Move Mercury but leave delivery location?

[Jontmke]

I want to move Mercury to another Netware server, but we have programs that dump messages into the smtpmail directory for delivery. It would be difficult to rewrite all the programs, can I leave the mailqueue and smtpqueue locations the same yet move all the rest? If so, what other setting would I need to change? Would having the delivery location on another server hamper the process?
Thanks, JON

 

[vesselescape]

After installing Mercury on the new server, under
Mercury > Configuration > Core > General
Make sure the paths for Mail Queue Directory and SMTP Queue Directory point to the directories on the old server. Mercury does not care where the directories are long as it can find them.

 

[Loekje]

As vesselescape pointed out, Mercury does not care where it has to find the mailqueue.

But that said it is not best practice. You will loose mail if the link gets broken. So consider this option only if this link is super stable. Else you must put the queue directory on the same server as Mercury resides.

Now you tell about programs that dump messages in the maildirectory themselves. (I've written some scripts that did this too in the old days :^)

But if you do this through drivemappings than you better remap this drive to the new server.
Or you can use a cron script on the old server that moves every incoming file to the maildirectory on the new server.
The latter option would give you the time to rewrite the paths in your own apps in your own pace. No mail will ever get lost.

Good luck!
Loek

 

[vesselescape]

IMHOP
you won't "loose" mail if Mercury is unable to access the SMTP
queue directory. Worst case, (Short of deleting the dir and files) your outgoing mail won't get delivered until a connection to the "queue dir" is restored.
The default location of the smtp queue is of course simple and does not have network connectivity issues. The cron solution noted above, seems to have the same connectivity issues. If server one can't talk to server two, the file transferes will fail. If server one can talk to server two, solution one will work. Why run another thread?

Regards,
David

 

[Jontmke]

Thanks for your replies. But, it doesn't work pointing the new server to the old directory. The files just sit there. If I do it the regular way the new server will work, but as soon as I change the smtpqueue and mailqueue directories and reload it, nothing happens. I am not sure why, but I suspect it is a bindery\NDS connection thing. I have tried changing the directory listing to unc type and a lot of other ways and no go. I have determined it does not work. I thought about having a batch running to move the files from the old to the new but if that fails then I have a problem too. So, I left it alone.

 

[Loekje]

Hi Jontmke,

It sound like you have a authentication/authorization problem here, I suppose the new server you have MercNDS running where you supply a username/password to mercury but at the old server you are running bindery (NW3.2?)?.

AFAIK you cannot give access from one bindery server to another or from and to an NDS server and bindery server.
Only if both were NDS servers in the same tree you can access one directory from the other.

 

[Jontmke]

Both servers are NDS 5.1 with the same service pack and the same tree. The user is the same one the original server is using, and is the same one that does work if I leave the queue on the new server. So, I am stumped. I have seen this problem on Deja with no resolution.

 

[Loekje]

Strange,

Then it should suffice to make that user admin, just to be sure it has enough rights on both servers.
As I recall right you should use UNC paths
\\server\volume:maildir or \\server\volume\maildir

You are sure you use Mercury 1.48 and set mercury.ini right on the new server?

[General]
myname: mydomain.org
timezone: +0100 # (Netherlands)
File_API: 1 # use spool interface
mailqueue: \\oldserver\sys:SMTPMAIL # Queue
smtpqueue: sys:SMTPMAIL # no reason to leave that on old server

Succes,
Loek

 

[Jontmke]

I did not follow that last little bit there. You say I can leave the smtpqueue directory on the new server? Isn't that the whole point? This is the directory on the old server where the mail is being dropped off, how will that mail get sent? That is what I am trying to accomplish. I want the new server to look in the smtpqueue directory on the old. It doesn't work. Maybe I could leave the mailqueue directory on the new server, that might help. I will try that. Oh yes, I am running version 1.48 with the mercury.ini on the new server. It does work if I leave the setup with the normal configuration. It is only when I tell it to look on the old server for the mail that it does not work. Thanks for the help though.

 

[Loekje]

IMHO the smtp directory is where the client sends the mail off to the Internet, as where the maildirectory is where the smtp server (or your programs) put the incoming files to process by the core module.

But your key point is that mercury cannot pick up the mail on another servers volume. I'll check that out with David Kocmoud as he's considered the NDS expert.

There *is* another workaround:
Rename the local domain on your first server, and point to your new server as your smart host. Then all the mail arriving at your old server wil be send through to your new server where it will be subsequently processed.
On the old server you need to run mercury core module and mercuryc. You can use the bindery versions if you are running binderey emulation on the old one.

cheers!
Loek Gijben