1.3 Post Office Migration Process

A post office migration is carried out in two stages to minimize downtime for GroupWise users. During the first stage, the Server Migration Utility performs the following tasks:

  • Mounts the source NetWare or Windows server as a file system to the destination Linux server.

  • Creates a connection to the ssh daemon on the destination Linux server.

  • Creates the folder structure necessary for the GroupWise software and the post office.

  • Copies the Server Migration Utility software to the Linux server and installs it.

  • Copies the GroupWise Linux POA software to the Linux server.

  • Copies the post office data to the Linux server by using the GroupWise Database Copy Utility (DBCopy), which prevents post office files from being modified during the copy operation, using the same locking mechanism used by other GroupWise programs that access databases

  • Copies certificate files and key files if SSL is in use.

  • Identifies remote document storage areas associated with libraries in the post office.

  • Installs, configures, and starts the POA on the Linux server.

  • Cleans up its temporary files, such as the utility software used during the migration process.

After the first stage, you perform some testing of the migrated post office by:

  • Logging in to a mailbox in the migrated post office.

  • Verifying the contents of the migrated mailbox.

The Server Migration Utility then stops the Linux POA in preparation for the second stage of the post office migration. You also have some manual steps to perform in preparation for the second stage:

  • In ConsoleOne, you reconfigure the Post Office object and the POA object for their new locations on the Linux server.

  • If the post office has remote document storage areas, you provide their new locations on Linux.

  • You specify the new IP address for the POA on the Linux server.

  • At the POA console on the source server, you verify that the changes to the GroupWise objects have replicated to the domain.

  • At the source server, you stop the original POA.

During the second stage, the Server Migration Utility performs the following tasks:

  • Copies all post office data that has been modified since the first stage of the migration.

  • Verifies that all files and folders that have been copied to Linux are in lowercase, and if they are not, renames them to lowercase.

  • Performs an operation equivalent to GroupWise Check (GWCheck) with the storelowercase option to ensure that all file names and folder names stored in the guardian database (ngwguard.db) are also converted to lowercase.

  • Copies the contents of the message queue folders so that no incoming or outgoing messages are lost.

  • Deletes the temporary copy of the GroupWise Linux software that was used to install the Linux POA.

  • Unmounts the source server from the Linux server.

After the post office migration is complete, you have two more manual steps to perform:

  • At the Linux server, you configure the Linux POA to run as a non-root user, which is a preferable configuration for security reasons.

  • Finally, you start the Linux POA for the migrated post office.

Step-by-step instructions for each part of this process are found in Section 7.0, Migrating a Post Office and Its POA to Linux.

If the Server Migration Utility is unable to migrate a post office, you can perform the steps yourself. See Section 11.0, Manually Migrating a Post Office and Its POA to Linux.