Upgrade from version 15

Question asked by Vickie K - 7/27/2020 at 12:11 PM

Unanswered

I have a very old server running SmarterMail 15. I'm now building a new server and I'm gonna install version 7503. I have two questions:

Is there an easy way to transfer the settings?

Is there a way to copy all the user mailboxes? This is especially important, my users have data they don't want to lose.

8 Replies

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Paul Blank Replied

7/27/2020 at 2:33 PM

The new version should be able to convert your old mailboxes for you. Yes, you can copy the mailbox structures intact, and probably some other configuration files. I don't have specific instructions, but you should get them from ST or someone who has done it.

As I don't need the latest features, my SM clients are still on the last build of V15 - Enterprise 15.7.6970. This version has proven to be remarkably stable - installed February 2019; the only maintenance I have needed is: backups, maintaining accounts and passwords and increasing user disk space as necessary. And I restart the dedicated SM server (2012 R2) after hours for O/S updates. Every so often I have to clear a user's browser cache. Not needing MAPI or desktop Outlook means I can stay here for awhile.

A handful of users who aren't happy with Webmail (most are) are using Thunderbird. SM works fine with most smartphone email apps.

Heimir Eidskrem Replied

7/27/2020 at 3:03 PM

yes, there is.

You can find a post about it here somewhere.

But basically its something like this.

Create new domain with an admin user on the new server.

On the new server delete all the files in the domain folder.

Stop the mail services

Copy all files and folders from the old server.

Start the new mail server.

It will convert the users to the new format.

you are also supposed to be able to use the attach domain feature but not tried that.

Find the post before you do this since my memory might have missed a step.

Vickie K Replied

7/28/2020 at 9:43 AM

Thank you Paul and Heimir. I found this:

Follow this steps to migrate a SmarterMail installation to a different server:

Install SmarterMail on the new server, including setting up the site in IIS.
Stop the SmarterMail Service (MailService.exe) on both servers.
Copy the Settings directory of your install path from your old server to your new one. By default that path will be C:\Program Files (x86)\SmarterTools\SmarterMail\Service\.
Copy all domains folders from their directory on your old server to the same directory on the new server. By default the path domains are stored in is C:\SmarterMail\Domains.
Start the SmarterMail service on the new server.
Log in and re-activate the software on the new server.
If you change the path to your domains, you would need to edit your domains.json file accordingly to reflect the new paths.
If your IP address or other DNS info changes, update the corresponding setting in SmarterMail and restart the SmarterMail Service (or reboot the server) to make the change effective.

I'm gonna go ahead and do it now. Fingers crossed...

Paul Blank Replied

7/28/2020 at 10:31 AM

That sounds about right, now that I see it. BTW make sure you see the entries on this forum about a few important issues that were fixed by a custom build and/or look for a new release.

Vickie K Replied

7/29/2020 at 7:09 AM

Thank you guys, I got it all done, everything's working.

In the instructions it says to copy the settings directory, but I didn't have that directory on my old server. So I set up IIS and created a new domain that had the same name as the one on the old server and the same primary admin. Then I copied the domain directory from the old server. It worked. I had to mess a little bit with settings and rDNS and what not... I don't do this sort of thing on a regular basis so it took me some time, but I got it sorted out.

I have to say SmarterMail has served me well over the years. Fingers crossed the new version is stable and works well too.

Paul Blank Replied

7/29/2020 at 8:20 AM

Nice work!

Vickie K Replied

7/29/2020 at 9:15 AM

Thank you! :)

I do have one more quick question. I didn't set up SMTP TLS. This server is mainly used to send marketing info to our clients and set up appointments, things like that. Nothing secret, nothing that needs protecting. Is there a reason I would need to bother with encrypting SMTP?

Ionel Aurelian Rau Replied

8/4/2020 at 2:24 AM

Probably because many servers will not accept email if not via SMTP TLS or will at least give it a higher chance of it being SPAM.

At this point it`s just a good practice to use HTTPS / TLS everywhere.

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