Migration in general is a tricky thing if not managed properly.  That
said, Trac isn't particularly resource intensive.  Would be curious to
know if moving Trac will actually get you any measurable value in
terms of offloading the workload from the decrepit Unix box.  :)

My take with Trac migrations is to make sure you are understanding
what you are actually migrating.

Many people confuse migrating Trac with migrating SVN vs. migrating
the Trac database, accounts, and maybe associated plugins.

Migrating the Trac database and tickets is really straight forward.
My approach to this process is installing a new version of Trac on
your windows machine, and when you have been able to test that the
system "works" on that new box, to migrate the database and any
artifacts like ticket attachments and the wiki (which I believe there
is a migration tool of sorts to help with that, although I admit, I've
only used the tool in a Unix->Unix migration, not a Unix->Windows
migration so the mileage may vary).

This actual data migration should occur during a period where the
database is not in use.  If you happen to be using the same backend,
like a mysql server->mysql server dump, then you have the ability to
lock down/shut down the database - do an appropriate copy, and then
reconstitute the database on the other machine.  As long as you
control access to the system such that there is no overlap in use
between the two systems, this shouldn't be much of a problem.  The
good news is that you can practice this migration using snapshots of
the original database and then "officially migrate" when you are
satisfied there are no hitches in the process.

SVN then is the more significant issue (in my mind at least).  IIRC,
Trac has some restriction/preference about SVN running on the same
machine as Trac does?  I'm not sure about the reason behind that
restriction, as I would think that FileMounts/Shortcuts/etc would be
stable enough provided that there wasn't some ridiculous geographical
difference between the Trac server and the SVN machine.  But that's
besides the point.  You will also want to bake in the time to migrate
your SVN repository as well.

Just to offer my perspective, I'm as big a Windows apologist as you
might ever find in the open source community.  I enjoy administering
Windows servers because I know them well enough to not get myself into
a situation that requires any sort of voodoo magic.  :)  But I have to
admit, it seems a tad nonsensical to intentionally add variables like
changing the OS underneath Trac (and possibly SVN?) just to feed some
corporate ego about using a Windows machine.  The hardware required
for Trac to run is pretty much a pittance.  Slap some variation of
Linux on an old machine that might otherwise be only good as a
doorstop, and you're pretty much good to go.... that all said, in
addition to the migration pieces, you will want to make sure that your
SVN and Trac backup strategies are implemented properly in the Windows
environment.

If you are already in a well developed backup practice with your Linux
machine, then being able to make snapshots of the relevant portions of
your Trac and SVN (and Apache pieces) will make things trivial.

Also remember that you will need to migrate the user authentication
methodology.  i.e. if you are using LDAP on Apache in conjunction with
the Trac Account Manager, you will need to verify that your accounts
are migrating properly.  LDAP makes things mostly trivial, especially
if you're already using something against an existing repository -
Active Directory counts :).  But if you are hand managing accounts on
the core Unix side and in Trac, then you may want to see if there's
some value in going against AD if you're not already.

Good luck.  Take lots of notes and snapshots, and really take your
time in planning out your various steps and dependencies.  At the end
of the day, you should have a very manageable punch list of items that
you can just walk down, and as long as you appropriately plan what to
do in those, "Oh crap" moments that may invariably happen, you will be
fine.  This really won't be so bad.

Hope you are able to cull some knowledge from the ramble.

Best,

Vincent Polite
On Jan 26, 6:23 am, Flatfender <[email protected]> wrote:
> > P.S. @Matt: If you don't want to help with Windows issues, why do you
> > answer at all? :)
>
> To clarify my original response.
>
> The first of which is that my experience is that Windows gets no love
> from the open source community and you'll most likely get less
> responses, that is a big deal when the only support you have is from
> other members of the community. PHB's that don't understand FOSS need
> to understand that, they may not be able to enjoy having their cake
> and eating it too.  They want FOSS, but don't want to devote the
> resources to it.  Or they get bogged down in their little Microsoft
> only world.  Just because you can get Python, Apache, Postgres, Mysql,
> etc running on windows doesn't mean it will be as easy to deploy the
> same app windows as it is Linux. And you'll find less people with
> experience and desire to help trouble shoot the differences.
>
> Now, I don't run windows servers if I don't have to, I do maintain
> some, but I don't have any FOSS apps running on them.  What I meant by
> the life is too short for me to be a windows admin, is  I generally
> won't try to run FOSS on Windows,  and consequently I wouldn't have
> windows environments setup to try to troubleshoot on.  I never said I
> didn't want to help.  What I said was help will be harder to find and
> that is a big deal.  I answered to make that specific point.
>
> Matt P.
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