"On the road of experience, and trying to find my own way . . ." I have found myself on the move much these days. Recently I landed for quite a while - not at home, but in Thailand. I took a much-needed vacation to see another part of the world. Much of my time in Thailand was on the move going to a small village to live or just staying in Bangkok to experience the many Buddhist Temples and the Buddhas within. (http://www.seasiancrafts.com/spiritworld/buddha.htm)

But even while I was vacationing I had GroupWise on the mind - and when I did hook up to the Internet there was plenty of work waiting for me. It's amazing when you consider that even moving halfway around the world you are still connected live to the GroupWise community. (In case you are wondering, there are companies in Thailand that use GroupWise - I checked. Now if I could just get them to hire me for a project or two.)

Buddha "In Meditation"

Click to view.

Wat (Temple) Phra Si Sanphet

This all led me to an e-mail I saw requesting help moving a GroupWise system. Now I can safely and confidently say there are many TIDs on Novell's support site that tell folks how to do it. But they are full of long, drawn-out stories and explanations. So in this short article I thought I would provide the community with my short list for moving a GroupWise component or two from old to new servers. I developed this list many years ago while at a customer site moving a GroupWise system. As a consultant, I have moved too many GroupWise systems to remember; whether it's to new hardware, a cluster or an emergency move due to hardware failure, the process is the same. I have even had other consultants follow this list without my assistance, all with success. I hope it helps you as well.

Let's get to it!

Steps for Moving GroupWise

1. Connect to the Domain being moved -OR- Post Office Domain

With the MTA or POA still running, launch ConsoleOne and connect to the domain you want to move or the domain that owns the post office you want to move.

2. Change the UNC

In the properties of the domain/post office to be moved, go to the GroupWise Tab and the Identification windows and change the UNC path to the destination server path. It's best to have a mapped drive to the destination server. Don't forget to click Apply.

3. Change the SDD

To change the UNC path of the Software Distribution Directory, go to GroupWise System Operations portion of Tools in ConsoleOne. This assumes an SDD is involved in the move.

4. Change the UNC of the Library Storage (if needed)

If you are moving a post office that has libraries, select a Library, right-click the Library and select Properties. On the GroupWise tab, select the Storage Area page. Select the Storage Area and click the EDIT button. Edit the UNC path for the Storage Area. Click Apply.

Note: This step is not needed if your Libraries are stored under the Post Office. You may have to use a mapped drive to the new volume for this to work correctly. Also, on occasion ConsoleOne does not change the Library UNC paths correctly - you may need to get NWAdmin to verify this or make the change.

5. Change the MTA/POA IP Address

Right-click the MTA object for the domain moved. Select Properties, then click the button to the right of the TCPIP address field in the Network Address box. Enter the NEW IP Address. Click Apply.

OR,

Right-click the POA object for the Post Office being moved. Select Properties, then select the button to the right of the TCPIP address field in the Network Address box. Enter the new IP Address and click Apply.

Note: Also make sure you change the IP Address in "Link Configuration" from the view of the owning Domain. It may also be helpful to check this from the view of the Primary domain as well. This will assist in pushing out the proper IP address.

6. Change the MTA/POA Log file path

Right-click the POA object for the domain being moved. Select Properties, then select the GroupWise tab, then Log Settings. Enter the UNC for the Log directory and click Apply.

7. Unload the Agents

At the server, toggle to the GroupWise Message Transfer Agent screen, press F7, and select YES to unload the MTA.

OR,

At the server, toggle to the GroupWise Post Office Agent screen, press F7, and select YES, to unload the POA. Then, at the server, toggle to the System Console and type {m gw*} and make sure NO GroupWise NLMs are loaded.

8. Close ConsoleOne (NWAdmin)

Now close down ConsoleOne and make sure no one else has it open. It will leave a lock on the Domain database.

9. Test for Exclusive Access

Before you start moving GroupWise data, check to make sure you have no file locks (exclusive access) to the databases. This is simple to do by just trying to rename the WPDOMAIN.DB and then naming it back. If you can do this, you have exclusive access.

10. Move the GroupWise component (Domain, Post Office)

Move the GroupWise data. I like to use the Novell Server Consolidation and Migration Toolkit. Check it out:

http://download.novell.com/Download?buildid=fxmzE0UYjbs~

11. Load the Agents on the destination

Once the GroupWise data is fully moved over, assuming you have the NLMs already on the destination server, load the MTA/POA. If you moved both a domain and a post office, then I recommend you load the MTA first. Make sure it's working properly and then load the POA.

12. Verify Success

Now that the Agents are up and running, we need to make sure they are communicating. At the server, toggle to the MTA and view the screen. If it shows "Domain closed" - either on the log screen area at the bottom or at the top in the Domains listing - you will need to RESTART the MTA.

To restart the MTA, press F6 and select YES. Then watch the screen. If the domain is still closed or other domains are listed as closed, then you will need to take down the MTA and the POA and reload them using the GRPWISE command (or whichever command you use to load them).

Next go to another MTA that was not moved this time. Press F10, Configuration Status, and verify that the IP Address for the moved domain appears and that the link is OPEN.

Finally, in ConsoleOne, connect to a domain that was not moved this time and select the Domain that was moved. Verify that the UNC path and IP addresses for the moved domain/post office show correctly. Do this for all domains to insure that all domains are aware of the moved domain/post office. It's assumed if one is correct they all are, but it's better to be safe than sorry - check them all.

Also check the Link Configuration View for all domains to make sure each moved domain/post office has the correct IP address and port.

Check the Post Office Agent Screen - F10 Configuration Status, Redirection Links. This will list all POAs and their IP Addresses.

Summary

Please realize this list assumes you know GroupWise well - it is not meant for beginners. There is much detail in TIDs that I have left out. Anyway, if you need to move your GroupWise system or are "Looking for Space" for your GroupWise system, I hope this list helps. If you have questions, give me a call as a consultant - I am always happy to help.