We are pleased to announce that the General Release of Version 12.5.1 is now available for your organizations. Version 12.5.1 is the final part of the Version 12 Release Cycle.  

Version 12.5.1 includes:

• All of the features and technology introduced in v12.

• Support for EMV (Chip & Signature) for North American licensees using Element Payment Services.  EMV is a global standard for credit cards with computer chips and the technology required to authenticate those chip-card transactions.

• General Release of TRBO – Tessitura’s tablet sales application.

• All of the v12.5 hotfixes released to date as well as fixes for all defects discovered in v12.5 that could not be resolved via hotfix.
• Additional performance improvements over previous releases of v12.
• Improved stability and performance with TN Express Web.

Upgrade Timing

We require that all licensees upgrade to v12.5.1 by July 15, 2016, the upgrade deadline announced for the v12.5 release.  Per the Tessitura Network Membership Agreement all sites will need to be on v12.5.1 by that date. 

Accessing the Upgrade Files for Locally Installed Licensees

The Tessitura version v12.5.1 General Release has been posted in TASK Online and is available for download in the "Tessitura Version Upgrades" category of the "Version Upgrades and Patches" workspace.  The build is in Solution #93 titled "Tessitura Version 12.5.1 General Release Upgrade Files." 

Please note that Solution #93 includes links to four different upgrade instruction documents: one for licensees upgrading from v11 to v12.5.1, one for licensees upgrading from v12.0 to v12.5.1, one for licensees upgrading from v12.1/v12.1.2 to v12.5.1 and one for licensees upgrading from v12.5 to v12.5.1. Please ensure that you are using the correct upgrade instructions for your situation.

Upgrade Installation for RAMP Licensees

Please submit a TASK help ticket in the “RAMP Support” workspace to request to begin the upgrade process. A member from the RAMP upgrade scheduling team will work with you to coordinate a timeline for each site to allow ample time to test before implementing in production.

Prerequisites

• SQL Server 2008 R2 (with service pack 2) is a minimum requirement for running Tessitura v12.5.1. If you have an earlier version of SQL Server you will need to upgrade SQL before you install the v12.5.1 General Release.
• You must be running Tessitura v11.0.4 or higher to install the v12.5.1 General Release.  Licensees running v11.0.3 must apply the Tessitura Version 11.0.4 Post Release Patch posted in Solution # 51 of the TASK "Version Upgrades and Patches" workspace before proceeding with the v12.5.1 upgrade.
• For licensees upgrading from v11.0.4 to v12.5.1, the v12 Data Migration Toolkit must be installed and the required data mapping must be completed.  The v12 Data Migration Toolkit is available for download in Solution # 53 of the TASK "Version Upgrades and Patches" workspace.  Please note that the v11.0.4 Post Release Patch must be installed prior to installing the v12 Data Migration Toolkit.  Please note that there are no migration tasks required to upgrade from v12.x to v12.5.1.

Technical Notes

• As part of the v11 to v12 upgrade, several different REST services have been consolidated into a single Tessitura Service (REST) service.  The upgrade process will install the new consolidated service and remove the old v11 services.
• The new Tessitura Web application, Tessitura On the Go, which replaces the Web Reports application, makes select Tessitura features available through a web browser, including on mobile devices. Using Tessitura On the Go you can access the following features from any browser: Constituent records, Plans and My Portfolio and Reports (this is an integration of Web Reports).  As part of this shift the Web Reports application will be automatically uninstalled during the Tessitura Web application installation. 
• To make the Tessitura On the Go application available externally, you will need to install the application on a DMZ server as well.  For instructions on preparing the DMZ server see the Tessitura On the Go and Tessitura Dashboards External Access Guide.
• Implementing EMV in North American requires v 12.5.1, Element Payment Services as well as other processor and hardware dependencies.  Licensees using Element Payment Services can read information about EMV and Tessitura and learn more about timing and hardware requirements in this article {LINK NEEDED} on www.tessituranetwork.com.  

Important Note about .NET Framework requirement for locally installed licensees

Version 12.5.1 requires .NET Framework 4.6 or greater for all servers and client machines running any Tessitura component. This includes the application server, database server, component servers (report, seat, payment gateway), client (end-user) machines, and terminal servers if applicable.  If you are planning to start your .NET 4.6 upgrades on your servers and client machines in advance of your v12.5.1 upgrade be aware that running an earlier version of Tessitura with .NET Framework 4.6 can cause an error when starting the Tessitura application and when the Report Server runs reports. A method to prevent this in v11.0.4 are listed in TASK Solution # 93 and in the upgrade documents.  As Tessitura v11.0.3 is not compatible with .NET Framework 4.6, licensees running v11.0.3 must apply the Tessitura Version 11.0.4 Post Release Patch posted in Solution # 51 of the TASK "Version Upgrades and Patches" workspace before proceeding with the v12.5.1 upgrade.

Component Notes

• TN Express Web: Organizations using the Tessitura Network Express Web (TNEW) hosted web application should be running TNEW v5.5 or higher before the v12.5.1 upgrade. To determine the version of TNEW you are running, right-click on any TNEW page in a browser window, select "view source" and scroll to the bottom of the page where the footer in green text displays the current TNEW version number. To schedule your TNEW upgrade simply open a TASK ticket in the "Web Products" workspace, choosing the "Upgrade" issue type.
  • Also note that TNEW requires the use of Tessitura's REST API. When upgrading to v12.5.1 of Tessitura, you will need to provide the Web Products team with the REST API user's credentials. To communicate these credentials, TNEW clients should open a TASK ticket in the "Web Products" workspace, choosing the "Upgrade" issue type.  For more information on TNEW or for questions about the upgrade cycle please contact tnew@tessituranetwork.com.
• N-Scan: For organizations using N-Scan the Network strongly recommends upgrading to N-Scan 6.0.5 immediately after upgrading to Tessitura v12.5 if you are not already running N-Scan 6.0.5.  Tessitura v12.5 includes several new N-Scan features, such as composite tickets for packages, membership based admissions, and external barcode support for imported orders. Additionally, attendance data is stored in a new table, T_ATTENDANCE, and existing attendance data is migrated to this new table as part of the v12.5 upgrade.  While it is possible to continue using N-Scan v5.31 with Tessitura v12.5, you will not be able to use any new N-Scan functionality and attendance data will not be recorded to the new T_ATTENDANCE table (and will require additional migration after your N-Scan upgrade is complete). The N-Scan Version 6.0.5 General Release upgrade is available for download in Solution # 83 of the TASK "Version Upgrades and Patches" workspace.
• TRBO: The v1.0 General Release of the Tessitura Roving Box Office (TRBO) application is included in the v12.5.1 General Release upgrade files.  TRBO installation instructions and documentation are provided in TASK Solution # 93 and on the Tessitura Network v12 Documents page.

Further Resources

Learning Resources: The Tessitura_v12.5.1 Help System has been published.

Support: As always, Network Support is available to assist with questions regarding the 12.5.1 version upgrade instructions and to provide planning and troubleshooting advice. 

Consulting: The Tessitura Network Consulting team is available to help any license holder with installing v12.5.1 and future releases. Tessitura Network Consulting offers several types of bundled v12 Packages targeted for those who don't want to go it on their own. These options are packaged at specially reduced Network member consulting rates and are bundled based on assistance which can be selected as a package containing multiple services for the most savings, or on an à la carte basis.  License holders interested in post-implementation consulting services should Contact Consulting.  

---

Please report any problems you detect with the General Release by submitting a TASK help ticket in the "User Support Tickets" workspace, and please be sure to select "12.5.1" as the version.  We request that locally installed licensees contact Bob Bell at bbell@tessituranetwork.com when your organization has installed v12.1.2 in production.