Topic: How to move to another machine?

[judgej]

I am trying to move an SME Server 7.3 from an old PATA machine that has seen better days, to a new SATA Dell Server. I know the server model works, because I have installed SME Server from scratch on it before. This time I just want to move sideways without having to go through a full reinstallation process.

So, I am using Clonezilla to copy the PATA hard drive to a new (and bigger) SATA drive. When I boot up on that new disk, I just get the word "GRUB" scrolling across the screen continuously. Any idea what that could be? Does GRUB need updating so it can use the SATA drive properly? Is it because the SATA drive is a different device to what it was on the old machine?

Anyone seen this before, and have any hints on how to get over this hurdle?

-- Jason

[Stefano]

Hi

my 2c: fresh install of Sme on the new server then use affa to migrate.. it's easy and very confortable..

hd cloning is not (IMO) a safe way..

HTH
Ciao
Stefano

[judgej]

I guess I've been spoiled by Windows: just clone IDE->SATA, boot, and go.

I'll have a look at this 'affa' you mention (I can just run it from the old SME Server hard drive, can't I? I don't need to perform a backup on the old server first?).

-- Jason

[Stefano]

I guess I've been spoiled by Windows: just clone IDE->SATA, boot, and go.

I'll have a look at this 'affa' you mention (I can just run it from the old SME Server hard drive, can't I? I don't need to perform a backup on the old server first?).

-- Jason

Hi
http://wiki.contribs.org/Affa

tested many times.. do exactly what you expect.

Ciao
Stefano

[m]

Please see: http://wiki.contribs.org/Moving_SME_to_new_Hardware

[judgej]

Yes, it looks like 'affa' is going to be the way to go. I was hoping for something simpler that wouldn't involve the "hunt-the-contrib/settings/RPMs-that-I-forgot-got-installed" game, but I guess not. I've put the old server back in the office and will follow the Affa steps during the week.

On the plus side, I do get bigger disks without having to work out how to extend a RAID array partition.

-- Jason

[judgej]

I've followed the first step and now have a new server with all the data moved across to the new server.

The data seems to include only /etc/ and /home. Does that mean nothing under /var is copied across, i.e. no historic server logs from /var/log, no raw database files from var/lib/mysql (transferred as exports presumably)?

I can understand a backup system not needing thosethings, but if transferring a system to new hardware, perhaps we need a few additional steps to ensure the new system is more than just an empty shell.

-- Jason

PS Another thing that needs noting is that the initial 'yum update' is not going to bring everything up to date. You also need to enable the appropriate repos to do some of te updates, e.g. "yum --enablerepo=smecontribs install smeserver-userpanel" on the new server and "yum --enablerepo=smecontribs update smeserver-userpanel" on the old server to bring them both into line, as the installed package on the new server is likely to be more current than the one on the old server.

[judgej]

Please see: http://wiki.contribs.org/Moving_SME_to_new_Hardware

Fab! Just completed a server migration. It works like a dream.

Thanks everyone, especially the affa author.

-- Jason