AppSheet scheduled maintenance window - Sunday, May 21st, 2pm - 4pm PDT (9pm - 11pm GMT)

[Adam_Stevens]

UPDATE (2023-04-27): Thank you for the feedback!  Based on the discussion from this community, we've moved the maintenance window back to May 21st. In the future, for these extremely rare events, we will ensure that we give a minimum 4 weeks notification. 

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Hello everyone,

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AppSheet will be intermittently available due to maintenance on May 21st, from 2PM to 4PM PDT (9pm - 11pm GMT). This is to upgrade servers and software for a better experience.

This is a rare event - we’re sorry for any inconvenience to you.  I will be updating you on the status live in this thread. 

Thanks,

Adam & the AppSheet Team

[SkrOYC]

Warning, some funny stuff is in here

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Show More

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[takuya_miyai]

Hi @SkrOYC 

Could you please remove this image?🙇‍♂️

We understand that this is a joke because of your commitment to AppSheet.

It's humor that is understood by members who understand context, and it made me chuckle. I even Liked it immediately!😄

On the other hand, there are cases where this maintenance is shown as a thumbnail when it is shared widely.

 
Since some users are not yet familiar with AppSheet Community, the background is that I would like to ask you to remove it here once.

Thank you for always making the right points with a dash of humor.🙏

[SkrOYC]

So now it's even more hilarious 😂

Give me a moment...

[takuya_miyai]

@SkrOYC 

Thanks!!😂

[Carlos_Londono]

Estaremos atentos.

Muchas Gracias por informar

[Chosk]

Hi Adam, this will affect the running apps or only development ambient?

[Simon_Robinson]

Good point.  Will bots still run?  Or will they just be delayed?

[Adam_Stevens]

AppSheet apps running "offline" will not be impacted, but if loading an app in a browser on a desktop during a small window of outage, that will be impacted.

Nice article: https://support.google.com/appsheet/answer/10107724?hl=en

Just to clarify - we do not anticipate being down for the full 2 hour period, but only for windows within that time period.

[takuya_miyai]

Hi @Adam_Stevens 

As @Simon_Robinson pointed out, I am also concerned about the behavior of the Automation Bot.

If we perform a Sync with Data change during maintenance time, will the Bot work?

Also, will a scheduled Bot that runs during maintenance time be activated? Or will it be executed with a delay?
For example, what would be the behavior of a scheduled Bot set for April 30th, 3pm?

[dbaum]

@Adam_Stevens, we still need a lot more info! The crucial point we need to have clarity on is whether the impact is limited to delays in app loading (and, presumably, data syncing) or whether it's possible that data changes, automations, external calls to the AppSheet API, etc., may become orphaned rather than simply queued to process on a delayed basis.

Here are various detailed questions from elsewhere in the conversation:

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@Adam_Stevens wrote:

in a browser on a desktop during a small window of outage, that will be impacted

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Do your explicit references to "browser" and "desktop" mean that apps running in the AppSheet native mobile app are unaffected? (That seems unlikely, but is implied by your comments covering other scenarios but not this one.)

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@Adam_Stevens wrote:

only for windows within that time period

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How long should we anticipate any given "window" will last?

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@Simon_Robinson wrote:

Will bots still run?  Or will they just be delayed?

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For example:

• Is it possible that data changes that are supposed to trigger an automation will sync but become orphaned and not trigger the automation because something is unavailable?
• What happens to an in-progress automation (including automations currently processing long Wait steps) if an outage window commences?

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@WillowMobileSys wrote:

impact to the Editor

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Is there any separate impact to app creators being able to work on our apps other than to the emulator pane (i.e., "in a browser on a desktop during a small window of outage, that will be impacted")?

@Roderick: The community has an urgent, critical need here.

[Roderick]

Hey there @dbaum - working behind the scenes to tag in some Googlers to help address some of the concerns! As @Adam_Stevens noted, this intermittent downtime is rare and needed to undertake some critical enhancements that will address a number of other concerns surfaced across the community. 

[WillowMobileSys]

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@Roderick wrote:

this intermittent downtime is rare and needed to undertake some critical enhancements that will address a number of other concerns surfaced across the community. 

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Nobody in this thread is criticising or questioning the need for the maintenance.  We are all thankful of the efforts being made to improve the platform.  I personally appreciate the difficulties of finding an opportune time to perform these critical updates.

The REAL question at the heart of these inquiries...

Will users and/or Bots LOSE changes during the "unavailable" window(s)?  Or put another way, will data submissions be dropped?

We just need to be told what to expect with app activity or processing occurring at the time of the outage windows.   From that we can decide what actions, if any, we should take for our apps.

[dbaum]

We’re all glad that whatever improvements are on the way.

Precisely because downtime is rare we need better info. If it occurred regularly we’d know what impacts to expect and we would have already managed expectations with our customers that it can occur with barely a few days’ notice. 

[RobyLaga]

Speriamo bene...

che non faccia DANNI!!!!

[WillowMobileSys]

Hi AppSheet Team!

Thank you for the heads up!

As others on this thread have asked, could you please provide more details about availability to the AppSheet platform during this maintenance window? 

I would image you are cycling servers out of the server farm to perform the necessary updates in order to prevent any break in service.  Is this NOT correct and do we need to plan for an unavailable platform?  I have a client with users accessing the app 24x7.  It is important to provide them with proper expectations.

Please let us know the expected behaviors for

• active users in deployed apps
• associated Bots,  both cyclic and  Scheduled, to the deployed apps
• It would be nice to know impact to the Editor, as well , for us Weeked App Creators!

[Adam_Stevens · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the specific questions!

We've made some significant strides to increase availability over the past 2 years, which is one reason we have not had any sort of maintenance window in a while. This window is helping us further improve our availability and also set up some mechanisms that will continue to help us reduce the need for future occurrences.

Both Editor and Apps will be impacted.  During the intermittent outages during the window, appsheet.com will be unresponsive.  Apps can continue to function (see post above on offline app usage), but will not sync if appsheet.com is unresponsive.

Scheduled automations during this period should generally be unaffected, they may run delayed, but the scheduled automations have automatic retries built in. 

[WillowMobileSys]

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@Adam_Stevens wrote:

Both Editor and Apps will be impacted.  During the intermittent outages during the window, appsheet.com will be unresponsive.  Apps can continue to function (see post above on offline app usage), but will not sync if appsheet.com is unresponsive.

Scheduled automations during this period should generally be unaffected, they may run delayed, but the scheduled automations have automatic retries built in. 

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@Adam_Stevens  @SantiagoU  and AppSheet Team,

Thank you so much for this reply.  I am not sure how I missed it yesterday.

It is all, I think, most of us need to plan for the maintenance now expected to be performed on the 21st of May.

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NOTE: For all interested that are still keeping updated with this thread...The below is the insight and recommendations from an ordinary experienced Community Member and is not provided by any suggested from any Google Team person.

I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night! (a joke for the US counterparts)

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...the Good News is it sounds like it is business as usual.  We should not expect any noticeable impact to our apps EXCEPT a possible small delay with a Sync, data update, automation trigger or Scheduled automation IF these requests coincide with the short windows of server unavailability that will occur during the 2 hour maintenance window.

CAUTION:  As technology goes, there is always a risk of updates causing unexpected side-effects and resulting in larger downtimes.

Should you be concerned of potential app impact and have the luxury of your app being made completely unavailable during the maintenance window, then you may wish to consider using the "Pause App" feature button found under the  Manage->Deploy tab of the app.

If you do Pause the app and there could potentially be live users, I would recommend sending a cautionary Broadcast notification 30 minutes AND 15 minutes before the Pause.  This will give users time to complete anything they may be working on and get out of the app.  A nice touch is to send another message once you have returned the app to normal usage.

I hope this helps someone!

[SkrOYC]

Another idea, assuming you have built the system for it, is to make your apps Read Only through Security Filters.

If there is a user table, great. If it's not applied yet, maybe now it's the moment to do something like it, to make the app Read Only with ease

[dbaum]

@Adam_Stevens, as others have noted, we definitely need more details regarding exactly what might be affected so we can manage expectations for app users as well as plan our own work.

Also, in the future, please provide more advance notice to prepare. I happened to see this announcement the same day it's published and even then it's less than a week ahead of the possible downtime. It can require longer lead time to communicate with clients and adjust plans--especially if an app creator doesn't see the announcement until several days after it's published. For example, if I were on vacation from AppSheet this week and any of my clients were planning app-dependent activities next Sunday afternoon (which wouldn't be uncommon), I might not even realize until something goes wrong and I receive an automated alert or, worse, a customer complaint.

[dbaum]

@Adam_Stevens, have you been able to flesh out the specifics of what app editors and app users will experience? We need to inform our customers, and if we pass on only the minimal information you've shared so far, they'll have the same questions we're asking here.

[Roderick]

The team is working on a more comprehensive response as we speak!

@dbaum noted on the lead-time for these types of announcements. I've pinned this post for visibility and will share this feedback more broadly with the teams. 

[CapnBluntbeard]

If only you knew what our state mandated compliance database was like. They'll push updates overnight with no warning that break a lot of my automations, or have unscheduled server maintenance to the tune of once every two weeks or so..

For me, this is an amazing amount of advanced notice! 😂

(I do feel your frustration though)

[Aurelien]

Hi @Adam_Stevens 

Thank you for the information.

Would it make sense to combien a broadcast notification along with this action?

[Saddam]

Dear @Adam_Stevens 

Thank you very much 😍 that your are upgrading AppSheet Server & Software.

I really appreciate you and all of the Team!! So you will upgrade 30th of April right?

In the mean time, I want suggest you some improvement that is important.

1. Need more powerful Database from AppSheet.
2. Need More powerful Sync System for the application .***
3. Need Automation System to trigger any kind of task without update row data.
4. Need to add/remove Users from the Database .
5. Need more powerful and more than 10MB in Payload for the Automation System.***
6. Need more advance Graph Chart 📊 .
7. Need access to do some custom changes in UX Design.

At the end, Need more powerful Sync system and more Capable Database to run and do work by application  more friendly.***

Thanks

Saddam Hossain

AppSheet Developer

Dubai, UAE | Muscat , Oman

[takuya_miyai]

Thanks @Adam_Stevens 

I think you should pin this topic and display it at the top of the Announcements category.

As it is now, it looks like a past maintenance announcement.

 https://www.googlecloudcommunity.com/gc/Announcements/bd-p/appsheet-announcements

[Roderick]

Done! 

[Nguyenpham89]

????

[CapnBluntbeard]

Máy chủ AppSheet sẽ ngừng hoạt động trong 2 giờ vào ngày 30 tháng 4!

[SantiagoU]

Hi all please notice that we updated the date of the maintenance window based on feedback from the community and customers. This will give more time for you to prepare. The previous responses still apply. Thank you all for your feedback and engagement!

Santiago.

[takuya_miyai]

Hi @Adam_Stevens 

I see that the update here is a week away.
It would be great to have a summary of how AppSheet works in response to the concerns raised in this thread once it is done.

Because I have looked at the thread in its entirety but do not have an exhaustive understanding.

Thanks.

@SantiagoU @Roderick 

[WillowMobileSys]

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@Adam_Stevens wrote:

Both Editor and Apps will be impacted.  During the intermittent outages during the window, appsheet.com will be unresponsive.  Apps can continue to function (see post above on offline app usage), but will not sync if appsheet.com is unresponsive.

Scheduled automations during this period should generally be unaffected, they may run delayed, but the scheduled automations have automatic retries built in.

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This was the best answer,  I don't think we'll get anymore details than this.  You can "Pause" the app during the maintenance window if you still have concerns.

[SantiagoU]

 Takuya, please let us know if there are open questions. In short, the apps and AppSheet.com may not be available during the maintenance window. Scheduled automations  may be delayed. Hope this helps. Thanks!

[takuya_miyai]

Thanks @WillowMobileSys @SantiagoU 

Now that @SantiagoU  has set it as Best answer, this thread is easier to see. Thank you.

I am curious as to how long the delay will be with regard to Automation, but I don't think I can answer to the individual application level behavior.
Therefore, I would like to be prepared for the worst-case scenario that the Automation schedule execution is cancelled on the day of the event, which would not be a problem.

Finally, I'll link again to @WillowMobileSys  methods. (I'd really like this to be a Best answer too, but since it's not a Google comment, that's difficult)

https://www.googlecloudcommunity.com/gc/Announcements/AppSheet-scheduled-maintenance-window-Sunday-M...

[Adam_Stevens]

Hello all!

We have commenced our maintenance and will be working to minimize the window as much as possible. We will update this thread when complete!

Thank you!

Adam

[jake_ebe]

Hi Adam. Are there any updates regarding on the maintenance?

[Adam_Stevens]

Upgrades are completed.  The period of impact was ~3:45 to 4:15pm PT.  We're still monitoring the system and making sure everything returns to baseline, and will update here if there are any follow-ups.

Thanks for your patience everyone!

[jyothis_m]

Hi @Adam_Stevens Thanks for updating the status of the maintenance activity. Can we know what are the major changes done during this maintenance and what impact/improvements can we find in the apps after this.