Upgrading Zimbra 6 -> 7 and RHEL 5-> 6

[mattg1]

We are running Zimbra (NE) 6.0.13 on RHEL5 and want to uprade to Zimbra 7.1.2 (or maybe wait until 7.1.3) and also move to RHEL6.

After looking at the release notes and the various pages with system requirements, I can't find a documented way to jump from RHEL5 to RHEL6.

Zimbra 6 runs only on RHEL5. Zimbra 7 can run on either RHEL5 or RHEL6, depending on which package you install. But I don't see a path from RHEL5 to RHEL6 described anywhere.

What's the recommended sequence to achieve this? Thanks.

[mattg1]

Let's try a more specific question. Would this work:


0. Currently running: 6.0.14 (RHEL5)
1. Upgrade ZCS to 7.1.3 (RHEL5)
2. Update operating system to RHEL6
3. "Cross-grade" ZCS to 7.1.3 (RHEL6)


Does that sound doable?

Thanks...

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by mattg1

Does that sound doable?

It's never recommended to update the operating system to a new major version, you should install a clean copy of RHEL6 - it's covered in the RHEL Release Notes (IIRC). If you only have the one server then there are many articles on how to move Zimbra to a new install after you've installed a new copy of RHEL6: site:zimbra.com +"move zimbra" +"new server" - Yahoo! Search Results

[mattg1]

Thanks... I wasn't clear in my posting, but I wouldn't "update" the OS per se. It would be a clean RHEL6 install on another machine, with the Zimbra SAN volumes (previously updated to 7.1.3 under RHEL5) remounted there for the Zimbra upgrade. Then, hypothetically, Zimbra 7.1.3 would be re-installed from the RHEL6-compatible package.

My concern was how Zimbra would react to such Zimbra upgrades. I would really rather not have to restore 1000+ users (2+ TB).

Edit:

So the sequence I'm imagining, more detailled, might look like:

0. Currently running: 6.0.14 (RHEL5)
1. Upgrade ZCS to 7.1.3 (RHEL5)
2. Stop ZCS, unmount ZCS volumes
3. Remount ZCS volumes on another machine with fresh RHEL6 and fresh ZCS 7.1.3 (RHEL6) already installed
4. Re-install ZCS 7.1.3 (RHEL6) on same machine as step 3.
5. Start ZCS on same machine as step 3-4. This is now the active ZCS server.

Possible? Good? Bad?

I wonder about step 4, because I think the install process likes to have some Zimbra services running, and if the wrong libc libraries are installed on the system, this may fail.

[furlongm]

Hi,

I'm also thinking of doing the exact same thing. Did you have any luck with this upgrade process?

[ewilen]

If you have ZCS NE and a support contract, perhaps it would be worth opening a ticket.

EDIT: rest of post deleted, I don't want to give inaccurate info.

[mattg1]

Originally Posted by furlongm

I'm also thinking of doing the exact same thing. Did you have any luck with this upgrade process?

I ended up sticking with RHEL5 for the upgrade to ZCS 7.1.3. Maybe some day in the future I'll tackle the OS change.