Zimbra Desktop on linux deletes everything in destination folder

[kevinnj]

I was installing Zimbra desktop and got to the part of the step by step installation where it asks for a folder where it will be installed. I typed in /home/kevinnj and the $%^# thing deleted my whole home folder without any confirmation. How is this acceptable behaviour? I have lost all the data in my home folder. Please note that the installation was done as a normal user and not as root. Why, why, why does zimbra need to delete the contents of a directory. If it finds that the directory has other files in it can't it ask the user to supply the location of a new directory

[LMStone]

Originally Posted by kevinnj

I was installing Zimbra desktop and got to the part of the step by step installation where it asks for a folder where it will be installed. I typed in /home/kevinnj and the $%^# thing deleted my whole home folder without any confirmation. How is this acceptable behaviour? I have lost all the data in my home folder. Please note that the installation was done as a normal user and not as root. Why, why, why does zimbra need to delete the contents of a directory. If it finds that the directory has other files in it can't it ask the user to supply the location of a new directory

Hi Kevin,

Wow. I appreciate your frustration as I know how much time I have spent organizing things for my own Linux home folder. I'm guessing you don't have a recent backup either?

You are right that the installer doesn't give any warning that it will empty the target directory if the target diectory exists already, but may I ask why you choose to change the default destination installation directory suggested by the installer?

Again, I agree the installer doesn't make clear (except through the suggestion of a separate default directory) that it wants its own separate directory, but to be fair, I can't think of any app that didn't want to use its own dedicated subdirectory in my home folder.

You are welcome to file a report on Zimbra's bugzilla. I think the installer being programmed to warn the user about a non-empty pre-existing directory would be a good thing, and I'd be happy to vote for it as well too.

Let me know if you need help setting up a bugzilla account.

Hope that helps,
Mark

[dnach]

I'm a technical support agent so I know a thing about "standing up for the product" I support no matter how I truly feel BUT, I lost ALL my files!!!

For some reason beyond my understanding you ask questions like "but may I ask why you choose to change the default destination installation directory suggested by the installer?" - Why do you think we use Linux? To be constrained and tied down? Once it's not an app from the repositories, we should be completely free to install an app where ever we see best. And then you say things like "but to be fair, I can't think of any app that didn't want to use its own dedicated subdirectory in my home folder.". Really??? This is a huge failure on the part of Zimbra!!! I mean, all other programs would just create a sub-dir with the app name like ".zimbra" instead of actually trying to overwrite my home directory.

Furthermore you mentioned organization... Isn't that what Zimbra is about? And yet it finds itself wiping months of organization from my pc! At this point, I'm going to have to do a full system reinstall just to be safe AND never even think about Zimbra again.

PS: I just needed to vent my anger at someone because most of my important files were LUCKILY on a separate partition lol. Still though, I think that need to either be fixed immediately or update the installation readme with the info because for people like me that work with 1st impressions, that will mean less new users of Zimbra.

[LMStone]

Originally Posted by dnach

I'm a technical support agent so I know a thing about "standing up for the product" I support no matter how I truly feel BUT, I lost ALL my files!!!

For some reason beyond my understanding you ask questions like "but may I ask why you choose to change the default destination installation directory suggested by the installer?" - Why do you think we use Linux? To be constrained and tied down? Once it's not an app from the repositories, we should be completely free to install an app where ever we see best. And then you say things like "but to be fair, I can't think of any app that didn't want to use its own dedicated subdirectory in my home folder.". Really??? This is a huge failure on the part of Zimbra!!! I mean, all other programs would just create a sub-dir with the app name like ".zimbra" instead of actually trying to overwrite my home directory.

Furthermore you mentioned organization... Isn't that what Zimbra is about? And yet it finds itself wiping months of organization from my pc! At this point, I'm going to have to do a full system reinstall just to be safe AND never even think about Zimbra again.

PS: I just needed to vent my anger at someone because most of my important files were LUCKILY on a separate partition lol. Still though, I think that need to either be fixed immediately or update the installation readme with the info because for people like me that work with 1st impressions, that will mean less new users of Zimbra.

Venting is good, :-) and I agree both the installation instructions and the installer could make a bigger deal about how the ZD installer will clean out the destination directory.

When I asked about why you changed the default destination directory I wasn't being anything other than curious. Whenever we take on a new Zimbra hosting client we find they always do something different and interesting, and it's an opportunity to seed best practices amongst our clients and share them here. Sorry if you inferred anything else!

BTW, you may not need to do a system restore of your PC; if you have a backup of your home directory pre-ZD, you could just restore your home directory and be OK. I've run Linux as my daily desktop driver for years and have found myself needing to do that a few times. :-)

I will say that we have a few non-Zimbra managed services clients who use ZD in place of their existing mail system's web and/or locally installed client. ZD is not for everyone, but it's a pretty good client -- if you want something that integrates mail, calendar, contacts, etc.

Hope that helps!
Mark

[dnach]

Well, if your product is as good as it's feature videos, then ZD is definitely for me. However, until I've tested it fully via my OpenSolaris VBox installation, it's hands off for me.

Also, I don't know why I never thought of it but, I'm gonna follow the advice of backing up my entire "Home" folder (which saves both files and configurations) instead of just what is usually my "Desktop" and "Music" folders. Thanks for that.

[LMStone]

Originally Posted by dnach

Well, if your product is as good as it's feature videos, then ZD is definitely for me. However, until I've tested it fully via my OpenSolaris VBox installation, it's hands off for me.

It's worth a try for sure. We have a few clients running Solaris, but they run what they call the "real" Solaris and turn their noses up at OpenSolaris. I'll introduce you if you want to start a flame war! :-) For me, Gnome is Gnome; only the Start menu differs by distro...

BTW, it's not "my" product; I don't work for Zimbra. Most all the moderators here are volunteers drawn from the Zimbra customer base. When we first started deploying Zimbra a few years ago, the posts on the forums here saved me a lot of time. So, I started posting where I could to help others, sort of paying it forward I suppose. One day they asked me to be a Moderator and that was that.

Originally Posted by dnach

Also, I don't know why I never thought of it but, I'm gonna follow the advice of backing up my entire "Home" folder (which saves both files and configurations) instead of just what is usually my "Desktop" and "Music" folders. Thanks for that.

Up until 3 weeks ago I ran Linux on my laptop for more than five years. I like to try different and upgraded distros so I started putting /home on a separate partition. That way, I could update the whole distro and not lose all my data, configurations, etc. Worst case, I'd create a different user account name to get a "clean" profile and just copy over /home/olduser/data and things like /home/olduser/.mozilla.

BTW If you haven't used it yet, Clonezilla is phenomenal for backing up your whole hard disk. It's even better at restoring your whole hard disk when things go horribly wrong!

Zimbra isn't for everyone, but if you need help giving it a fair shake, don't hesitate to post again.

All the best,
Mark

[dnach]

Originally Posted by LMStone

It's worth a try for sure. We have a few clients running Solaris, but they run what they call the "real" Solaris and turn their noses up at OpenSolaris. I'll introduce you if you want to start a flame war! :-) For me, Gnome is Gnome; only the Start menu differs by distro...

Yeah, I'd love to take them on because I'm crazy lol... And yeah, that is true, Gnome is Gnome.

Originally Posted by LMStone

BTW, it's not "my" product;

By "your product", I simply meant the product (or one of) you are supporting, that's all.

Originally Posted by LMStone

BTW If you haven't used it yet, Clonezilla is phenomenal for backing up your whole hard disk. It's even better at restoring your whole hard disk when things go horribly wrong!

Never tried it before but I've always read some great reviews about it. However, I won't be trying it out for now because although I'm a self-trained programmer, I prefer a more desktop-like gui. I've never and will never like using the command line to perform tasks. THANK GOD FOR UBUNTU!!!

[newtozim]

Hi everybody

while i was installing zimbra desktop on a linux computer with ubuntu 11.04, i did a mistake and i wrote /home/user/Desktop in the step where i should set the desktop icon.
Now i can't find anymore my old desktop with all the files just one file named Desktop.!!

How can i got back my old files!? Anyone had this problem?
my file are deleted? May i probably use a recovery software for deleted file?

Thanks a lot for the help!

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by newtozim

while i was installing zimbra desktop on a linux computer with ubuntu 11.04, i did a mistake and i wrote /home/user/Desktop in the step where i should set the desktop icon.
Now i can't find anymore my old desktop with all the files just one file named Desktop.!!

How can i got back my old files!? Anyone had this problem?
my file are deleted? May i probably use a recovery software for deleted file?

If you didn't take a backup before the install then the files have been deleted.

[dywang]

Sorry for your loss. Now we added confirmation in the install script.