Going from 6.0 to 6.5 - w/o migration

[michigan]

I'm planning to install a new server w/Netware 6.6 SBE in the near future. After some investigation and consultation, I've decided to do a clean install vs migration. We've migrated twice (from 4 to 5.5 to 6.0) and a clean install appears to be the best choice. Seeing there are only 'bout 20 users, it doesn't seem like it'll take too long to setup.

I personally have not used GW6.5 - though I've had our consultant test & retest a user environment archive email on a 6.0 client then access/restore it to a 6.5 client successfully.

I'm confident with our consultant as we've used his company for a number of years, but I'm unsure if there are other questions/concerns I need to address for this type of upgrade? Or more importantly, has anyone tried this and have it fail?

Thanks in advance everyone.

 

[marvhuffaker]

Can you clarify.. When you say a clean install, are you talking about completely obliterating all of your existing mailboxes and starting them from scratch as well?

Or are you saying do a clean install of the agents and then just move the GW database to the new server?

The first one seems drastic, upgrading/migrating isn't a big deal.

Marvin Huffaker, MCNE

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[michigan]

Hi Marvin -

By clean I was referring to our brand new server, and setting up everything from scratch. I have migrated before, and though it's not a huge deal - I personally feel there were things left over from previous version and would feel better not migrating in this situation. My thoughts were once everything was installed on the new server, have each user generate a GW archive (locally or to the network) - install the new clients on each PC, then restore/access their archive. Ta'da! And everything is hunky-dory. Yes?

 

[warcleric]

By doing a complete remake of all the users you are going to end up giving them different FID's than before, so you are gonna need to do this:

http://support.novell.com/techcente...ernalId=10010761html&sliceId=&dialogID=930043

 

[warcleric]

I still think a migration is the way to go....we arent talking about a windows server here where upgrading an OS turns it into a monster of instability.

 

[terry712]

i would agree
changing the fids etc is more intrusive

slap the server in
copy the structures
cx the .poa and.mta file
change the settings in console1 for links etc
tend to rebuild at this stage
chaeck all ok
upgrade to new version
update the gwia will .copyonly switch
reinstall webaccess as it's quicker

20 mins later finished
with fids takes me 20 mins to remeber the syntax

 

[michigan]

warcleric -
That's funny you reference the WindowsOs Upgrade - cause that's exactly what I was thinking. I know how upgrades (windows) can leave some weird files floating around (not to mention if you've upgraded twice).

Excellent points and suggestions. I didn't even think about the FIDs - Perhaps that's what our consultant was planning and assumed I understood that portion of it. Either way, I have some questions/concerns to cover the next time I speak with him.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[terry712]

the archive bit as well quite often blows people's frequent address books and you would also need to save all there address books as nab's

 

[gioffre]

Hi,

I fully agree with the other responses here that there is no reason to start with a new system, and it will cause many problems for you. Besides new FIDs, you will also run into:

1) Shared folder issues
2) Proxies will be wiped out
3) New passwords for everyone
4) Your databases will balloon to many times their current size because you will lose the efficiency of a single message with multiple pointers that you have now. When users in the "new" system unarchive their messages, each one will be an individual message without correlation to other users who have the same message in their mailbox.

If there are design issues with the current system just fix them either before or after the upgrade...don't blow everything away.

Gioffre Consulting

http://www.gioffre.com

Check out our Novell Training Cruises

 

[michigan]

Boy . . . what I thought was a great idea is turning out to prove me wrong.

I'm meeting with our consultant next week. I plan on addressing these issues and concerns. Thanks again everyone - this has been very helpful.

 

[marvhuffaker]

I usually feel that it's unfair to rag on other consultants. But I gotta say that if your consultant insists on creating a new system, you need to find a new consultant. That is something an MS biggot would advocate, and it makes them a lot more money.



Marvin Huffaker, MCNE

http://www.redjuju.com