I'm planning an upgrade from GroupWise 5.5 SP4 to GroupWise 6.5. I've read through the existing threads regarding the upgrade but just want to make sure I'm not missing anything. I'm considering purchasing the upgrade guide from Caledonia. Also, my current system is running on a Netware 5.1 SP2 server, is anybody running GW6.5 in the same environment? Is the 6.5 client interface a big change from 5.5. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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GroupWise 6.5 Upgrade
- Thread starter wcuz
- Start date
We upgraded from GroupWise 5.5 SP5 as well, I found one major problem that didn't surface until after we installed the GroupWise 6.5 client. It seems that Internet addressing was introduced in GroupWise 5.5 Enhancement Pack. GroupWise 6.5 has this part of the server installation. The issue we ran into was that no one could send from their personal address books. When someone would send from their Personal address book it would transpose the domain and extension so....
tek-tips.com would read com.tek-tips.
Consequently, the GWIA would reject the address as invalid and bounce all e-mails back to the users. I have heard that Novell has fixed this in GroupWise 6.5 SP1 client. I have a pre-release version of the client and I'm still testing it. On three systems that I installed it on two it worked, the third I'm still trying to find out what happened.
We're not running on NetWare 5.x, we were running on NetWare 4.11 but we had to upgrade so we upgraded to NetWare 6.0 prior to the GroupWise Update. The entire server side installation went pretty good, no surprises at all. The old GroupWise client will still run with the new version of GroupWise so you can update your servers first then update the clients.
We really didn't find a good way to deploy the client to the desktops. We use ZEN for Desktops but when we made a snapshot of the installation, the entire install would blow up and we couldn't run GroupWise off it. So at this time we're stuck on doing manual installations. I would use the software distribution directory but I can't rely on my users choosing the right options.
The client is not much different to me, but my users think it's totally different. I can see some resemblance between the old client and the new one; it's just jazzed up a bit. There is also some good SPAM filtering that would great in conjunction with our SPAM filtering software. In all I believe my users will get use to the new interface. The interface that I have seen a great improvement on is the web interface, Novell did a good job on the web interface, doesn’t even compare to the old GroupWise 5 web access.
I would recommend that before you attempt to install, make sure your domain is free of errors. Run all the maintenance utilities on your domain and make sure you’re upgrading an error free domain. Also backup your domain prior to any upgrading, can’t stress this enough, speaking from experience it has saved my butt more than once. I considered getting the upgrade guide as well, I was told by others that the upgrade to GroupWise 6 was a major database change. Actually the entire upgrade process took me about 30 minutes to do. I didn’t see any changes in the database structure so this leads me to believe that all the changes to GroupWise 6 are all at the agent level, I didn’t see any conversion process at the database level. Now I could be wrong on this statement, others may be able to confirm that there is indeed a change in the database structure. I’m just saying that I didn’t see where it would have been during the installation.
I hope this answers some of your questions regarding the upgrade process. I went into it thinking the worst and found out that it was a very painless process. I’m just now trying to figure out a way to deploy the client to my desktops, and also waiting for the final release of SP1 for the client.
david e
*end users are just like computers, some you can work with...others just need a simple reBOOTing to fix their problems.*
tek-tips.com would read com.tek-tips.
Consequently, the GWIA would reject the address as invalid and bounce all e-mails back to the users. I have heard that Novell has fixed this in GroupWise 6.5 SP1 client. I have a pre-release version of the client and I'm still testing it. On three systems that I installed it on two it worked, the third I'm still trying to find out what happened.
We're not running on NetWare 5.x, we were running on NetWare 4.11 but we had to upgrade so we upgraded to NetWare 6.0 prior to the GroupWise Update. The entire server side installation went pretty good, no surprises at all. The old GroupWise client will still run with the new version of GroupWise so you can update your servers first then update the clients.
We really didn't find a good way to deploy the client to the desktops. We use ZEN for Desktops but when we made a snapshot of the installation, the entire install would blow up and we couldn't run GroupWise off it. So at this time we're stuck on doing manual installations. I would use the software distribution directory but I can't rely on my users choosing the right options.
The client is not much different to me, but my users think it's totally different. I can see some resemblance between the old client and the new one; it's just jazzed up a bit. There is also some good SPAM filtering that would great in conjunction with our SPAM filtering software. In all I believe my users will get use to the new interface. The interface that I have seen a great improvement on is the web interface, Novell did a good job on the web interface, doesn’t even compare to the old GroupWise 5 web access.
I would recommend that before you attempt to install, make sure your domain is free of errors. Run all the maintenance utilities on your domain and make sure you’re upgrading an error free domain. Also backup your domain prior to any upgrading, can’t stress this enough, speaking from experience it has saved my butt more than once. I considered getting the upgrade guide as well, I was told by others that the upgrade to GroupWise 6 was a major database change. Actually the entire upgrade process took me about 30 minutes to do. I didn’t see any changes in the database structure so this leads me to believe that all the changes to GroupWise 6 are all at the agent level, I didn’t see any conversion process at the database level. Now I could be wrong on this statement, others may be able to confirm that there is indeed a change in the database structure. I’m just saying that I didn’t see where it would have been during the installation.
I hope this answers some of your questions regarding the upgrade process. I went into it thinking the worst and found out that it was a very painless process. I’m just now trying to figure out a way to deploy the client to my desktops, and also waiting for the final release of SP1 for the client.
david e
*end users are just like computers, some you can work with...others just need a simple reBOOTing to fix their problems.*
ITsmyfault
IS-IT--Management
Upgraded to 6.5 from 6 2 months ago.
Couple of observations:
1. Buy the Calendonia book. It's great and will save you many times the cost in time and troubleshooting!
2. Agree 100% with above post.. Do maintenance prior to the upgrade. Make sure you are in the best shape you can be in first.
- make sure you are up to date with all SP's
- Do a top down rebuild
- and of course, do a great backup (so you won't need one!)
3. For remote distribution, try the SetupIP utility that comes with 6.5 It worked great for us where we needed to install to remote users or users with no file system rights. For users with file system rights, their clients should see the bump number increment and prompt them to run the update at which point they can hit the software dist directory. In odd cases, some internal users still updated via SetupIP. (which kicks in automatically when you start your client) not sure why, but both methods were quick and 100% reliable (not one 'bad' install in the bunch!)
I did not have ZFD in place at upgrade time so I didn't get to try that out. I seem to recall GW6.5 coming with AOT/AXT files etc so I'd think a zen install should not be too bad?
SetupIP will resume a broken download also, which is a welcome detail esp for remote users.
4. If you're *not* on NW6 and want to run Webacc on Apache, get the other Caledonia book on running Webacc on Apache/Tomcat. I realize I sound like an ad, but keep in mind that a *poor* consultant is $100+/hr and these books are well written, get the job done and run about $30ea. They more than paid for themselves many times over in my case. I had webacc with SSL up on NW5.1 SP5 w/Apache in a couple hours. Unsupported unfortunately, but until we can go to NW6.5 I don't have to deal with IIS!
One key tip to the webacc w/apache tomcat is to disable the runtime compiler. You *can* get some odd errors if the RTC loads (symantec on 5.1, hotspot on NW6 IIRC) and since Webacc is precomiled you don't need the thing anyhow..
My users like 6.5 better than 6 and much better than 5.5.. the anti-spam features are especially welcome. The inteface is nicely updated with context sensitive menus. The address book is getting more useable all the time. Lots of little fixes for ex: you have large groups made up of folks in your address books. Now you update the email addy in one group - in 6.5 that update tracks to the other groups this individual may be in. It's the little things..
Couple of observations:
1. Buy the Calendonia book. It's great and will save you many times the cost in time and troubleshooting!
2. Agree 100% with above post.. Do maintenance prior to the upgrade. Make sure you are in the best shape you can be in first.
- make sure you are up to date with all SP's
- Do a top down rebuild
- and of course, do a great backup (so you won't need one!)
3. For remote distribution, try the SetupIP utility that comes with 6.5 It worked great for us where we needed to install to remote users or users with no file system rights. For users with file system rights, their clients should see the bump number increment and prompt them to run the update at which point they can hit the software dist directory. In odd cases, some internal users still updated via SetupIP. (which kicks in automatically when you start your client) not sure why, but both methods were quick and 100% reliable (not one 'bad' install in the bunch!)
I did not have ZFD in place at upgrade time so I didn't get to try that out. I seem to recall GW6.5 coming with AOT/AXT files etc so I'd think a zen install should not be too bad?
SetupIP will resume a broken download also, which is a welcome detail esp for remote users.
4. If you're *not* on NW6 and want to run Webacc on Apache, get the other Caledonia book on running Webacc on Apache/Tomcat. I realize I sound like an ad, but keep in mind that a *poor* consultant is $100+/hr and these books are well written, get the job done and run about $30ea. They more than paid for themselves many times over in my case. I had webacc with SSL up on NW5.1 SP5 w/Apache in a couple hours. Unsupported unfortunately, but until we can go to NW6.5 I don't have to deal with IIS!
One key tip to the webacc w/apache tomcat is to disable the runtime compiler. You *can* get some odd errors if the RTC loads (symantec on 5.1, hotspot on NW6 IIRC) and since Webacc is precomiled you don't need the thing anyhow..
My users like 6.5 better than 6 and much better than 5.5.. the anti-spam features are especially welcome. The inteface is nicely updated with context sensitive menus. The address book is getting more useable all the time. Lots of little fixes for ex: you have large groups made up of folks in your address books. Now you update the email addy in one group - in 6.5 that update tracks to the other groups this individual may be in. It's the little things..
- Thread starter
- #4
1. We just upgraded from 5.5 and are experiencing the same address book problem. I could not find a Service Pack out yet, but since I already have an incident open with Novell I will look into a beta client.
2. I used the Caldonea book, and everything went smoothly for the MTA and POA. When it came to GWIA, I used the /COPYONLY parameter the book recommends and got nowhere. I finaly droped the parameter and was able to complete the upgrade without much additional configuration.
2. I used the Caldonea book, and everything went smoothly for the MTA and POA. When it came to GWIA, I used the /COPYONLY parameter the book recommends and got nowhere. I finaly droped the parameter and was able to complete the upgrade without much additional configuration.
1. We just upgraded from 5.5 and are experiencing the same address book problem. I could not find a Service Pack out yet, but since I already have an incident open with Novell I will look into a beta client.
2. I used the Caldonea book, and everything went smoothly for the MTA and POA. When it came to GWIA, I used the /COPYONLY parameter the book recommends and got nowhere. I finally dropped the parameter and was able to complete the upgrade without much additional configuration.
2. I used the Caldonea book, and everything went smoothly for the MTA and POA. When it came to GWIA, I used the /COPYONLY parameter the book recommends and got nowhere. I finally dropped the parameter and was able to complete the upgrade without much additional configuration.
menderless
IS-IT--Management
Has anyone solved this problem with the address book yet? We are having the same problem and cant seem to solve it.
Thanks
Thanks
We opened an issue with Novell and were told to upgrade to SP1 that was just released. Unfortunately, this didn't fully resolve the problem.
Then we were told to activate "Internet Addressing" and turn off any Addressing Rules. It was suggested that we do this after hours. We did, and the next day the problem disappeared. The old style addresses in the address book are handled correctly.
P.S.
Sorry about the double-post before. Balky PC.
Then we were told to activate "Internet Addressing" and turn off any Addressing Rules. It was suggested that we do this after hours. We did, and the next day the problem disappeared. The old style addresses in the address book are handled correctly.
P.S.
Sorry about the double-post before. Balky PC.
- Thread starter
- #10
I finally got back to doing the GroupWise 5.5.4 to 6.5 upgrade. I followed the Caledonia guide step by step, creating the SDD with SP1 then installing 6.5. I've still got the clients to upgrade but the server side went very well. No problems. Thanks again for all the input to my orginal post.
I did burn the .iso to a CD, but using Windows XP it allows you to drag & drop, and choose "Burn these files to a CD." I don't see any particular software that I recognize as being a CD burning program. I've used Roxio & Adaptec before.
Once the image is burned to a CD I don't know what to do with it. Can you help?
Once the image is burned to a CD I don't know what to do with it. Can you help?
I am using Roxio 5. From the icon in the system tray I pick Data, then Data CD Project. In the window that opens, I click on File and select an option called "Record CD from CD Image...". This opens another window, where I select files of type ISO at the bottom and navigate to the ISO file.
Once Roxio burns the CD, you will see all of the files and directories extracted fron the ISO file.
Once Roxio burns the CD, you will see all of the files and directories extracted fron the ISO file.
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