop Opencast, delete the index directory at data/index, restart Opencast and make an HTTP POST request to /admin-ng/index/recreateIndex.

Example (using cURL):

curl -i --digest -u <digest_user>:<digest_password> -H "X-Requested-Auth: Digest" -s -X POST \
  https://example.opencast.org/admin-ng/index/recreateIndex

You can also just open the REST documentation, which can be found under the “Help” section in the admin interface (the “?” symbol at the top right corner). Then go to the “Admin UI - Index Endpoint” section and use the testing form on /recreateIndex to issue a POST request.

In both cases you should get a 200 HTTP status.

External API

If you are using the External API, then also trigger a rebuilt of its index by sending an HTTP POST request to /api/recreateIndex.

Example (using cURL):

curl -i --digest -u <digest_user>:<digest_password> -H "X-Requested-Auth: Digest" -s -X POST \
  https://example.opencast.org/api/recreateIndex

You can also just open the REST documentation, which can be found under the “Help” section in the admin interface (the “?” symbol at the top right corner). Then go to the “External API - Base Endpoint” section and use the testing form on /recreateIndex.

In both cases you should again get a 200 HTTP status.

Configuration Changes

The Paella Player configuration has been updated for version 6.0.x.

Security Configuration Changes

The tenant security configuration (e.g. etc/security/mh_default_org.xml) has been changed and ([MH-13082][#449]). The LTI OAuth configuration part was moved to separate configuration files, but all Opencast nodes must adapt the configuration changes, regardless of whether the LTI is used or not.

The configuration file etc/org.opencastproject.kernel.security.LtiLaunchAuthenticationHandler.cfg introduces the LTI authentication configurations. It is now possible to define multiple trusted OAuth consumer keys. Some other security related configurations are also added. Please consult the LTI configuration guide for the complete documentation.

In the configuration file etc/org.opencastproject.kernel.security.OAuthConsumerDetailsService.cfg one or more OAuth consumer keys and their secrets can be defined. Please consult the LTI configuration guide for the complete documentation.