Migration questions

**pup_seba** · 01-26-2014, 05:45 PM

Hi all!

Although I already checked some wikis and forum posts, I still have some doubts regarding trying to migrate from version 6 single server to a version 8 multi server.

1) According to this ZxBackup: Incremental migration with ZeXtras Backup - ZeXtras Suite Wiki
I could do incremental restores (this is a huge difference with Zimbra native backups as it first deletes the mailbox) but if any item was deleted or moved during the different backups, those items won't be "updated" in the restored mailbox. Is this correct? I guess this also applies to appointments.

2) As I'm moving from single to multi-server arquitecture, is there any way to restore the information from the first single server accross my new servers (4 mailstores). If so, I would love to do it while performing an incremental migration.

BTW, as I write this, I'm also trying to find out the way in my lab. I'll share the results in any case

Thank you very much for your help!
Regards,
Sebas

**Cine** · 01-27-2014, 10:50 AM

Hello Sebas!

I confirm that once an item has been imported by ZeXtras Backup it will be skipped by any following import. This applies to settings, emails, contacts, appointments, tasks and briefcase files.

Regarding the incremental migration from a single server to a multistore environment: accounts and data are imported on the server the import itself is started from, so if you wish to split your accounts on multiple servers you just need to select the accounts you wish to import on each server upon starting the imports. Once all accounts have been created, you can skip this step on any following import, as ZeXtras Backup will automatically skip any account that is in LDAP but is not hosted on the server you are running the import from.

Code:

- E.G.: 10 accounts split between 2 servers -
Server1, first import:
Select account1@domain.com...account5@domain.com

Server2, first import:
Select account6@domain.com...account10@domain.com

Server1, second import:
Select all accounts

Server2, second import:
Select all accounts

...and so on...

Both the ZeXtras Administration Zimlet and the ZeXtras CLI allow you to choose the accounts you wish to import.

Have a nice day,
Cine
the ZeXtras Team

**pup_seba** · 01-29-2014, 09:40 AM

Hi Cine! Thank you so much for your answer!

I also had the chance to try this in my lab and works great!!!

Thanks again for tour answer!
Sebas

**Cine** · 01-29-2014, 10:07 AM

You're welcome!

Cine

**pup_seba** · 03-12-2014, 08:39 PM

Hi!

After looking at all the resources showed by Cine at this thread http://forums.zextras.com/zextras-mi...resources.html I can not see the minimum Zimbra version required for the Migration tool.

I have to do a migration from RHEL 5.5 with ZCS 6.0.4 single store and 2 MTA to RHEL 6.5 with ZCS 8.0.6 multi-store / multi-master-LDAP (4) and 2 MTA.

The thing is that for using Zextras Suite, I know that I should perform an inplace upgrade of ZCS 6.0.4 to at least ZCS 6.0.7. As this is kind of a risky step, I would rather not to perform that upgrade...so i was wondering if maybe instead of installing the Zextras Suite to perform the export, installing the Migration tool would be possible while maintaining version 6.0.4 in the orginial server. That would be awesome!

For the restore process, I was thinking about some scripting...I'll play with my lab tomorrow to see how that goes (idea would be to get 4 lists of zimbra accounts {from a-g / l-o / etc} and do something like a "for i in ´zmprov ga {a-g}*@mydomain.com´ do; zxbackup {I'll have to see which commands go here

}.

Any help is more than welcome! And if there is ANY way in which while restoring I can also "overcome" the limitation of not migrating "Items moved or deleted during the process will not be moved or deleted on the destination server.", you will make so damn happy!

Thanks!!!
Sebas

**Cine** · 03-13-2014, 10:16 AM

Hello pup_seba!

The minimum requirements of the ZeXtras Migration Tool are the same ones than ZeXtras Suite (see HERE).

Regarding the import scripting part, the command you need to use is `zxsuite backup doExternal restore`:

Code:

zimbra@demo:~$ zxsuite backup doExternalRestore
command doExternalRestore requires more parameters


Syntax:
   zxsuite backup doExternalRestore {source_path} [attr1 value1 [attr2 value2...]]


PARAMETER LIST


NAME                          TYPE                 EXPECTED VALUES    DEFAULT
source_path(M)                Path                                    
accounts(O)                   Account Name[,..]                       all
domains(O)                    Domain Name[,..]                        all
filter_deleted(O)             Boolean              true|false         true
skip_system_accounts(O)       Boolean              true|false         true
skip_aliases(O)               Boolean              true|false         false
skip_distribution_lists(O)    Boolean              true|false         false
skip_coses(O)                 Boolean              true|false         false
provisioning_only(O)          Boolean              true|false         false
notifications(O)              Email Address                           


(M) == mandatory parameter, (O) == optional parameter


Usage example:


zxsuite backup doexternalrestore /path/to/data/ accounts john@example.com,jack@example.com domains example.com filter_deleted false skip_system_accounts false
Restores the example.com domain, including all system accounts, and the john@example.com and jack@example.com accounts from a backup located in /path/to/data/

As you can see, you can use the "accounts" parameter instead of running the import command once for each account (this, depending on the number of accounts on your server, might save up quite some time).

The moved/deleted items limitation cannot be overcame in any way, as it is a safety measure to rule out any chance of item duplication. Personally, the best way I found to deal with this is by keeping users informed and up to date with what's happening: a simple email with some informations about the migration and about the fact that "while all emails will be moved to the new server some changes will not be restored (so make as less changes as possible, pretty please)" can do wonders...

Have a nice day,
Cine
the ZeXtras Team

p.s.: If, as I presume, you have a quite large number of accounts to migrate why not trying the Incremental Migration way?

**pup_seba** · 03-13-2014, 11:12 AM

Hi Cine!

You are the man!

One of the first things I personally look at when testing products is "how alive its community is"...I have to say that you do an amazing job with ZeXtras community!!!

I have to migrate something like 10.000 accounts and incremental backup is what I was planning. As part of this particular migration, I'll have to also change the platform components from:

1 Core/LDAP + 2 MTA/Proxy (ZCS 6.0.5 NE over RHEL 5)

to:

4 Core/LDAP (multimaster) + 2 MTA/Proxy (ZCS 8.0.6 NE over RHEL 6)

So, I was planning to export everything with the zxmig tool and then import it using the zextras suite. I thought that running a script at import time to import only some users for every single Store, would help me in "splitting" all the accounts among all the 4 new servers. Is that a good idea?

BTW, you just save me lots of testing time with your answers!

I tried today to deploy the zxmig tool on top of a 6.0.5 and I was able to (after alterning the scripted function that checked for the installed zimbra version), but then I was not able to start zextras as it wasn't able to reach the server

(so far my "hacking" abilities LOL).

The transport I will try to use, is to export to a shared folder and then import from that very same shared folder, to avoid wasting time "copying, rsyncing, etc".

Do you know by any chance if "shared" items are also maintained? Like shared calendars, will they still be shared after the migration? And "send as" permissions or briefcase docs?

Thanks again Cine!
Sebas

**Cine** · 03-13-2014, 12:46 PM