Best practice upgrading to DT4 on multiple computers

DEVONthink
1

I have three licenses - two on home computers (call them A and B) and one in my office (call it C). I sync via DropBox. What is the best way to upgrade on all?

I can do A and B virtually simultaneously. Then there will be a lag till I get to the office to do C.

2

Have you read the various postings here, especially those on syncing DT 4 with DT 3? They should tell you all you need to know.

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3

There is no real concern here if you’re just using the same databases in 4 as you were in 3. In these circumstances, they sync together normally. Just make sure you have at least deleted the DEVONthink 3 application. Don’t run an uninstaller application; just delete the application itself and reboot the Mac. If you need information on doing a deeper clean after you’ve launched DEVONthink 4 and transitioned to it, open a support ticket.

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4

Hello. I have a similar setup and similar question about correctly upgrading from DT3 to DT4 with 3 devices. My primary question is whether it is fine to upgrade just one of the systems first and then do the other two a few days later.

I have done some reading on this and I think the answer is yes, but I would appreciate a confirmation from the experts here if you have a moment to respond. Is it ok to tag along with this thread, or should I start another one?

Details:

  1. DT Pro Server version running on headless Mac Mini (our office Canon Imagefront scanner dumps output to a folder here for automatic ingestion & OCR)
  2. Local and remote sync is done via WebDAV service on Synology NAS protected by Caddy reverse-proxy on OPNsense firewall/gateway
  3. DTP running on two other laptops (mine and spouse)
  4. Multiple phone & tablets run DTTG 3 and sync via WebDAV
  5. I have a three-seat DTP server license and it looks like the upgrade price (with academic discount) is about $120, which I am willing to pay. Should I get the license first, or is it ok to use the free upgrade trial version at first?
  6. Related to #5, I am realizing now the main reason we got Server version to begin with is there was a time when we needed to support access for Windows clients, but we have never actually needed that in past 5 years. Is it possible I could upgrade to 3 seats of DT Pro v4 and delete the Server features and save a bit of money?

My own laptop is kinda the primary device since I set up this system. I am planning to upgrade my laptop to DT4 first and play with it for a while before upgrading the server and my wife’s laptop. From my reading, I think this approach will be fine? I would rather NOT upgrade the server first since it is headless and I can only use remote desktop to interact with it. I assume all the mobile devices won’t care about the computers being upgraded to DT4?

Feel free to comment on my overall setup as well in case you see any potential issues or ways to improve things.

Thanks

5

This is fine to talk here!

  1. You can purchase the upgrade and update each machine in a staggered fashion, if needed.
  2. Sync will not be interrupted and version 3 and 4 sync to each other. It also syncs with DEVONthink To Go.
  3. You could use the trial but given that you know version 3 and version 4 is the primary focus of development, why would you need the trial?
  4. You can downgrade from Server to Pro. Contact our front desk (Sales) in support.
6

Thanks for quick reply and confirmation, @BLUEFROG. I will investigate the downgrade/upgrade.

For my Windows use-case, which has not yet materialized, I am thinking I could handle it with with some filtering and then have DT generate a set of PDFs (including their annotations) in a zip or tar package I could then email or transfer to the requestor rather than having this web server running all the time for the mythical user to log in and download the documents remotely.

7

You’re welcome!

Will you do me a small favor and in DEVONthink, hold the Option key and select Help > Report Bug? Thanks.

8

Done. Kinda weird to file a bug against you when there was no bug found, but I assume this is for some internal research tracking?

9

It’s the proper way to report a bug but also can be used for direct communication in our support system, bug or not.