bscott13
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NEW Netware Small Business Suite 6.5 License issues & Migrating Groupwise Data from OLD Netware 5 server
I have installed a NEW Netware SBS 6.5 server to replace an old Netware 5 server running Groupwise ver. 5. The new server has the same TREE as the previous installation, only the server name has changed. However, the past IT consultant installed EVERYTHING in the SYS volume. User directories, misc data, service packs, gwdom & gwpo, etc..
The evening prior to replacing the old server, I did a complete backup of the 10GB of information from the SYS volume and placed it onto an external USB drive. I performed this from a management workstation logged in as admin. I then copied that data onto the DATA volume of the NEW server. All is working fine with the data that I copied. However, there are still a few issues remaining...
1. Is there anyway to override the 2USER license issue that Novell has set with their downloadable EVAL copies of Netware? They emailed me the link to a license download and it is for the incorrect version. The SBS 6.5 EVAL only allows 2 users to login and gives them the license for a 90 day period. I have 6 people logging in as one user. The issue wih that is that no one is getting the appropriate rights or drive mappings. There is also no way for them to access Groupwise because they will all get the ONE user's set of data....not their own. Is there anyway to override this for a short period of time while Novell gets things straightened out with our supplier CDW to do a refund for the original WRONG license and then gets around to emailing me a link to the new license download?
2. Since my GroupWise migration is somewhat at a standstill, until the licensing gets straightened out, what is the EASIEST way for me to get users to login in to their pre-existing data from the OLD server? Each workstation has a shortcut to the old groupwise "grpwise.exe" file that used to reside on SYS in the following path... EK_OFFICE\SYS\SOFTWARE\CLI
Now that I have a DATA volume in addition to SYS on the NEW server, I think that I can just place the OLD GroupWise data in a NEW location, set the shortcuts on everyone's dekstops to see the exe file in its NEW location, and all should work...right? I have read several of the posted questions on here already and some lead me to believe that this is the case. However, now that I have some time to breathe, I would like to not have to experiment. Especially if one or some of you have done this before and can give me the "down and dirty" BEST way to accomplish what I am trying to do.
Where exactly does the existing user data need to go? What about the GWDOM and GWPO...do they need to reside somewhere specific on the DATA vol or do they need to be on SYS? Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks very much!!!
The evening prior to replacing the old server, I did a complete backup of the 10GB of information from the SYS volume and placed it onto an external USB drive. I performed this from a management workstation logged in as admin. I then copied that data onto the DATA volume of the NEW server. All is working fine with the data that I copied. However, there are still a few issues remaining...
1. Is there anyway to override the 2USER license issue that Novell has set with their downloadable EVAL copies of Netware? They emailed me the link to a license download and it is for the incorrect version. The SBS 6.5 EVAL only allows 2 users to login and gives them the license for a 90 day period. I have 6 people logging in as one user. The issue wih that is that no one is getting the appropriate rights or drive mappings. There is also no way for them to access Groupwise because they will all get the ONE user's set of data....not their own. Is there anyway to override this for a short period of time while Novell gets things straightened out with our supplier CDW to do a refund for the original WRONG license and then gets around to emailing me a link to the new license download?
2. Since my GroupWise migration is somewhat at a standstill, until the licensing gets straightened out, what is the EASIEST way for me to get users to login in to their pre-existing data from the OLD server? Each workstation has a shortcut to the old groupwise "grpwise.exe" file that used to reside on SYS in the following path... EK_OFFICE\SYS\SOFTWARE\CLI
Now that I have a DATA volume in addition to SYS on the NEW server, I think that I can just place the OLD GroupWise data in a NEW location, set the shortcuts on everyone's dekstops to see the exe file in its NEW location, and all should work...right? I have read several of the posted questions on here already and some lead me to believe that this is the case. However, now that I have some time to breathe, I would like to not have to experiment. Especially if one or some of you have done this before and can give me the "down and dirty" BEST way to accomplish what I am trying to do.
Where exactly does the existing user data need to go? What about the GWDOM and GWPO...do they need to reside somewhere specific on the DATA vol or do they need to be on SYS? Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks very much!!!
Actually, thinking about 1) some more, another problem you have is that your Master replica of the [Root] partition is on the v5 server. It is a Bad Idea (tm) to have the Master of [Root] on an *older* version of NetWare/NDS. But you have a chicken & egg scenario, where you can't put the Master replica on the newer server version until that server is in the tree, but you don't want to put it in the tree with the Master replica on an older version. This is another reason you need to back off and re-think your approach.
To *safely* move the GroupWise environment, get a full backup of the GroupWise directory structures for the Domain and the Post Office. Ignore the GroupWise software subdirs, you want the Domain and PO (these directories should be named the same as the Domain and PO - I can't tell you much more than that because I have no idea what that moron who set it up originally did). Be sure to get these backups when the entire GroupWise system is shut down. If you use Direct Connect mode (you shouldn't, but if you do), then make sure all the clients are out when you get the backup as well. Get the MTA and POA startup files (usually in SYS:SYSTEM and named the same as the Domain but ending with .MTA and .POA, respectively) on diskette, too.
You then install the new GroupWise system normally. Create a Domain and PO (don't worry, you'll delete them later). Restore the data from the old system to its new home somewhere else than the SYS: Volume. Rejoice in the fact that GroupWise is backwards-compatible and v6.5 will happily read v5.5 databases, and you're not stuck with noghtmare of trying to do this with Exchange. Copy the MTA and POA startup files to the new server's SYS:SYSTEM and edit them so the "/home" parameter matches the new location of the POA and MTA. In ConsoleOne, graft the GroupWise objects (System, Domain, PO) into NDS using the GroupWise Snap-In's Grafting functions. Launch GroupWise and make sure the system is operating normally. Graft in the users too.
I strongly recommend you get Tay Kratzer's GroupWise v6.5 Administrator's Guide (ISBN 0-7897-2982-2) from your fave local bookstore. Also, I suggest you download and print the Novell documentation for GroupWise v6.5 (http://www.novell.com/documentation/gw65/index.html) especially the Administration Guide.
You then install the new GroupWise system normally. Create a Domain and PO (don't worry, you'll delete them later). Restore the data from the old system to its new home somewhere else than the SYS: Volume. Rejoice in the fact that GroupWise is backwards-compatible and v6.5 will happily read v5.5 databases, and you're not stuck with noghtmare of trying to do this with Exchange. Copy the MTA and POA startup files to the new server's SYS:SYSTEM and edit them so the "/home" parameter matches the new location of the POA and MTA. In ConsoleOne, graft the GroupWise objects (System, Domain, PO) into NDS using the GroupWise Snap-In's Grafting functions. Launch GroupWise and make sure the system is operating normally. Graft in the users too.
I strongly recommend you get Tay Kratzer's GroupWise v6.5 Administrator's Guide (ISBN 0-7897-2982-2) from your fave local bookstore. Also, I suggest you download and print the Novell documentation for GroupWise v6.5 (http://www.novell.com/documentation/gw65/index.html) especially the Administration Guide.
Also, how are you installing SBS v6.5? Don't use the Novell-supplied media. Instead, go to http://support.novell.com/filefinder/18197/index.html and download the NetWare v6.5 Support Pack 2 Overlay CDs and use them as the install media. There is one critical Post-SP2 patch at http://support.novell.com/cgi-bin/search/searchtid.cgi?/2968987.htm that you will need as well. This way, when you install, you get a pre-patched version of NetWare (and only have that one relatively small patch to install).
ASKER
OK....WOW...didn't expect so many comments so quickly.
Let me clear up a few things because I was too vaugue to begin with. :-) Sorry ;-)
This is a small attorney's office with ONE server. I recorded all the data from the OLD server and gave the NEW "replacement" server an updated name but gave the NEW NDS TREE the same name. I was hoping to ease the transition for the users. As you know, users HATE change and I was just trying to change as little as was visible to them as possible. Their TREE, when they login is the same, their user names are the same, their print queues are the same, etc. The only thing that I changed...to keep my sanity....was the server name.
So, give this a little more consideration given the fact that the OLD server is gone...unplugged, sitting on the floor, soon to be trashed. The new server has a fresh install of SBS 6.5 on new hardware and now I just would like for the users to be able to use their OLD groupwise data on the NEW server.
Let me clear up a few things because I was too vaugue to begin with. :-) Sorry ;-)
This is a small attorney's office with ONE server. I recorded all the data from the OLD server and gave the NEW "replacement" server an updated name but gave the NEW NDS TREE the same name. I was hoping to ease the transition for the users. As you know, users HATE change and I was just trying to change as little as was visible to them as possible. Their TREE, when they login is the same, their user names are the same, their print queues are the same, etc. The only thing that I changed...to keep my sanity....was the server name.
So, give this a little more consideration given the fact that the OLD server is gone...unplugged, sitting on the floor, soon to be trashed. The new server has a fresh install of SBS 6.5 on new hardware and now I just would like for the users to be able to use their OLD groupwise data on the NEW server.
Ah. Well, yes, that is different.
My 3:31pm comment should provide the guidance you need. Is there something in there that's not clear?
My 3:31pm comment should provide the guidance you need. Is there something in there that's not clear?
BTW, you may have noted that GroupWise does not have its own TA under the E-Mail heading. If you'd like to help change this, then a nice (free) message in the New Topics request area would be helpful. https://www.experts-exchange.com/Community_Support/New_Topics/
ASKER
ok...here is the latest development
1. followed PsiCop's suggestions from "Date: 08/23/2004 12:31PM PDT" however, the only MTA and POA files I could find were named nothing like the old GWPO and GWDOM. There were startup files for both MTA and POA in SYS:SYSTEM but looked to be variations of the same 10k-12k files with different language choices. None of the dates of the files were current...like no dates on the files within the last 2 years. Shouldn't the dates update each time the file is accessed? Should the file name be gwdom.mta and gwpo.poa? Will there be one file of each type or multiples? I found 172 *.poa files with different filenames....all corresponding to a different client that is serviced by this attorney's office.
This all seemed kinda strange but I edited the 2 "startup" files as described to point to the location of the restored data in the new DATA:MAIL directory.
The goofy thing is that the gwpo directory was existing as a subdirectory of the gwdom directory on the old server. Not sure if this makes any difference or not but it didn't seem typical to me.
2. Here is where things got a bit confusing to me...
PsiCop goes on to state, "Copy the MTA and POA startup files to the new server's SYS:SYSTEM and edit them so the "/home" parameter matches the new location of the POA and MTA."
Okay, I think I got the right data copied, edited the parameters pointing to the directory that houses the newly restored gwdom and gwpo from the old server.
However, I lost you at the second section..."In ConsoleOne, graft the GroupWise objects (System, Domain, PO) into NDS using the GroupWise Snap-In's Grafting functions. Launch GroupWise and make sure the system is operating normally. Graft in the users too."
I am unclear about the "grafting" that you describe. In ConsoleOne, my gwdom & dwpo objects look like 3-D cubes with a question mark over each one. I'm assuming that this is not good but I haven't done Groupwise in 4-5 years so please excuse my "rusty-ness".
I rebooted the server, now that the data changes have been made and tried to login as a couple of users. Needless to say, Groupwise is working and allowing me to function....however, I see no OLD data. Everything is as blank as a new sheet of paper :-) So, it looks as though Groupwise is working but that I have missed something on the procedure to point the users to their OLD information.
Please help. Thanks tons!!!
1. followed PsiCop's suggestions from "Date: 08/23/2004 12:31PM PDT" however, the only MTA and POA files I could find were named nothing like the old GWPO and GWDOM. There were startup files for both MTA and POA in SYS:SYSTEM but looked to be variations of the same 10k-12k files with different language choices. None of the dates of the files were current...like no dates on the files within the last 2 years. Shouldn't the dates update each time the file is accessed? Should the file name be gwdom.mta and gwpo.poa? Will there be one file of each type or multiples? I found 172 *.poa files with different filenames....all corresponding to a different client that is serviced by this attorney's office.
This all seemed kinda strange but I edited the 2 "startup" files as described to point to the location of the restored data in the new DATA:MAIL directory.
The goofy thing is that the gwpo directory was existing as a subdirectory of the gwdom directory on the old server. Not sure if this makes any difference or not but it didn't seem typical to me.
2. Here is where things got a bit confusing to me...
PsiCop goes on to state, "Copy the MTA and POA startup files to the new server's SYS:SYSTEM and edit them so the "/home" parameter matches the new location of the POA and MTA."
Okay, I think I got the right data copied, edited the parameters pointing to the directory that houses the newly restored gwdom and gwpo from the old server.
However, I lost you at the second section..."In ConsoleOne, graft the GroupWise objects (System, Domain, PO) into NDS using the GroupWise Snap-In's Grafting functions. Launch GroupWise and make sure the system is operating normally. Graft in the users too."
I am unclear about the "grafting" that you describe. In ConsoleOne, my gwdom & dwpo objects look like 3-D cubes with a question mark over each one. I'm assuming that this is not good but I haven't done Groupwise in 4-5 years so please excuse my "rusty-ness".
I rebooted the server, now that the data changes have been made and tried to login as a couple of users. Needless to say, Groupwise is working and allowing me to function....however, I see no OLD data. Everything is as blank as a new sheet of paper :-) So, it looks as though Groupwise is working but that I have missed something on the procedure to point the users to their OLD information.
Please help. Thanks tons!!!
Stop! Stop! Don't add any users!
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Your previous consultant sounds like a moron, or a MCSE pretending to know NetWare. Only an idiot would put everything on the SY: Volume in a modern NetWare installation.
1) I'm not sure you can. Perhaps another Expert with more SBS experience (I stay away from it) than I have can chime in with a fix to get the SBS server to see its proper license. It might be you need to install it higher in the NDS tree.
2) Yes. For this to work, each GroupWise user needs to have set a mailbox password (or you need to turn Post Office security to LOW, which I do *not* recommend). They launch the GroupWise client with the "/@u-?" parameter. They will be promoted for credentials and POA information. Put the Domain Name or IP address of the old GroupWise server in the proper field, leave the Port as 1677, and the user puts in their user ID and password apropos for the OLD GroupWise environment. They should log in fine. Note that this only works if the old POA is using Client/Server connections. If your previous consultant was so stupid as to put everything on SYS:, they might have also set up GroupWise to use Direct Connect mode, so check that the POA is using TCP/IP Client/Server mode.
Regarding your plan to move GroupWise, yes, that will work, with a LOT of provisions and cautions. Frankly, I think you've got a mess on your hands and you need to step back, plan a strategy, and start over (after removing the SBS server from that v5 tree). Reinstall SBS into its own tree and get the licensing straightened out. Then move your data and get the clients accessing file and print services on the new environment properly, still using GroupWise v5 on the old environment (as outline above). THEN move GroupWise. Finally, shut down the old v5 environment. And next time you hire someone claiming to be NetWare savvy, show them the old server and ask what's wrong - if they don't say that there's a buncha junk that shouldn't be on SYS:, show them the door.
Do NOT put the GroupWise environment on SYS: in the new server. NO user-writable data stores should be on the SYS: Volume. That should be reserved for system operations. If you want, create a MAIL: Volume to put GroupWise on.