I upgraded my Linked-In app, on my Blackberry 9700, to the recently updated version 1.0.1 version in a hope that it had been improved. Unfortunately not, so I have completely uninstalled it. Any 3rd-party app which runs automatically and cannot be closed is not something I want to use on my phone. How difficult can it be to code an exit function?

The following steps can be used to upgrade a Blackberry Enterprise Server from 4.x to 5. This does not describe an in-place upgrade. Setting up a new separate server allows testing at each step of the process.

1. Download Trial of BES v5 SP1 from Blackberry.com. This includes a temporary SRP key that is valid for 90 days (required as you cannot run two BES’s with the same SRP. If you try to do so Blackberry will disable the SRP key).
2. Download Blackberry Enterprise Transporter.
3. Setup new server.
4. Install Domino 8.5.
5. Install BES v5 on the new server.
6. Restart new server.
7. Test to ensure BES is running without any errors.
8. Log into BAS (Blackberry Administration Server) to ensure it is working.
9. Install Blackberry Enterprise Transporter on a separate workstation which already has Lotus Notes client installed.
10. Run Transporter and migrate users to new server. Please note that Blackberry devices must be on a minimum of v4.2, of the Blackberry device OS, to be seamlessly moved over without their knowing.
11. Test users can send/receive emails on their Blackberry devices.
12. Move old SRP key to new server. To do so, copy down SRP key from old server. Disable and Shut down old server. Edit SRP key on new server. Restart server.

This process can be easy carried out in a few days or anything up to a 90 day period (before the temporary SRP key runs out).

I have installed Blackberry Enterprise Server 5.0.1 with Domino 8.5.1 and this seems to be working fine. The transporter tool works very well allowing the users to be smoothly moved across without any indication to them. I will miss the old Blackberry Manager admin program but the news web interface will allow easy delegation of role based controlled access to Service Desk personnel.

Well done RIM. They have made the upgrade nearly as easy as upgrading a Domino server.

Benefit of upgrading BES from 4.x to 5.x:

There is no easy way to select all contacts and delete them using the standard Blackberry handsets Contacts application. Here is a way of doing so using a little Blackberry-Fu:

1. Go to Contacts application.
2. Press the menu button.
3. Select Options.
4. On the Options screen type rset.
5. You will be prompted “This will erase your Desktop contact list, and reload it from your server. Continue?” (where Desktop is the name of the selected Contacts list).
6. Select Yes.
7. If you have multiple Contact Lists then it will cycle through them all offering the option to delete them.

If the Contact List is set to sync with your BES then it should then sync down all of your contacts again. This is useful if you activate a Blackberry which is already connected, to a BES, and it creates duplicate contact lists.

RIM have released version 5 of the Blackberry Messenger software. This application allows Blackberry devices to Instant Message each other directly without bothering with PIN messages. Below is a list of improvements over the 4.x app.

• Avatars for yourself and your contacts
• Backup of settings to Blackberry servers (remote) or using the Blackberry Desktop Manager (local)
• Improved UI to improve the applications looks
• Setting subjects for conversations
• Barcodes – generate one for your device and scan others barcode to add them
• Displaying time zone information
• Displaying What I am listening to
• Displaying Status updates

Apart from those differences it seems to work pretty much the same as the previous version. This is a useful free app, if you know anyone with a Blackberry, it is definitely worth downloading from the Blackberry App World.

Now, hopefully RIM produce similar improvements, for the Browser and other core apps, in version 5 of the Blackberry OS.

Last week I attended the Blackberry training course for the recently released Blackberry Enterprise Server 5.0 in London.

It consisted of two courses, BlackBerry Enterprise Server Software version 5.0 - Essential and BlackBerry Enterprise Server Software version 5.0 - Comprehensive, which were both two days in length.

PDF's of the full syllabus are here: http://uk.blackberry.com/support/programs/bas_5%200_essential_syllabus.pdf & http://uk.blackberry.com/support/programs/bas_5%200_comprehensive_syllabus.pdf

The training location was at Stayahead Training’s site, near the Barbican, in London. No other training sites, in the UK, were available.

The courses mainly covered installing version 5 from scratch, upgrading from a version 4.1.6 BES, using the Blackberry Administration Service, setting up High Availability and the Blackberry Monitoring server.

One of the few unfortunate things about this training course is that there is only an Exchange version currently available, of the course, unlike the BES 4.1.6 version which has a Domino specific course.

Another problem was that some of the labs did not seem to work but I am sure this was more down to the fact that the facilities were not owned by RIM and could not be configured to allow the VM images direct access to the SRP servers.

Overall I thought the training was very useful and I would recommend it if you intend to upgrade your BES, to version 5, or install a BES for the first time.