Zimbra Version 4.0.4 to Zimbra 4.5.6_GA Migration

[skeeve]

Originally Posted by phoenix

I forgot to add that this type of migration assumes your are using the same IP and hostname on the new server.

It's a little hard to have 2 live servers with the same IP/name.

I changed the IP, but kept the same name.

I didn't have any responses to why there was a problem with the email.

Should I be submitting a help ticket elsewhere since we actually paid for Zimbra?

My server is on the verge of collapse and I need to migrate it URGENTLY.

I did the above suggestions, but it was dodgey... so what now?

...Skeeve

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by skeeve

It's a little hard to have 2 live servers with the same IP/name.

As the suggestion was to use rsync then I would suggest that you don't have two 'live' servers with the same IP & hostname.

Originally Posted by skeeve

I didn't have any responses to why there was a problem with the email.

As you scrapped that particular upgrade there seems little point in trying to diagnose a probelm for which you can't provide any debugging information.

Originally Posted by skeeve

Should I be submitting a help ticket elsewhere since we actually paid for Zimbra?

That's a decision you must make, support via the forums is done by members on a 'best effort' basis.

Originally Posted by skeeve

My server is on the verge of collapse and I need to migrate it URGENTLY.

I did the above suggestions, but it was dodgey... so what now?

The suggestions you've been given in this thread work perfectly well for a migration. Several forum members have used this procedure to move to a new machine, me included.

[maumar]

i have to upgrade 4.0.2 OS Edition towards 4.5.6 GA NE; the server is a VM with Centos 4.4; if it is not a risk, i would prefer to apply upgrade to the same server onto the 4.0.2 (i will backup the VM, before to die..)
This way i will not have any problem to migrate 50GB of mailboxes
By your experience, do you consider feasible to do that? which troubles or issues can i encounter?
TIA

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by maumar

i have to upgrade 4.0.2 OS Edition towards 4.5.6 GA NE; the server is a VM with Centos 4.4; if it is not a risk, i would prefer to apply upgrade to the same server onto the 4.0.2 (i will backup the VM, before to die..)
This way i will not have any problem to migrate 50GB of mailboxes
By your experience, do you consider feasible to do that? which troubles or issues can i encounter?
TIA

I'd suggest you upgrade your current OSS version to the current release then upgrade to the same release of NE.

Take a copy of the /opt directory before each upgrade and you'll then have a back-up just in case things go wrong. Using this command:

rsync -avrlHKpogDt /opt/zimbra/ /data/backup/zimbra

should preserve the correct file permissions. Obviously if you prefer to take a copy of your VM you could do that instead.

[skeeve]

OK guys,

I got out of the woods by installing a new hard drive and moving the Zimbra VM to it, this has got me out of the woods for now.

I still am having problems with the POP server shutting down and I still want to move it to a new VM (on our new ESX server), so my question is:

Should I move it as is onto a 4.0.4 server using the above suggested processes, , or should I upgrade the current server to 4.5.6GA, then attempt to migrate it after that?

...Skeeve

[phoenix]

I thought my suggestion above was to upgrade your current set-up to the latest release of Zimbra then do the NE upgrade?

If your intention is to eventually move to the NE version of Zimbra, you do realise that CentOS is not a supported operating system for NE?

[skeeve]

Originally Posted by phoenix

I thought my suggestion above was to upgrade your current set-up to the latest release of Zimbra then do the NE upgrade?

If your intention is to eventually move to the NE version of Zimbra, you do realise that CentOS is not a supported operating system for NE?

I am running the Network Edition already.

CentOS not supported? That has to be a joke mate... since it is just RedHat Enterprise re-compiled. I install a lot of products out there, from Oracle and other mainstream - their RedHat versions have worked flawlessly and I have never seen an issue with CentOS where a product has been specified as RedHat. If you want to hang on names, get your RedHat guy to certify it... unless you guys wont because your a partner with RedHat.

...Skeeve

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by skeeve

CentOS not supported? That has to be a joke mate... since it is just RedHat Enterprise re-compiled.

No, that's not a joke.

Originally Posted by skeeve

I install a lot of products out there, from Oracle and other mainstream - their RedHat versions have worked flawlessly and I have never seen an issue with CentOS where a product has been specified as RedHat.

There isn't any question about whether it works or not but the fact of the matter is that it's not a supported operating system. I guess you saw the warning when you installed Zimbra on CentOS? I guess you read the documentation and which operating systems we would support?

Originally Posted by skeeve

If you want to hang on names, get your RedHat guy to certify it... unless you guys wont because your a partner with RedHat.

That's a rather facetious comment and totally unfounded. The reasons why we support specific operating systems have been discussed in these forums many times as has the fact that CentOS is unsupported for NE use.

[skeeve]

Originally Posted by phoenix

No, that's not a joke.

There isn't any question about whether it works or not but the fact of the matter is that it's not a supported operating system. I guess you saw the warning when you installed Zimbra on CentOS? I guess you read the documentation and which operating systems we would support?

That's a rather facetious comment and totally unfounded. The reasons why we support specific operating systems have been discussed in these forums many times as has the fact that CentOS is unsupported for NE use.

Fair enough. I've tried finding out why you guys aren't supporting CentOS officially but have only found NEW POLL: What OS port should be next? in which CentOS is not even listed as a voting option, yet there are quite a few people asking for it.

My comments weren't intended to offend - it's just that I have had a few vendors refuse to touch CentOS servers even though they are so close to RedHat EL that I've had RHCE's working CentOS boxes not even realise it was CentOS - I am a RHCE myself.

Can you point me to where a Zimbra rep explains why the CentOS port is not yet done? You guys say you follow the $$$ (from a forum post), and I know dozens of Uni's and businesses rolling out CentOS by the hundreds of servers - and that is just my experience.

The client I have running Zimbra is currently considering options of whether to stay Zimbra (my preference) or go Exchange (they are just thinking about it). To tell them they need to spend a bucket of cash to buy RHEL when they are happy with their 3 dozen CentOS servers, is a little hard to swallow. You promote on your front page about how many edu orgs are taking up Zimbra, so it is probably wise you consider CentOS as a port.

I see one of your contributors suggested you roll RHEL, CentOS, Fedora all into the same install as the differences are very minor.

Just some thoughts... I am just trying to understand your positions and thoughts on this.... as often they aren't that rational (not saying you're not) - but I have another Library Catalogue system I am rolling out that the vendor refuses to support if it is running on a VM - only because they don't know anything about it.... I'd hope you guys are open minded on the idea.

...Skeeve

[phoenix]

No offence taken. Ok, as far as that poll is concerned I guess the reason CentOS wasn't listed is because we know it works on CentOS as it's just a rebuild of RHEL. I also know it works well as I use CentOS on my own systems. Without going through the whole thread I can't remember if it was meant to be a poll for OSS implementations of Zimbra rather than inlcuding NE.

The simple reason we don't support CentOS (and others) is because we don't want to provide operating system support as well as support for Zimbra. Believe me, that would be the case for a lot of users. I'm sure you are perfectly capable of supporting your implementations of CentOS but many users aren't and as I'm sure you'll also know that providing support is expensive. A company simply can't afford to hold a customers hand and help them fix bugs in their operating system, with products that have a support contract associated with them (the RHEL subscription for instance) we can point them back to their vendor. A recent case that's been prominent on the forums, Debian 3.1 has a horrendous bug in it that cause permissions problems if a process fails. It's caused Zimbra (the product) a lot of problems with all sorts of errors - where do we point the user in that case? It's been a very long while for that bug to get resolved and I'm not sure it has been in 3.1 (but I could be wrong as I don't keep up with Debian).