Backup users & mail / Upgrade Server Hardware / Fresh install of GW6.5

[ductTape]

Hello, I currently have a Groupwise 6sp2 system running on Netware 6sp2. I plan to perform some server upgrades (i.e. add processors & memory ). I would also like to upgrade to Groupwise 6.5.

What I would like to do is backup NDS and all of the user's mail, perform upgrades, perform fresh install Netware 6sp3 or Netware 6.5, upgrade to eDir 8.7, install Groupwise 6.5, restore NDS and user's mail.

The current server is runing eDir 8.6, Should I upgrade to eDir 8.7 before I use ICE to export NDS to an LDIF?

Should I upgrade the current server to Groupwise 6.5 before is backup email & NDS?

How best to backup/restore the user's email?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[rjs]

Why do you want to do it the hard way? An in-place upgrade would be easier and faster. Hopefully you have a tape backup system on the system which should take care of the necessary precautionary backups before the upgrade.

If the server has mirrored drives, you can remove one of the drives, break the mirror and then perform all the upgrades. If all goes wrong, you simply remove the remaining drive and reinstall the mirrored drive you removed and you are back where you started.

 

[ductTape]

I know the "in-place upgrade" path exists however I feel the server and services will perform better if I do fresh install of Netware & Groupwise.

"Easier and faster" does not mean better!

I am going to try out my plan on a test server and see what happens. I will let you know the outcome.

 

[Provogeek]

This FAQ was written to build a test bed, but it will work for your chosen upgrade path for your server; faq871-4066
Going the LDIF way will not produce the results you are looking for (or you might if your looking to start very fresh, any ZFD objects will cause you problems). Be sure you use an external trustee backup tool (there is an exe and nlm avilable from Novell that will do this for you). You will need the trustee backup to restore trustee rights, don't depend on the tape backup to do this for you.

I hope you will be running a backup of all user data and all of your GroupWise mail system directories. When you restore the data, be sure to create base directories from root and choose not to overwrite any files to retain your fresh install of NetWare.

The GroupWise 6.5 upgrade is VERY easy. Just install it, run the MTA and POA and the database will be upgraded when the NLM is loaded. It really is that easy. There are other options if you are looking to build a fresh mail system and import the users mail. Look into the archive function, and the FID editor for this type of path.

Now to help put things in perspective; if you choose the hardway because you want the "fresh" install, expect about 3 days planning, 2 days upgrading hardware/software, 2 days cleanup, 2 weeks finding all the snaffoos. Your not really upgrading the NOS, so it seems kinda pointless to go this route you want to take. It's more understandable if your server is acting all screwy on you, but reloading the NOS should be a last resort.



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Provogeek
CNE Network+ Experience

Certified nut case