I would not choose centos 8 it has EOL < than centos7. IBM is pulling the plug on the centos distribution, and makes it more or less a beta for the rhel. Thus centos7 and then you have a few years to decide what to choose. Enough to go to full containerized eg. ;) You do not need to rsync, dovecot can sync messages. I am just in the process of migrating a server from a different network to a different mailbox format. My approach was to create an 'archive' namespace on shared slower but distributed storage so I do not have to move to much data. -----Original Message----- From: Barbara M. [mailto:barbara at rfx.it] Sent: 17 December 2020 01:47 To: dovecot at dovecot.org Subject: migration from 2.0.16 I have an old server with CentOS 6.x and dovecot 2.0.16 (postfix-2.6.6 and roundcube), that was an update from a 1.x many years ago ... Users in /etc/passwd Mailbox format mbox some filtering via procmail About 5.000 users, 1 TB data (/var/mail + /home/users) Obviously I am searching for a smooth upgrade path (with no or minimal downtime and users problems) ;-) Until few days ago my idea was a CentOS 8.x new box with the standard default packages (dovecot-2.3.8, postfix-3.3, ...). Now this can be reconsidered. I suppose there will be a RockyLinux or something equivalent but if there is a good reason I can consider Debian or other OS if they have a decent EOL or some advantages. Anyway, the more relevant problem at the moment is collect info for the best approch to have a smooth dovecot upgrade. My dream is the possibility to configure a new server and rsync the data (/var/mail + /home/users), and, when the tests are satisfiable do the final sync and swap the IP, but I suppose deleting the .imap folders isn't a simple complete solution to compatibility problems. Any hints, links, experiences are appreciated. Thanks, B.
I would recommend using dsync migration to get rid of mbox format. We no longer develop that format, and bugs are limited to reading mbox format. I would also recommend using master password / master user login with doveadm sync, and do the synchronization over imapc: to get the data safely migrated to your new system. You should use doveadm sync -u user backup -R imapc: on the new server to pull the data from old server. See https://wiki.dovecot.org/Migration/Dsync for more details. Aki> On 17/12/2020 11:08 Marc Roos <m.roos at f1-outsourcing.eu> wrote: > > > I would not choose centos 8 it has EOL < than centos7. IBM is pulling > the plug on the centos distribution, and makes it more or less a beta > for the rhel. Thus centos7 and then you have a few years to decide what > to choose. Enough to go to full containerized eg. ;) > > You do not need to rsync, dovecot can sync messages. I am just in the > process of migrating a server from a different network to a different > mailbox format. > > My approach was to create an 'archive' namespace on shared slower but > distributed storage so I do not have to move to much data. > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Barbara M. [mailto:barbara at rfx.it] > Sent: 17 December 2020 01:47 > To: dovecot at dovecot.org > Subject: migration from 2.0.16 > > > I have an old server with CentOS 6.x and dovecot 2.0.16 (postfix-2.6.6 > and roundcube), that was an update from a 1.x many years ago ... > Users in /etc/passwd > Mailbox format mbox > some filtering via procmail > About 5.000 users, 1 TB data (/var/mail + /home/users) > > Obviously I am searching for a smooth upgrade path (with no or minimal > downtime and users problems) ;-) > > Until few days ago my idea was a CentOS 8.x new box with the standard > default packages (dovecot-2.3.8, postfix-3.3, ...). > Now this can be reconsidered. I suppose there will be a RockyLinux or > something equivalent but if there is a good reason I can consider Debian > or other OS if they have a decent EOL or some advantages. > > Anyway, the more relevant problem at the moment is collect info for the > best approch to have a smooth dovecot upgrade. > > My dream is the possibility to configure a new server and rsync the data > (/var/mail + /home/users), and, when the tests are satisfiable do the > final sync and swap the IP, but I suppose deleting the .imap folders > isn't a simple complete solution to compatibility problems. > > Any hints, links, experiences are appreciated. > > Thanks, B.
On Thu, 17 Dec 2020, Marc Roos wrote:> I would not choose centos 8 it has EOL < than centos7. IBM is pulling > the plug on the centos distribution, and makes it more or less a beta > for the rhel. Thus centos7 and then you have a few years to decide what > to choose. Enough to go to full containerized eg. ;)We own the servers and use CT (LXC). The IBM move is clear, but going to C7 today seems to me not a good choice. It is in its descending stage and in a couple of years packages are going to became very outdated. If RH8 remain "open source" I suppose the community or some interested medium level company that use CentOS for their business can became a new CentOS and switch to a different named distro is supposed to be only a question of replace repositories. That seems to me a smoother path (IMHO). Debian 10 is EOL on 2022 Ubuntu LTS seems a solution, but I hadn't ever used it (I may be wrong, but in the past Canonical don't inspire me to much trust). Other options (not too "exotic")?> You do not need to rsync, dovecot can sync messages. I am just in the > process of migrating a server from a different network to a different > mailbox format. > > My approach was to create an 'archive' namespace on shared slower but > distributed storage so I do not have to move to much data.I am studying the situation, but there are many variables and the old age of the source server probably meke it more complex. And I am not a dovecot expert ... Thanks, B.
Hi, On Thu, Dec 17, 2020 at 03:56:45PM +0100, Barbara M. wrote:> Debian 10 is EOL on 2022this may be true, but (1) you can probably expect Debian to have LTS for this - they had for the last few distributions, extending their livetimes to more than 5 years at least (I think Jessie was pulled recently), and upgrades are usually smooth.> Ubuntu LTS seems a solution, but I hadn't ever used it (I may be wrong, but > in the past Canonical don't inspire me to much trust).Me too. IMHO, Debian is the better choice, due to better QA and more effort in backwards compatibility and upgradability. Also, Debian is less driven by commercial considerations, and at least not directly dependend on company policies. A happy new year all around! Enjoy, Toni