PowerSchool Student Information System
Released March 2016 Document Owner: Documentation Services This edition applies to Release 9.2.3 of the PowerSchool software, and to all subsequent releases and modifications until otherwise indicated in new editions or updates. The data and names used to illustrate the reports and screen images may include names of individuals, companies, brands, and products. All of the data and names are fictitious; any similarities to actual names are entirely coincidental. PowerSchool is a trademark, in the U.S. and/or other countries, of PowerSchool Group, LLC or its affiliate(s). Copyright 2016 PowerSchool Group, LLC or its affiliates. All rights reserved. All trademarks are either owned or licensed by PowerSchool Group, LLC or its affiliates. Other brands and names are the property of their respective owners.
Contents Introduction... 4 Resolved Issues... 4 Installation Notes... 5 NOTICE: Increased Installation Time Upgrading Oracle for PowerSchool 9.2.3... 5 Important Information on Load Balancers... 5 Client Workstation Impact... 5 Important Installation Reminders... 6 Upgrade Paths... 6 PowerSchool System Requirements... 7 PowerSchool Components... 7 Documentation... 9 State and Provincial Reporting... 9 Page and File Changes... 10 Contents 3
Introduction The 9.2.3 release of the PowerSchool Student Information System (SIS) includes resolutions to previously identified issues. Resolved Issues Issue Certificate Expiring Grades Distribution Report Errors Language Tool Kit - Master Schedule List by Course Page Description Due to a third-party library update, PowerTeacher Gradebook and ReportWorks will not be able to launch after June 1, 2016 due to an invalid certificate. In order for PowerTeacher Gradebook and ReportWorks to continue launching after June 1, 2016, you will need to upgrade PowerSchool. The Grades Distribution Report errors out if the report contains special characters. This issue is now resolved. PSR-20897 Unable to translate Number.Section on the Master Schedule List by Course page. This issue is now resolved. ESC-14427 Language Tool Kit PowerTeacher Gradebook Scoresheet Language Tool Kit Perfect Attendance Search Page Language Tool Kit Search by Grades and Attendance Page Monthly Student Attendance Report Errors The PowerTeacher Gradebook Scoresheet does not display students in alphabetical order when names contain accented characters. This issue is now resolved. ESC-16131 Unable to translate Meeting and Daily on the Perfect Attendance Search page. This issue is now resolved. ESC-15448 Unable to translate Meeting and Daily on the Search by Grades and Attendance page. This issue is now resolved. ESC-16922 The Monthly Student Attendance Report errors out if the school name contains a special character. This issue is now resolved. PSR-20894 Introduction 4
Installation Notes You must be running PowerSchool 8.0.x or greater in order to upgrade to PowerSchool 9.2.3. See the installation note below for information on required State Reporting installers. The installer setup files for this release are available for download from PowerSource. NOTICE: Increased Installation Time Upgrading Oracle for PowerSchool 9.2.3 Note: This does not apply if you have already upgraded to PowerSchool 9.2 (database and application). PowerSchool 9.2.3 requires an upgrade to your Oracle database. This upgrade includes patches to Oracle and the installation of Oracle Application Express to support the new Enterprise Reporting feature. These upgrades will require a longer installation time than a typical update, so plan accordingly. The Oracle Jobs Installer may take one to two additional hours to complete than a typical update. If previous database installations have taken three hours, this installation may take as long as five hours to complete. If you are currently running PowerSchool 8.3.x, this upgrade time can take additional time in order to apply additional database upgrades included in previous 9.x releases, and you should allow up to one full day to apply the 9.2.3 upgrade. In addition, the database installation requires up to 6 GB of temporary disk space while the installation occurs and patches are applied. An additional 1 GB is required after installation for the database patches. Important Information on Load Balancers Self-hosted customers utilizing load balancers with older firmware versions may have to upgrade the load balancer firmware prior to upgrading to PowerSchool 9.2.3. This update was released in PowerSchool 9.0.2. Client Workstation Impact On January 20, 2016, Oracle announced the release of a critical Java SE patch update 8u71 containing security fixes for recently identified vulnerabilities. If you utilize the older launch method (Java webstart) of PowerTeacher Gradebook and have not yet upgraded to Java 8u71, we strongly encourage an immediate upgrade to this new version of Java client on all laptops and desktops to ensure your PowerSchool implementation remains safe and secure. If you have already updated to Java 8u71, no further action is needed when upgrading to PowerSchool 9.2.3. Installation Notes 5
Important Installation Reminders The database must be in an idle state for the install to successfully apply. Shut down PowerSchool services and ensure that no other connections are allowed to the database during installation. IF YOU ARE PERFORMING AN UPGRADE FROM A PREVIOUS FEATURE RELEASE - (for example, from 8.x) the time to complete the upgrade can be substantial, depending on the version you are upgrading from, and the size of your database. PowerSchool recommends you schedule your upgrade during a time that will have the least impact to PowerSchool users. Upgrade Paths If you are upgrading from PowerSchool 9.2.x, you will need: PowerSchool 9.2.3 Application Installer If you are upgrading from PowerSchool 9.0.x through 9.1.x, you will need: PowerSchool 9.2.3 Application Installer Database Scripts Updater 12.1.0.2 Note: This includes the latest Oracle security fixes. If you are upgrading from PowerSchool 8.x you will need: State Reporting Installer version o o 15.6.2 or greater for Tennessee 15.6.0 or greater for all other states and provinces PowerSchool Database 12.1.0.2 for use with PowerSchool 9.2.3 Installer (PowerSource > Downloads > PowerSchool Database > PowerSchool Database 12.1.0.2) PowerSchool 9.2.3 Application Installer If you are performing a new installation, you will need: PowerSchool Database 12.1.0.2 Installer for use with PowerSchool 9.2.3 (PowerSource > Downloads > PowerSchool Database > PowerSchool Database 12.1.0.2) PowerSchool 9.2.3 Application Installer Installation Notes 6
Note: PowerSchool 9.2.3 does not support upgrading from PowerSchool 7.x. If your district is using PowerSchool 7.x, you must upgrade to PowerSchool 8.x before upgrading to PowerSchool 9.2.3. For more information, see the Installation Guide for PowerSchool 9.x available on PowerSource. Note: If Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF) is enabled on your system, an update to the latest SIF adapter is required. Consult the latest SIF documentation for information on updating to the latest SIF version. The PowerSchool Application Installer is available at Support > Downloads > PowerSchool > PowerSchool Installers > PowerSchool 9.2.3> PowerSchool Application [version] installer. The PowerSchool Database Installer is available at Support > Downloads > PowerSchool > PowerSchool Database > PowerSchool Database 12.1.0.2 > PowerSchool Database [version]. The State Reporting Installers are available at Support > Downloads > PowerSchool > State Reporting Installers. Use the PowerSchool installer to manage your PowerSchool deployment. It installs the database and application for a specific server, and it configures per-server settings such as database and web server ports, passwords, and file paths. PowerSchool System Requirements If this is the first time you are installing PowerSchool, review the PowerSchool 9.x Hardware and Software Requirements and the Installation Guide for PowerSchool 9.x, available on PowerSource, before installing this version of PowerSchool. The Hardware and Software Requirements are updated periodically, and contain information on supported software and browser versions for a release. Review this document before installing updates to PowerSchool. General Recommendation PowerSchool strongly recommends that you check to make sure Transport Layer Security (TLS)/Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is enabled on your PowerSchool server to ensure all data passed between your server and end users/powerschool Technical Support remains secure and private. If TLS/SSL is not enabled, data moving between your server and end users is unencrypted. For more information on implementing TLS/SSL, see Knowledgebase article 8476 available on PowerSource. PowerSchool Components PowerSchool is comprised of several software components, each versioned independently from one another. This allows for greater flexibility of component updates as new features and bug fixes become available. Some updates may include dependencies between Installation Notes 7
components. These dependencies will be communicated and built in to the component update installers to prevent PowerSchool from being configured incorrectly. The following table identifies the version number for each PowerSchool component for this release: Component Version Number 9.2.1 9.2.3 PowerSchool Server 9.2.1.0 9.2.3.0 PowerTeacher Gradebook 2.8.0.6 2.8.0.7 ReportWorks 1.5.1.15 1.5.1.17 PowerScheduler 3.0.2 3.0.2 Oracle 12.1.0.2 12.1.0.2 Schoolnet 16.1 16.1 State Reporting 16.1.0 16.3.1 Report SDK 1.17.1 1.17.1 Java 1.8u51 1.8u51 Installation Notes 8
Documentation Be sure to check out the updated online help. Assistance is just a click away! PowerSchool 9.2.3 Documentation on PowerSource Location Support > Documentation > PowerSchool > Release Notes > PowerSchool Release Notes > PowerSchool 9.x > PowerSchool 9.2.3 Title PowerSchool 9.2.3 Release Notes State and Provincial Reporting Tennessee State Reporting Updates PowerSchool 9.2.3 includes Tennessee state-specific updates. For more information, see state-specific release notes available on PowerSource. Documentation 9
Page and File Changes The following is a list of web_root file changes. If you manage your own customized built-in PowerSchool files, review the list for new, updated, and deleted files. If you use an image server and there were changes in the web_root/images or web_root/scripts directories, be sure to update these directories on your image server. Note: This list now includes all files that changed under web_root. This change was made in response to requests from our customers. Key: + = New page Δ = Changed page - = Removed page Δ Δ Δ web_root/admin/reports/specialstudentsearch1.html web_root/admin/systemsettings/powerconfig.html web_root/public/help/toc_search.html Page and File Changes 10