8.0.9 to 8.7.11 or 8.8.15 Advice and comment.

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kevindods
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8.0.9 to 8.7.11 or 8.8.15 Advice and comment.

Post by kevindods »

We have inherited some old servers with U10.04 and Z8.0.9 servers and want to migrate via U14.04 Z8.0.9 to U16.04 and Z8.7.11 or higher.

So a few answers or comments to the following questions would be great:

1) Should we step through each Zimbra upgrade one version at a time and switch OS as late as possible or switch OS to 16.04 as quick as possible?

2) Are there any previous upgrades we can skip through? ie small point releases or major point releases 8.50 - 8.60 or all versions eg 8.5.0 - 8.5.1 - 8.6.0 - 8.7.0 - 8.7.1 - 8.7.11 etc

3) Is it also better to apply all patches in sequence as well as versions or upgrade through and just latest patches.

4) Would be is it sensible to switch all the way to 8.8.15 now or is a patched 8.7.11 or a previous 8.8.x a good place to rest for a while?

5) Any particular lumpy upgrade paths across this mammoth version leap?

Thanks!

K
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axslingr
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ZCS/ZD Version: 8.8.15.GA.3869.UBUNTU18.64 UBUNTU18

Re: 8.0.9 to 8.7.11 or 8.8.15 Advice and comment.

Post by axslingr »

I'd use Zextras migration tool and go straight to 8.8.15.

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kevindods
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Re: 8.0.9 to 8.7.11 or 8.8.15 Advice and comment.

Post by kevindods »

Thanks for replying. It seems that you need to run the migration tool and then use that with their backup software which requires a subscription on a per seat basis (with a limited free trial option) or have I misread that?

My concern would be if we then get issues pre or post the migration I presume there is no support unless the seats are paid for? We don't have any experience of the script or Zextras so even though it sounds like it could be a great product, there is no additional budget for new annual support at this point.

Presumably you have done it before using the tool? Are there any gotchas or special considerations, eg space for migration, speed, domain/certificate/DKIM etc?

We could possibly look at merging some of the boxes together, would it help do that too?

Thanks again!
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Re: 8.0.9 to 8.7.11 or 8.8.15 Advice and comment.

Post by quanah »

kevindods wrote:Thanks for replying. It seems that you need to run the migration tool and then use that with their backup software which requires a subscription on a per seat basis (with a limited free trial option) or have I misread that?

My concern would be if we then get issues pre or post the migration I presume there is no support unless the seats are paid for? We don't have any experience of the script or Zextras so even though it sounds like it could be a great product, there is no additional budget for new annual support at this point.

Presumably you have done it before using the tool? Are there any gotchas or special considerations, eg space for migration, speed, domain/certificate/DKIM etc?

We could possibly look at merging some of the boxes together, would it help do that too?

Thanks again!
I would be aware of viewtopic.php?f=13&t=66691#p292518 before going that route.

Generally, all the upgrade steps must be executed, but you don't have to go through each version. I.e., you can go from say, 8.0.x to 8.6.x directly. IIRC there is a bug in going directly from 8.0.x to 8.7.x in that a schema migration for the SQL DB gets missed (someone ran into this recently when discussing on the IRC channel). So you'd want to at least do:

8.0.x -> 8.6.x
8.6.x -> 8.8.x

is my understanding. When switching from OS A to OS B, they must be on the same release version, so you need to pick your OS migration point carefully.
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axslingr
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ZCS/ZD Version: 8.8.15.GA.3869.UBUNTU18.64 UBUNTU18

Re: 8.0.9 to 8.7.11 or 8.8.15 Advice and comment.

Post by axslingr »

kevindods wrote:Thanks for replying. It seems that you need to run the migration tool and then use that with their backup software which requires a subscription on a per seat basis (with a limited free trial option) or have I misread that?

My concern would be if we then get issues pre or post the migration I presume there is no support unless the seats are paid for? We don't have any experience of the script or Zextras so even though it sounds like it could be a great product, there is no additional budget for new annual support at this point.

Presumably you have done it before using the tool? Are there any gotchas or special considerations, eg space for migration, speed, domain/certificate/DKIM etc?

We could possibly look at merging some of the boxes together, would it help do that too?

Thanks again!
The 30 day trial is all you need to import the backup from the migration tool. Just uninstall Zextras suite when you're done. If 8.8.15 has a possibility of breaking Zextras(which I haven't seen yet)then at the very least you could go to 8.8.12 with the migration tool, and upgrade to 8.8.15 when you see everything is good.

Fire up a test server and do a trial run. Zextras will migrate domains, COS, and most server settings but not all; definitely not commercial certs. Merging mailbox servers together is simple to do. Install the migration tool on all the mailbox servers you want to merge, then import those backups into the destination server.

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Re: 8.0.9 to 8.7.11 or 8.8.15 Advice and comment.

Post by kevindods »

Thanks both of you, very useful points I may have otherwise missed in forum searches. I think we may just aim for 8.8.12 and be very tight about the upgrade path on a test server with copies of real data first to check it all hangs together. There is a fairly good choice of Zimbra versions and OS support crossover so I may aim for apparent mid-points so the OS and Zimbra are mature enough at the switch.

I havent played with Zimbra much over the last few years, having been involved back in the old 2006 - 2012 days but I get the sense with the comments and information around that although the product is mature its direction and control may not be ideal at the edges and so long as I stay in a maintainable version it might be better than aiming for the latest GA. Is that a fair position when aiming for stability in production do you think?

Again, many thanks for the help, its nice to be back and still see a few familiar names!
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