Updating the VETtrak Web Connector

Preparing for the update

Any time there is a major update to the VETtrak product (where any of the first three digits of the version number change), your web connector (API) must also be updated to the compatible version, to ensure that it continues to work with the database changes made in the VETtrak update.

At times there may also be minor updates to the web connector that can optionally be installed.

Your web developer must refer to the Web Connector Change Log to determine whether any changes need to be made to your website to support the new version of the web connector. Breaking changes are minimised as much as possible, but are sometimes unavoidable. If your web developer determines that changes are required to your website, we recommend you first update a development copy of VETtrak, your database and API, to allow your web developer to prepare an update to your website that is compatible with the new version of VETtrak and the web connector, before deploying all the updates to your live environment.

These instructions are for update of an existing VETtrak web connector installation. For a new installation of the VETtrak web connector, refer to the installation instructions on the main web connector page.

Updating instructions

1. These instructions should be performed by an IT Specialist. They only need to be followed if you have a local installation of VETtrak and the web connector. If your web connector is hosted, your hosting provider will perform this update for you.
2. If you are performing this update as part of a major VETtrak version update, firstly complete the update of the VETtrak software and perform the database upgrade.
3. Log into the VETtrak support centre, go to the Downloads page, and download the VETtrak API (web connector) ZIP file.
4. Copy the downloaded VETtrak API ZIP file onto your web server on which the API is installed.
5. Right-click the ZIP file, and check the properties page to see if there is an Unblock button. If so, click the Unblock button, followed by OK.
   

   If this step is not completed, your API installation may fail to operate after the update, citing the inability to request permissions. Please follow the instructions in this article if this occurs to rectify the issue.

6. Extract the ZIP file to a temporary folder on your web server.
7. Locate the folder on your web server that contains the installed VETtrak API. One way to determine this is to open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, locate the VETtrakAPI application on the left, then right-click it and go to Explore.
8. Replace your existing DatabaseMapping.xml, and the DLLs in the bin directory, in the folder where the API is installed on your web server, with the ones from the VETtrakAPI directory in the extracted ZIP.
9. Note: Don't replace your current web.config file with the one from this ZIP, as this would cause you to lose your configuration!
10. If you already have an NLog.config file, do not replace it. If you don't already have an NLog.config file, copy it from the extracted ZIP - you will need to reconfigure any API logging you may have previously set up in web.config into NLog.config.
11. In Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, stop and start the Application Pool that the API is running under.