Re: [IMail Forum] 2006.2 migrate or in-place upgrade and what's involved

[Dave Doherty]

You can do this a few at a time, but that means your users may have to adjust 
their mail client settings to point to the new server. What I outlined here is 
done en-masse, and results in no changes at all for the mail clients if you 
swap IPs at the end of the process.  I've done this each time I've upgraded to 
new hardware, and it works very well. 

I have never done it like you, straight from 7.15 to 2006, but I believe it 
should work fine, at least as far as the mailboxes and user settings go. You 
might want to test it with a domain or two, then make your move if all works. 
Also, check address books and lists. They may be formatted differently between 
the versions. You're leaping over one major release and a whole bunch of minor 
version changes..

-d

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Imail Admin 
  To: Imail_Forum@list.ipswitch.com 
  Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2007 2:53 AM
  Subject: Re: [IMail Forum] 2006.2 migrate or in-place upgrade and what's 
involved


  Hi Dave,

  OK, you didn't say, but I'm assuming you're saying to do this after a fresh 
install of 2006.2 on the new server?  (That is, Path #2 in my original post.)  

  In that case, any reason I couldn't do this a few domains at a time?  Just 
take part of the registry, then some more, and so on?  Or, plan B would be to 
copy the entire domains registry key to the new server but only move the 
mailbox files as each domain is ready (a few at a time).

  Thanks,

  Ben

    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Dave Doherty 
    To: Imail_Forum@list.ipswitch.com 
    Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 8:27 PM
    Subject: Re: [IMail Forum] 2006.2 migrate or in-place upgrade and what's 
involved


    Hi, Ben-

    I'll take a crack at this, although I will undoubtedly miss a few details...

    Hopefully, you have all your domains on your D drive and your new server 
also has a D drive. If not, you will have to duplicate EXACTLY the current 
setup onto the new server.

    Run RegEdit and access HKLM/Software/Ipswitch/IMail/Domains. Export this to 
temp.reg

    Copy the temp.reg file to the new server.

    On the new server, double-click temp.reg and respond in the affirmative.

    Open the administrator on the new machine (http://mail.hooha.com/iadmin) 
and check that the domains look good.

    Shut down all services on both systems.

    Copy everything in your old IMail domains path (maybe D:\IMail\domains\) to 
your new server on the identical path.

    Access your domain path on the new server and use the Search feature to 
delete all rules files (*.ima). With a version as old as yours, the old rule 
formats will not play with the new product.

    Delete all web directories in the domains space. All of the webmail files 
have changed totally and nothing you have will be valid for the new version.

    Start POP, IMAP, WebMail, SMTP and Queue Manager.

    Be prepared to handle lots of tech support calls.


    -Dave Doherty
     Skywaves, Inc.
     97 Webster Street
     Worcester, MA 01603
     508-425-7176


      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Imail Admin 
      To: Imail_Forum@list.ipswitch.com 
      Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 10:15 PM
      Subject: [IMail Forum] 2006.2 migrate or in-place upgrade and what's 
involved


      Hi,

      With the release of 2006.2, we're finally ready to upgrade.  We've been 
waiting a long time, as shown by the fact that our old server runs 7.15.  We 
have a new server ready to run 2006.2, and I can see two paths to take:

      1. Copy over the existing 7.15 installation to the new machine, then 
install 2006.2 over it.

      2. Do a fresh install of 2006.2 to the new machine, and then migrate the 
users.

      Path #2 is preferrable to two reasons: first, we've been running IMail a 
long time and the old server has a lot of legacy files and registry entries 
dating back to Version 4 or 3.  So a clean start would be nice and might help 
to avoid future problems.  Second, we would really prefer to move the domains 
over a few at a time, just to make sure everything is running smoothly.  Moving 
everyone over at once is just asking for trouble in trumps.

      Path #1 is preferrable for one reason: I make sure that all of the users, 
their messages, settings, lists, etc. all get moved over correctly.  

      I know that I can generate a list of domains and users to use with 
adduser.exe, but I don't know about actually moving their mail all over to the 
new system.  Is there an easy or automated way to do that?  Will it work to 
just copy over all of the mailbox files?  And what about rules, lists, and 
other personalized items?

      I looked through the archives backwards and forwards, and although I saw 
a couple of questions along this line, I didn't see any detailed answers.  
Which path is preferrable?  And if I follow Path #2, what is involved in 
migrating the domains, users, their mail, and everything else?

      Thanks,

      Ben
      BC Web