Before you upgrade your application, ensure that you complete all of the following tasks.

1. Before starting an update, and before backing up your system, review the database policies and application permissions that are used by your Pega Platform update. Determine whether the application is permitted to update the database automatically or if you must generate the database scripts that your organization will use to manually make schema changes.
2. Update to the latest version of Pega Platform 8.5, and ensure that you can log in as an administrator. For more information, see the Pega Platform Update Guide for your environment on the Deploy Pega Platform page.
3. Update the Pega Platform online help to the latest version from the Online Help Files section on the Pega Platform Update page. After you download the latest prhelp.war file, deploy it in your Pega Platform installation before continuing. For deployment information, see the Pega Platform Installation Guide for your application server.
4. Upgrade to Pega Foundation for Financial Services 8.5. For information, see the Pega Foundation for Financial Services 8.5 Upgrade Guide on the Pega Foundation for Financial Services product page.
   Apply any required hotfixes to the Pega Foundation for Financial Services application before proceeding with the Pega Customer Decision Hub for Financial Services installation. For a list of required hotfixes, see the Pega Foundation for Financial Services Hotfixes page.
5. Upgrade to Product Designer for Financial Services 8.5. For more information, see the Product Designer for Financial Services 8.5 Upgrade Guide on the Pega Foundation for Financial Services product page.

   Apply any required hotfixes to the Product Designer for Financial Services application before proceeding with the Pega Customer Decision Hub for Financial Services installation. For a list of required hotfixes, see the Product Designer for Financial Services Hotfixes page.

6. Upgrade to Pega Customer Decision Hub 8.5. For more information, see the Pega Customer Decision Hub 8.5 Upgrade Guide on the Pega Customer Decision Hub product page.

   Apply any required hotfixes to the Pega Customer Decision Hub 8.5 application before proceeding with the Pega Customer Decision Hub for Financial Services installation. For a list of required hotfixes, see the Pega Customer Decision Hub Hotfixes page.

   Important: Do not import any Pega Customer Decision Hub sample jars because this interferes with the Pega Foundation for Financial Services application's sample data.