Move RHEL4 to RHEl5

[adhodgson]

Hi,

I would like to upgrade our box to RHEL5. I will keep the same box, hostname and IP. The Scalix partition is mounted on a separate RAID array and separate logical volume. if I wipe the RAID-1 with the OS on it, and do a fresh RHEL5 install, then install Scalix, making sure the volumes are mounted, will it pick up the relevant files and allow me to continue using the existing message store?

Thanks.
Andrew.

[Valerion]

Use the same version of Scalix on both installs and make sure the message store mounts at the correct spot before you install the server package. I can't think of issues you will have.

[les]

Use the same version of Scalix on both installs and make sure the message store mounts at the correct spot before you install the server package. I can't think of issues you will have.

your going to hit postgres database issues if you go from rhel4 to rhel5 (postgres 7.4 to 8.1)

I found that starting with a fresh postgres database in v8 is easiest, just let it rebuild all its indexes.

The article on the scalix wiki (What no one tells you about changing servers) is a good indicator of what you should do.

Make sure you have the same UID/GID for scalix, run an omcheck to sort out permissions issues and of course backup beforehand ;)

I think its actually better to move your current store out of the way, do a fresh install on the new server, then move your old store in place.

Does anyone know the answer to this question......

how can you upgrade your postgres db from version 7 to version 8 so you can keep all your indexes?
if you actually install 7.4 postgres rpms and then rpm -Fvh postgres version 8 does it magically upgrade db's?

[adhodgson]

Hi,

How did you clear the Postgres configuration and start anew with the Scalix Postgres packages on V8? I may leave RHEL4 in place, I was just upgrading all the servers on RHEL4 to RHEL5. Moving servers is not an option, because I couldn't make a business case for this, and as we have a new director we will probably be moving to Exchange in the near future, but it goes down to the bottom of the pile of projects, and I want to ensure we are running a supported OS.

Thanks.
Andrew.

[les]

Hi,

How did you clear the Postgres configuration and start anew with the Scalix Postgres packages on V8? I may leave RHEL4 in place, I was just upgrading all the servers on RHEL4 to RHEL5. Moving servers is not an option, because I couldn't make a business case for this, and as we have a new director we will probably be moving to Exchange in the near future, but it goes down to the bottom of the pile of projects, and I want to ensure we are running a supported OS.

Thanks.
Andrew.

do a fresh install of scalix.
stop scalix.

mv /var/opt/scalix/xx /var/opt/scalix/xx.virgin
rsync /path to old xx store to /var/opt/scalix/xx

of course make sure UID/GID match, verifiy with omcheck.

mv /var/opt/scalix/xx/postgres /var/opt/scalix/xx/postgres.old
rsync -avz /var/opt/scalix/xx.virigin/postgres /var/opt/scalix/xx/.

start scalix. You get a clean v8 postgres db.

[Valerion]

Les,

You are of course correct, I didn't consider changing the DB. PostgreSQL has no direct upgrade path between major versions other than a dbdump / dbimport cycle. For the Scalix indexes I think this is overkill, it's easier to script a automated index rebuild.

[adhodgson]

Hi,

What about when we are doing the upgrade, moving the /var/opt/scalix/ml/postgres directory out of the way, then doing a new install with the message store intact? Would this create a new Postgres install?

I think I remember doing something like this with a test install a year or so ago, where I just had the /s directory, and no other directory in there, and the installer re-created all the other directories like Tomcat etc, and kept the store intact.

Thanks.
Andrew.

[les]

Hi,

What about when we are doing the upgrade, moving the /var/opt/scalix/ml/postgres directory out of the way, then doing a new install with the message store intact? Would this create a new Postgres install?

I think I remember doing something like this with a test install a year or so ago, where I just had the /s directory, and no other directory in there, and the installer re-created all the other directories like Tomcat etc, and kept the store intact.

Thanks.
Andrew.

ummmm......i guess so, it seems feasible but......

I can only give you real world experience.

the process I outlined earlier works fine. Takes only 5 minutes extra.

If you are going from 11.3 on rhel4 to 11.3 on rhel5 then either way you look at it you need a virgin postrges directory. This can come from a fresh install or from an install over the top.

Im not a big fan of installing scalix on a system and sticking an existing mailstore in the right location, hoping that scalix will find, keep and upgrade it. I've heard horror stories about things going wrong and mailstores disappearing!!!

To that end i don't tempt fate. When i find a process that works i stick to it. ;)

But its entirely up to you which way you go. Just ensure you have backups available before proceeding.

Good luck!