New Postoffice Nightmare

[cjsj1]

Hi All

One day I will leave things well alone when they are working but I did the following

I didn’t have a Post office in C1 so I created one and when in the creation pages I ticked create Library that was my downfall I think as I have lost (or it cant see all the users emails) I know they are there as the PostOf directory is 1 Gig in size

Anyone know how I might get it back?

 

[cjsj1]

Forgot to say that all the users accounts are active but they are just empty.

It looks like it has just created a new PO but the problem I think is going to be the killer is that I named the new PO the same as the old one!!!!

no backups as old home system (yes i know i will learn from this).

 

[sstoppel]

Was the old one deleted, then a new one created with the same name in the same directory? or did you create a new file system area?

 

[cjsj1]

Yes I used the same partitition and directories and also the same name as that I what I thought you had to do!!

See below for full explanation

I had various issues with CA and SSL Certs on my server at home as I run my own Novel/GroupWise systems, I took my time and researched all I could to try and resolve this issue but to no avail.

So I took the opportunity to install a fresh and clean 6.5 SP5 server. It is all running nicely with no problems on SSL or CA.

The problem I have is GroupWise; I had the PO and Domain on its own partition and proceeded to install GroupWise afresh on the new install. I let it install to default directories on the sys volume and installed GWIA and WEBACC as usual. It all came up as normal and was all working nicely. So I downed all services and then did the following

Opened .POA, .MTA, .WAA and changed the paths to point to the correct directories on the GW Volume.
Using C1 changed the UNC paths in properties of the post office and Domain. Changed the link configuration to point to the correct place.

I don’t think I haven’t left anything out but it’s possible. Anyway it is all running ok with users accessing their mail internal/externally.

This is the problem –

Whenever I go into C1 to either amend or create something for GW I get the error that I am not connected to the correct GroupWise system would I like to connect, so I click yes and things are normal and I make the adjustments that I want to. I haven’t got a GWIA object in C1 but when I try to create one (in the mail container where the MTA and WEBACC objects are) it says that I an not connected to the correct GroupWise system that this object belongs too, but it gives me no other option but to click ok and back to the previous screen.

I have seen some answers that say to delete all the GW objects with C1 but without the GW Snapins installed and then graft them back in with C1 with the GW Snapins installed but it seemed to be a one off so haven’t tried it just in case it fries everything.

I took a copy of the PO and domain directories before I deleted all GW objects in C1 and went about recreating them; I got to create the PO and this is where I think I got it wrong.
I ticked the create Library box and called the PO the same as the original, so it went through all the usual creation stuff and I thought great as it all worked

THEN

I logged in as myself to check my mail box and it was EMPTY!!!!!!! Logged in as other users and hey there all EMPTY this is where I started to panic

I deleted myself out of C1 as a user and recreated myself and attached to the PO but still no emails. I also did this with the other users with the same outcome

I know the emails are there because the PO directory is 2Gig in size but no one has their emails.

I have noticed that in the ofuser directory that there was originally 5 files and now after all the above there is now 10 so I am presuming that the post office has created 5 new users with new DB’s I know this because I can clarify that the old FID numbers from archives relate to the old files in the ofuser directory.


I did try to graft users but I think it was fruitless as the current PO is empty of emails.

I also did a structural and then recreate users from gwcheck which has taken some emails from the DB files all from the inbox of the particular user and dumped them in the cabinet. But it hasn’t seen all the other emails sent etc and also all the cabinet folders.

 

[Jules166]

You could try changing the FIDs on the new accounts to what they were on the old one. It might pick up the correct user and message dbs then.

Not sure if this will work but worth a try.

Jules

 

[marvhuffaker]

You really need to call Novell or a reputable and qualified partner. You're only going to make it MUCH worse if you continue.

This is a good example of how I make a LOT of money. People get in over their head, aren't willing to swallow their pride and admit they are in over their head. They keep digging themselves DEEPER and DEEPER and pretty soon they end up in this situation. Would have been much cheaper and easier to have someone look at it and get things squared away from the start, now you gotta clean up plus mail recovery plus get things working correctly like you intended to do in the first place.

On the flip side, some people DO call me from the start. We plan things out, figure out what the objectives are, see what the current state of things is at.. Then we do what needs to be done to meet the objective. And in those cases, it's impossible to make money at it because things go so smoothly and we're done in no time. But the clients are happy because they got things done right and it didn't cost them as much as it could have if they had messed things up.

Marvin Huffaker, MCNE

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[cjsj1]

I am happy that you make a LOT of money just a few pointers to give some info on the background.

This is my personal system at home and not a company one.

I dig myself deeper and deeper because I learn a lot form doing it this way but would never dream of doing it in a working environment.

I have got some archives for the family members which they are happy with and now after I have reinstalled everything all is backed up on a daily basis so will never revisit here again.

I just like to see if I can fix it myself with knowledge gleamed from forums such as this and to learn also.

When you delete a user from GW I didn’t know that it can take up to 14 days for the files to be deleted so will manually delete them and then run the GWCheck on the user and this should update the files and DB.
I am also recreating users with there original FID’s to see if I can get the original emails back and also learn again.

 

[sstoppel]

There is a utility called FIDeditor that may help you.

When you say that the old Groupwise was on it's own partition does that mean you still have all the old files?

Consoleone wants to know the path to the wpdomain.db file, which is the primary domain database of your 1 domain system.

In order to recover your mail you need your wpdomain.db, wphost.db, ngwguard.db, all of the .db files under ofmsg and ofuser, and for attachments you need the offiles folder, subfolders, and files.

If you have all of that you can log in as a direct connection, archive the mail from an account, change the FID of the archive with FIDeditor to your new mailbox fid, Log into the new Groupwise system, set the path to the archive in the client, then unarchive everything.

I have done this before - it sucks and is time consuming but works.

 

[cjsj1]

Hi there

Yes I have all the old files intact BUT only after I reinstalled the new PO over the old one and with the same name.

So when I create GW account for the existing users there are new mail accounts as well which are empty.

In the offuser folder there are now 10 were there used to be 5 also the 5 original files match the users FID before I cocked it all up BUT there are also 5 new ones which match the same users that are on there now.

So I thought ok I will delete the 5 new users GW accounts which will get rid of all the NEW accounts so leaving the OLD ones. So I did that but all the new files still exist and haven’t been deleted, but I now know that it can take up to 14 days for them to be wiped unless you do it manually which I am going to do tonight.

I have also recreated new GW accounts and changed the FID in GW to match the old ones but it still logged the user on with the old FID so hence waiting for the files to be deleted before continuing.

Will post when I have done this just in case it helps others unfortunate enough to be in my position

The FID editor that you talk about I have used on occasions too but it is only for archives. Thanks for the info anyway

Cheers

 

[sstoppel]

You might be able to use salvage to recover the old wphost.db wpdomain.db and ngwguard.db, then you could use direct file access to open the post office.

 

[cjsj1]

I have trawled the directories and can’t find any salvageable files so looks like I am stuck with what I have