NethServer Version: NethServer release 7.6.1810 Module: Migration from NethService/SME Server
I am currently running SME Server 8.2 and plan to migrate to NethServer release 7.6.1810. I have configured NethServer on the new hardware with the services that are required.
For the migration I am following the documentation at http://docs.nethserver.org/en/v7/migration.html and plan to use the “Sync and migrate” procedure. I have successfully run the following command on the new server:
screen rsync-migrate 10.0.0.5 22
where 10.0.0.5 is the old server
I now wish to run the final command:
screen rsync-migrate -m 10.0.0.5 22
My question is: If there is a problem on the new server, how do I get the old server back on line again? Will it have been modified in any way, or can I simply disconnect the new server and reboot the old one?
On the new server, what happens to the data if the migration fails? Will the transferred data remain in /var/lib/migration, which means that it makes it easy to rerun the rsync-migrate -m command after fixing any problems? Or will all data have to be transferred a second time from the old server?
I’ve had a great deal of recent experience of migrating SME 9.2 to Nethserver. One problem to be aware of is password mismatch in the final stages of the rsync migration. If you use a backup of the SME server, its a little easier - copy /root/.my.cnf to /var/lib/migration/root/.my.cnf - by doing that you avoid a password error when the mysql databases are updated with data from the SME system.
I’ve just (finally) managed a test migration using rsync. For that, I changed the mysql password of the Nethserver to match the mysql password of the SME donor server. To do that, I copied the contents of SME /root/.my.cnf to the Nethserver /root/.my.cnf and /var/lib/nethserver/secrets/mysql, then followed the procedure here:
to change the password to match the new /root/.my.cnf
That seems to have worked and got round the problems I was having in my earlier migration attempts.
Its a long time since I’ve run anything older than SME 9.2, so I don’t know if there will be any other problems migrating an older version.
As an old SME-User from 5.x to 9.2, I’d suggest doing a backup of that 8.x server, on a spare machine (Or VM, say in Proxmox )make an update to SME 9.2.
Check if all works, including any Contribs added in SME, some may need updating…
Then using backup again, migrate that using a backup over to NethServer…
That way, the old box remains 100% intact (No migration takes place here), but you also have the in-between step intact for a second try!
It should go more or less seamlessly…
Your milage may vary!
I’ve now managed (with a some difficulties), to migrate from SME 9.2. to Nethserver 7.6 twice, once using a backup, the second time using the rsync-migrate route. I’ve still got 6 9.2 systems to migrate. A couple of them will need to be done with rsync, but the others will probably use a backup.
In some respects migrating using a backup is easier - you can skip changing the mysql password. You can also delete information_schema.dump from the backup, since it will fail to migrate. Not sure that matters - even though it did produce some errors in the log when using rsync, they do not seem to have affected the success of the migration.
In some cases, I really want to be able to use rsync - the amount of data involved would make migrating using a backup take too long. The downtime is unacceptable.
I’m glad to say that all the systems I have to migrate are SME 9.2, so I don’t have to worry about any incompatibilities with older versions of SME. I think that your suggestion of upgrading to SME 9.2 before attempting a migration may be a very good idea…
Long way to go yet. The biggest problem now is the timing. All of them are production servers, so where possible I’m hoping to be able to replace the hardware, at least on a temporary basis, to try and minimise downtime.
I’m hoping the next one I can do will be the system with the PCI-DSS requirements. If a new TLS policy can be brought in, they would be first in line, since they have much higher security requirements than any of the other systems I deal with.
)make an update to SME 9.2.
I think your reply should have been @