Hello,
One of my web sites is changing host. I have prepared the Drupal files, and used /etc/hosts to test the Drupal site at its new location. Now, I only need to shut down the site, make a last sql dump, import it and then, lastly, change the DNS.
But it only now occurred to me that migrating a web server is only half of changing hosts.
What about mails?
What is a good procedure to migrate all the mails on the server, and also to make sure that no mail is lost during the DNS change (during the propagation of the new DNS)?
I have not found a page on the web about a best practice about changing hosts, what data to migrate, what not, and how to be prepared to avoid troubles.
Any hints?
Thanks.
Augustin.
Il giorno mer, 12/03/2008 alle 17.09 +0800, Augustin (Beginner) ha scritto:
What is a good procedure to migrate all the mails on the server, and also to make sure that no mail is lost during the DNS change (during the propagation of the new DNS)?
In current email configuration change pop address with ip address (es: mail.gmail.com -> 208.69.32.130) Create new account (same email client) with new parametres
On Wed, Mar 12, 2008 at 10:09 AM, Augustin (Beginner) drupal.beginner@wechange.org wrote:
Hello,
One of my web sites is changing host. I have prepared the Drupal files, and used /etc/hosts to test the Drupal site at its new location. Now, I only need to shut down the site, make a last sql dump, import it and then, lastly, change the DNS.
But it only now occurred to me that migrating a web server is only half of changing hosts.
What about mails?
What is a good procedure to migrate all the mails on the server, and also to make sure that no mail is lost during the DNS change (during the propagation of the new DNS)?
I have not found a page on the web about a best practice about changing hosts, what data to migrate, what not, and how to be prepared to avoid troubles.
Any hints?
Thanks.
Augustin.
--
-- [ Drupal support list | http://lists.drupal.org/ ]
This is not really Drupal related, but it kinds of depends on how the mail is stored on the server. On many hosts this could be ~/.Maildir, ~/.maildir, or depending on how the system is configured, a completely different format altogether (mbox). If you are running the same POP or IMAP server with the same settings on both servers, you could simply just copy these files. With IMAP, I've found a simpler, and often more reliable, solution is to use a mail client like Thunderbird to create an account on both servers (connect via IP address if you must), then just drag the mail folders from one account to the other.
As for MX DNS, you can lower your domain's TTL to 10 minutes or so a day or two before you migrate so that when you make the MX change, the old record won't be cached by other DNS servers for more than 10 minutes. After migration, bring the TTL back up to some thing reasonable, e.g. 12hrs. You probably don't have to worry though, as most mail transfer agents will try to find a mail server for a day or two before giving up.
Hope that helps.
--Victor
On Wednesday 12 March 2008 17:56, Victor Trac wrote:
Hope that helps.
Hello Maurizio and Victor,
Thank you for your replies. They helped. I'll post again in a few days, to tell exactly what I did, in case it helps someone else.
Blessings,
Augustin.
-- http://minguo.info/ better election methods http://minguo.info/usa/ the USA FA/DP Free Association with Delegable Proxy: an internet experiment in democracy.
My 2 cts: Regarding migrating emails, I think the best way to go is using imapsync, I've used some help from the zimbra folks http://wiki.zimbra.com/index.php?title=User_Migration#imapsync_over_SSL
Good luck
----- Original Message ----- From: "Victor Trac" victor.trac@gmail.com To: support@drupal.org Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 3:56 AM Subject: Re: [support] changing host: dealing with mails
On Wed, Mar 12, 2008 at 10:09 AM, Augustin (Beginner) drupal.beginner@wechange.org wrote:
Hello,
One of my web sites is changing host. I have prepared the Drupal files, and used /etc/hosts to test the Drupal site at its new location. Now, I only need to shut down the site, make a last sql dump, import it and then, lastly, change the DNS.
But it only now occurred to me that migrating a web server is only half of changing hosts.
What about mails?
What is a good procedure to migrate all the mails on the server, and also to make sure that no mail is lost during the DNS change (during the propagation of the new DNS)?
I have not found a page on the web about a best practice about changing hosts, what data to migrate, what not, and how to be prepared to avoid troubles.
Any hints?
Thanks.
Augustin.
--
-- [ Drupal support list | http://lists.drupal.org/ ]
This is not really Drupal related, but it kinds of depends on how the mail is stored on the server. On many hosts this could be ~/.Maildir, ~/.maildir, or depending on how the system is configured, a completely different format altogether (mbox). If you are running the same POP or IMAP server with the same settings on both servers, you could simply just copy these files. With IMAP, I've found a simpler, and often more reliable, solution is to use a mail client like Thunderbird to create an account on both servers (connect via IP address if you must), then just drag the mail folders from one account to the other.
As for MX DNS, you can lower your domain's TTL to 10 minutes or so a day or two before you migrate so that when you make the MX change, the old record won't be cached by other DNS servers for more than 10 minutes. After migration, bring the TTL back up to some thing reasonable, e.g. 12hrs. You probably don't have to worry though, as most mail transfer agents will try to find a mail server for a day or two before giving up.
Hope that helps.
--Victor
-- http://www.victortrac.com -- [ Drupal support list | http://lists.drupal.org/ ]
-
Augustin (Beginner) -
Maurizio Cavalletti -
Nicolas Tostin -
Victor Trac