Keeping Your Raiser's Edge Web Services Server (REWS) Updated

If you do not know what a REWS is, you are not alone. If your role doesn’t involve maintaining servers, then you most likely have never seen it. In fact, no one usually really touches that server on a regular basis. Do not be persuaded, however, into thinking that your REWS is unimportant; it is an unsung workhorse that usually goes unnoticed until something is wrong.

In a nutshell, your NetCommunity website, hosted by Blackbaud, is constantly communicating with the Raiser’s Edge that you host yourself. Anytime someone logs in to your site, creates an email list, clicks a link to your site, or even if they just visit certain pages on your website, NetCommunity and your Raiser’s Edge database must communicate back and forth. They do this through the REWS.

The Raiser’s Edge Web Services server contains a lot of NetCommunity components. This BBNC software must be updated to match the version of NetCommunity that is on the server Blackbaud hosts for you. Prior to the Blackbaud NetCommunity website being upgraded, Blackbaud will send a notification of the upgrade schedule. It is important to upgrade the REWS shortly after. To confirm your REWS version, we can check the testconfig page. For example, if Blackbaud has upgraded BBNC to version 7.0, but your REWS is still on 6.64, we will see a warning on your testconfig page that looks like this:
 

**Click here to find out what a testconfig page is

While NetCommunity and Raiser’s Edge may still be able to connect and communicate  despite a version mismatch, they cannot communicate efficiently enough to execute all tasks. A variety of issues can crop up that range from annoying to critical. Here are a few of the most common issues you may see.

• Sending an email may fail and throw an Exception error.

• Creating a new or refreshing a constituent email lists can fail.

• Logging into BBNC using an account that is linked to a Raiser’s Edge constituent can be slow or fail altogether.

• Submitting an Event/Donation/Membership/Signup transaction may fail.

• Other pages or parts may be very slow to load, or cause the page to not load at all.

Keep in mind, this is only a short list of some of the pitfalls that can occur when your REWS is not up to date. Any number of other unpredictable behaviors can happen until the two machines match. If you have an IT staff or someone that maintains your servers, you will certainly want to bring this to their attention should you ever see this warning.  

For detailed instructions on how to upgrade your REWS, please click here

*This article assumes that you host your own Raiser’s Edge. If both your NetCommunity and Raiser’s Edge is hosted by Blackbaud, Blackbaud will upgrade both BBNC and REWS at the same time.