32bit move to 64bit Failed Miserably

[spectra]

Well Gang,
Under the guidance of Network Edition: Moving from 32-bit to 64-bit Server - Zimbra :: Wiki I attempted to move from 32bit to 64bit FOSS version 7 on Ubuntu.

This will be good for all I think. Doing it, albeit 1 pass closer to success brought up quite a few process and clarity question. My hope is that I can get this sorted out, go at it again next Sunday and post something very streamlined and precise without vagueness and appealing to the true newbie.

First of, I suppose I goofed by trying to go from FOSS version 7 32 bit Ubuntu 8 LTS to FOSS version 7 Ubuntu 10 LTS. Is the process so strict that I can only go from Ubuntu 8 LTS 32-bit to Ubuntu 8 LTS 64-bit ?
The guide did say "The ZCS installation on the new server must be configured exactly as the ZCS configuration on the original server. You go through the complete menu driven installation process, making changes to the configuration setting to match the settings on the original server."

Here's goes the list of questions that pertains to exactly. How exact are we talking.

1. must it be same Ubuntu 8 LTS 32-bit to Ubuntu 8 LTS 64-bit
I'm assuming I couldn't go to 10 LTS because I failed.

2. can you use a different local ip ? 32-bit was setup on 10.168.8.1 and because I wanted to be fast and not switch IPs, I just went with 64-bit on 10.168.8.8. Does that matter ?

3. in 32bit FOSS 7 I had a wiki account. In 64bit setup there was no wiki account via the install for me to overwrite the way I did the ham and spam accounts. I dunno how to make system accounts. Was this why things failed ?
Another question about accounts and being exact. On the new 64bit install, was I to create the 27 accounts that were present in my 32bit FOSS 7 ? I figured during the process somewhere accounts and such would be copied over. So, am I to create all the accounts as well ?

4. When doing the new 64-bit server the guide says " making changes to the configuration setting to match the settings on the original server "
When I do my install, I then login and set the default COS to my liking, deploy zimlets, do a bunch of other stuff so Zimbra will relay outgoing mail via my ISP, adjust some global settings, and then I create all accounts.

Is this the type of configuration that's meant to be done on the new server ? Heck was so long ago when I did 32bit settings I forgot by now. Please say it ain't so. Let me know what's meant by that ?

5. what does this mean ?
Zimbra LDAP Server - For Domain to create - identify the same default domain as on the original server

Is this just saying use the same domain name ?

6. What does this mean ?
Global Document Account - This account name is automatically generated. Change the Global Document Account name to be the same account name as on the original server.

I assumed that to be the wiki account.
Hell, I never had one in my 10 LTS install
One was present on FOSS 7 LTS 8
What's the right thing to do ? Create it like I did in 10 LTS ?
Leave it out ?

7. Ahh, I love this one.
Change any other settings on the new server to match the configuration on the original server.
For newbies, what or where is that referring to "
Seems vague to me.

8. This whole section of the guide as shown below doesn't tell us to make a /backup folder until we encounter a copy from that location. Also here's where I ran into problems getting info off the old server to the new.
I tell you, getting the files off the 32bit machine over to the 64bit machine is cumbersome. I used scp as root to an equivalent directory with all permissions like /temp. So I copy first from 32bit to 64bit as root using scp to a temp area. Real cumbersome.
Is it okay to tar up the entire /opt directory and move it over to the 64 bit server and work with it there ? Is so that would make it easier to get to the files you need and less problems.


6.0.x and later LDAP setup:

1. Restore the LDAP data to the 64-bit server. As zimbra, type

a. rm -rf /opt/zimbra/data/ldap/hdb/*
b. If this is an ldap master with replicas: rm -rf /opt/zimbra/data/ldap/accesslog/*
c. mkdir -p /opt/zimbra/data/ldap/hdb/db /opt/zimbra/data/ldap/hdb/logs
d. If this is an ldap master with replicas: mkdir -p /opt/zimbra/data/ldap/accesslog/db /opt/zimbra/data/accesslog/logs
e. Copy the file /opt/zimbra/data/ldap/hdb/db/DB_CONFIG from the 32-bit server to /opt/zimbra/data/ldap/hdb/db on the 64-bit server. Note: If this file does not exist, or is empty, creating it may improve ldap performance; see the Performance Tuning Guide for more information.
f. Type chown -R zimbra:zimbra /opt/zimbra/data/ldap
g. Copy from the 32-bit server to the 64-bit server the /backup/ldap.bak file.
h. Type /opt/zimbra/openldap/sbin/slapadd -q -b "" -F /opt/zimbra/data/ldap/config -cv -l /backup/ldap.bak.


9. The localconfig.xml file
Under my situation zimbra_logger_mysql_password entry was never there.
Neither was mailboxd_keystore_base_password

Is this okay ? Is this a flag that I have bigger problems ?
Should this not be anything to worry about ?

10. The guide says :
Copy the following files from the 32-bit server to the 64-bit server

* /opt/zimbra/store/*
* /opt/zimbra/index/*
* Any other volumes that were set up on the 32-bit server such as HSM.


What's mean by Any other volumes that were setup ?
What is HSM ?
I can relate to a directory path with files.
When you get vague and say any other volumes, now you're asking me to know what's up and what's meant by that. What am I to have or look for ?
I don't know, at least not this first time.

11. How about some advise on what to check.
When my system failed due to mailbox notable to start, as I saw from zmcontrol status I abandoned ship. Knowing what log files to get an idea would be nice. I might have been doomed because of any number of the previous items, but it's nice to have something definitive to check.


So, who can set me straight, so I can get at this again next Sunday and be successful ? If I hit I know I can writeup a good enough detailed guide so real newbies can be successful.

Please help and thanks in advance.

[kevindods]

Hi again

Will have a look through what we have and offer any nuggets we can.

K

[n4bbq]

Originally Posted by spectra

Here's goes the list of questions that pertains to exactly. How exact are we talking.

1. must it be same Ubuntu 8 LTS 32-bit to Ubuntu 8 LTS 64-bit
I'm assuming I couldn't go to 10 LTS because I failed.

When I did ours, I went from Mac OS 10.5 (32bit) to Ubuntu 8.04LTS (64bit) and it took a few tries on test boxes to get the steps right.

If I were you, I'd build up my server-to-be and put Ubuntu 8.04LTS - 64 bit on it, along with ZCS 7.0.0 - 64 bit.

Then I'd upgrade my production system (I think you have Ubuntu 8.04LTS - 32 bit) to Zimbra 7.0.0 - 32 bit.

Originally Posted by spectra

2. can you use a different local ip ? 32-bit was setup on 10.168.8.1 and because I wanted to be fast and not switch IPs, I just went with 64-bit on 10.168.8.8. Does that matter?

I took our main server offline by blocking access via IPTables and brought my new system up with the same IP address but access to it also blocked by IPTables (with the exception of my machine from where I was doing the work - via ssh)

Originally Posted by spectra

4. When doing the new 64-bit server the guide says " making changes to the configuration setting to match the settings on the original server "
When I do my install, I then login and set the default COS to my liking, deploy zimlets, do a bunch of other stuff so Zimbra will relay outgoing mail via my ISP, adjust some global settings, and then I create all accounts.

I brought both machines up in separate browsers and went down the list in the setup and just tried to make everything match (not all the users, just the settings). The only users I set up to match (names and passwords) were the admin, spam, and ham accounts.

Originally Posted by spectra

5. what does this mean ?
Zimbra LDAP Server - For Domain to create - identify the same default domain as on the original server

Is this just saying use the same domain name ?

Yes, the server level settings need to be identical to your former (working) server (DNS, hostname, etc.)

Originally Posted by spectra

7. Ahh, I love this one.
Change any other settings on the new server to match the configuration on the original server.
For newbies, what or where is that referring to "
Seems vague to me.

That is just going down the browsers and verifying the two machines are set up the same (Zimbra Admin).

Originally Posted by spectra

8. This whole section of the guide as shown below doesn't tell us to make a /backup folder until we encounter a copy from that location. Also here's where I ran into problems getting info off the old server to the new.
I tell you, getting the files off the 32bit machine over to the 64bit machine is cumbersome. I used scp as root to an equivalent directory with all permissions like /temp. So I copy first from 32bit to 64bit as root using scp to a temp area. Real cumbersome.
Is it okay to tar up the entire /opt directory and move it over to the 64 bit server and work with it there ? Is so that would make it easier to get to the files you need and less problems.

This does take a long time, but after I verified my settings above, I just pulled the drive from the former server, and copied the files needed to the new server.

Originally Posted by spectra

9. The localconfig.xml file
Under my situation zimbra_logger_mysql_password entry was never there.
Neither was mailboxd_keystore_base_password

Is this okay ? Is this a flag that I have bigger problems ?
Should this not be anything to worry about ?

Don't worry if neither system has them. If the old one has one (or both), then create it on the new system and keep on trucking.

Originally Posted by spectra

10. The guide says :
Copy the following files from the 32-bit server to the 64-bit server

* /opt/zimbra/store/*
* /opt/zimbra/index/*
* Any other volumes that were set up on the 32-bit server such as HSM.

What's mean by Any other volumes that were setup ?
What is HSM ?

I'll guess its Hierarchical Storage Management. Just from my perspective, anything I don't know what is, I usually don't have - ha ha

Click below to read my post when I did ours. Take your time, read the pages over a few more times, and it helps to have a test system to play with before hitting your production system.

Migration Mac OS 10.5 (ZCS 6.05 - 32bit) -> Ubuntu 8.04LTS (ZCS 6.05 - 64bit)

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by spectra

8. This whole section of the guide as shown below doesn't tell us to make a /backup folder until we encounter a copy from that location. Also here's where I ran into problems getting info off the old server to the new.

The article does tell you to create the backup directory in the "Preparing the 32-bit Server" section and later it tells you to restore from the file that gets created there.

Originally Posted by spectra

I tell you, getting the files off the 32bit machine over to the 64bit machine is cumbersome. I used scp as root to an equivalent directory with all permissions like /temp. So I copy first from 32bit to 64bit as root using scp to a temp area. Real cumbersome.
Is it okay to tar up the entire /opt directory and move it over to the 64 bit server and work with it there ? Is so that would make it easier to get to the files you need and less problems.

No, it wouldn't. You need to run the steps as they are listed in the article, the Zimbra server needs to be running when you dump the LDAP data. You can't simply copy the files over to the new machine without having the dumped LDAP data to import into the new server. Read the instructions carefully and practice doing it until you understand what's happening.

[spectra]

Can I go from FOSS 32bit Ubuntu 8 LTS to 64 bit 10 LTS ?

When the article says "The ZCS installation on the new server must be configured exactly as the ZCS configuration on the original server" does that mean down to the Global settings, COS settings, and all accounts that exist on the original server ?

How do you handle the case where SPAM, HAM, & wiki accounts exist on the original but not on the FOSS 64bit 10 LTS. What do you do then, leave it out or create it. We can't create a system level account.

Does the local IPs have to match precisely too ?

Sure I can and will do it again, but how do I magically understand what's happening See my point. There are issues that come up and since we are not in the "know" how do we know what's what.

Thanks for the specific answers to questions in advance.

[kashifali]

spectra:
I have just was able to successfully migrate from ubuntu 8 32 bit to ubuntu 10 64 bit. By following exact steps at "http://wiki.zimbra.com/index.php?title=64_bit"

Just a note that, one step that I did at the end was "commercial certificates".

I made sure that all the services were coming up gracefully... then i migrated certificate
Hope it helps

-kashif

[spectra]

Kashifali:

Does any of these matter:

When the article says "The ZCS installation on the new server must be configured exactly as the ZCS configuration on the original server" does that mean down to the Global settings, COS settings, and all accounts that exist on the original server ?

How do you handle the case where SPAM, HAM, & wiki accounts exist on the original but not on the FOSS 64bit 10 LTS. What do you do then, leave it out or create it. We can't create a system level account.

Does the local IPs have to match precisely too ?

What does this mean ?
Zimbra LDAP Server - For Domain to create - identify the same default domain as on the original server.
Does itmean use the same domain name ?


what does this mean ?
Global Document Account - This account name is automatically generated. Change the Global Document Account name to be the same account name as on the original server.
In my case I had a wiki account under 8 but under 10 install there was no wiki account.

What does this mean ?
Change any other settings on the new server to match the configuration on the original server.
Must I create all the accounts that were on the old on the new
Must I recall all COS and GLobal settings and ensure they are the same.
Does this matter.

To give an example of clarity.
When the docc says 1. Stop the ZCS services, type zmcontrol stop.
No ambiguity there, just do that.

This is why Im confused. Precision is required because I am just doing without knowing the details. Cool that you said you followed the exact steps, you must have other experience that kicked in.


How would I know my answer to this:
If this is an ldap master with replicas: rm -rf /opt/zimbra/data/ldap/accesslog/*
I assumed since I saw no such directory, I was not a master with replica.

What technique are you using to move files from old server to new ?
I used scp out of desperation.


All XML file parameters were not present in my xml file.
e. mailboxd_truststore_password element was not there on my old server.
Do I just keep moving or did this cause me to fail

I don't use commercial certificates, do I just skip section 4 all together

Since you've done it, can you please answer my questions

Thanks in advance for the glimmer of hope

[kashifali]

Originally Posted by spectra

When the article says "The ZCS installation on the new server must be configured exactly as the ZCS configuration on the original server" does that mean down to the Global settings, COS settings, and all accounts that exist on the original server ?

My understanding is that it is referring to zimbra version as in to the build # of old and new are same.

you don't have to worry about COS setting and any other user define accounts

Originally Posted by spectra

How do you handle the case where SPAM, HAM, & wiki accounts exist on the original but not on the FOSS 64bit 10 LTS. What do you do then, leave it out or create it. We can't create a system level account.

on new server, once you do a clean install, you will see SPAM, HAM WiKi accounts created by default. Log on to the admin portal and change user name to match the old server. example: spam.XXXXX sould match spam.XXXX from the old server

Originally Posted by spectra

Does the local IPs have to match precisely too ?

No IP don't have to match, however, the hostname and FQDN must be the same

Originally Posted by spectra

What does this mean ?
Zimbra LDAP Server - For Domain to create - identify the same default domain as on the original server.
Does itmean use the same domain name ?

item # 4 Backup the LDAP data, as zimbra, type /opt/zimbra/libexec/zmslapcat /backup should take care of it

Originally Posted by spectra

what does this mean ?
Global Document Account - This account name is automatically generated. Change the Global Document Account name to be the same account name as on the original server.
In my case I had a wiki account under 8 but under 10 install there was no wiki account.

Rule of thumb, if you have an wiki account on your version 8, then you create on 10.

Originally Posted by spectra

What does this mean ?
Change any other settings on the new server to match the configuration on the original server.
Must I create all the accounts that were on the old on the new
Must I recall all COS and GLobal settings and ensure they are the same.
Does this matter.

you don't have to worry about that, most of the information are stored in the database, so when you migrate the database, all that information will migrate too

Originally Posted by spectra

To give an example of clarity.
When the docc says 1. Stop the ZCS services, type zmcontrol stop.
No ambiguity there, just do that.

remember, any ZCS service commands are to be used as zimbra user, so if you logged in as root, please su to zimbra, then you run "zmcontrol stop"

Originally Posted by spectra

How would I know my answer to this:
If this is an ldap master with replicas: rm -rf /opt/zimbra/data/ldap/accesslog/*
I assumed since I saw no such directory, I was not a master with replica.

if you have a standalone mail server, then this command may not be applicable to you, however executing it will not hurt you migration

Originally Posted by spectra

What technique are you using to move files from old server to new ?
I used scp out of desperation.

I too am using scp to copy the files, another Note, once you have copied the files, please verify the files and the path, at least check it twice. Sometime scp "may" create additional child directory based on the command issued

Originally Posted by spectra

All XML file parameters were not present in my xml file.
e. mailboxd_truststore_password element was not there on my old server.
Do I just keep moving or did this cause me to fail

if it doesn't exist on ur old box, then don't worry

Originally Posted by spectra

I don't use commercial certificates, do I just skip section 4 all together

I believe skipping # 4 should work, however, if the services comes up successfully, and you can't access admin portal, then you should perform # 4. another note, that you should be coping at least 3 .key files and 3 .crt files

Hope this helps
-kashif