Moving GroupWise to another volume on same server

[9iron]

Hi. I'm planning on moving my GW 6.5 from Vol1: to Vol4: this weekend for a much needed space increase. I found a couple of methods on the Novell "Cool Solutions" site, such as

http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/tip/15517.html,

but even this explanation is making assumptions that I'm just not sure about.

Most if not all of the help I've found on this topic relates to moving GW over to a new server, but all I'm doing is moving it over to a new volume, same server. Even the above link is mixing together steps for "new server" and "same server", especially when it comes to those .cfg files.

Has anyone done a move like this before? Is there a link you can point me to that deals exclusively with "same server" moves like mine? Thanks,

 

[marvhuffaker]

Doing this is easy.

Just copy the files (don't move).. copy using Beyond Compare from Scooter Software. This makes sure you have everything.
Do this ahead of time, you can do it during production hours. Copy the full Domain and Post Office directories.

When you get ready to cut over, shut down all of the agents and do a final sync on the directories and make sure they are identical. If you do this, you can't go wrong.

There are only a couple things that need to be changed..

1) Startup Files. This is your GWDOMAIN.MTA and GWPO.POA files, and the thing that needs to be changed is the /HOME- value. Just change it to VOL4. That will allow the agents to load from the new location. You also need to change this for GWIA and WEBACC.

-- You should have some lines in AUTOEXEC.NCF for loading the various agents. Make sure you look in each of those so you know you are modifying the correct load configuration files. They are listed in there, for example, GRPWISE.NCF is a default load file for the MTA and POA, and contain the command line parameter to use a certain configuration file. This is the file you need to modify.

2) ConsoleOne. After #1, go into ConsoleOne and update the paths on the Domain and PO files, and check every agent for any paths located there.

There are some additional things to check if you have SSL enabled on the agents, such as the location of the SSL key files.

You also may want to just Reinstall WebAccess instead of trying to change the configs. Reinstall is actually easier.

Marvin Huffaker, MCNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting, Inc.
A Novell Platinum Partner

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[9iron]

Sorry for the late reply here. Thanks for the help, but I would like to ask more (naturally!).

You mention doing a final sync of the directories. Do you mean simply verifying that the number of folders/files is exactly identical after the copy, or are you referring to some kind of Console1 utility to sync. (I'm thinking it's the first, as Console1 probably won't be able to do much with all the agents shut down, eh?)

I was planning on using Novell's "Toolkit" to do the copy. I've tested it and it seems to work fine, other than giving me this annoying error message about not being able to assign the owner of the file to the new copy. Doesn't seem to prevent the copy from happening, so I'll ignore it.

I'll check everything out that you mention here today. I really appreciate the tips.

 

[marvhuffaker]

With GroupWise, assuming you're moving the whole thing and not just a single mailbox, yes, you do it at the file system level. Make sure the whole thing is identical and you should not have to worry about any data loss.

Here is a link to a Presentation I did on this topic.. It doesn't go in depth technical, but it outlines more of the thought process.

I would not recommend Novell's copy or toolkit or whatever, it doesn't give you any control or visibility as to what files are different/changed/new etc. Beyond Compare is the only way to go, trust me on this.

Here is the presentation:

http://www.redjuju.com/resources/pr...avacon2007-Upgrade-Migration-Presentation.pdf

Marvin

Marvin Huffaker, MCNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting, Inc.
A Novell Platinum Partner

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[9iron]

Ok, I just downloaded Beyond Compare and I'm giving it the ol' test. I can see why you like this app!

Btw, nice job on that presentation. Very concise and easy to follow. One of the sections of your presentation talks about reconfiguring the clients after the migration. This doesn't really apply to me, correct? I'm not so much migrating as I am copying, so my clients shouldn't need anything.

Now that I think about it, how WILL my clients find the domain and post office once it's been moved? Does the client just know to look for those .cfg files which will point them to Vol4?

 

[marvhuffaker]

No in your case, the clients don't need to worry about it.

The clients should already be configured to go to the IP address of the GW Post Office. The change you are making won't affect this at all.

If you were actually moving GW to a different server, then you would have to consider the client piece of it.

Marvin Huffaker, MCNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting, Inc.
A Novell Platinum Partner

http://www.redjuju.com