Hi All I have an established ISPConfig Server (3.29) which I host a handful of websites for friends businesses. Sadly I am having to decommission my server as the electricity costs are becoming unmanageable (It’s a DL380 with 21 SAS disks!!!). The O/S is Ubuntu 20.04. So, I have paid for a VPS and installed Ubuntu 20.04 and ISPConfig 3.2.9. I thought it would be easy to export the sites database and web backup files from the current server then import them to the new server and restore them. But alas, it doesn’t seem that simple – I created a duplicate of one account and the only way I could find to upload the backups from the old server was running PuTTy as Sudo Su… but even when I restored them they didn’t appear in the backups history, so I took a new backup of the empty site and then copied the backups over the newly created backups in order to restore – but still no go. The I suddenly thought that even if I did successfully restore it, the database would probably be no good as the client numbers and website number, etc, would be different from the original server. So, as I have about 10 sites to migrate, and have spent a day on one alone, I thought I would look for an easier solution and found the migration tool… So, unless anyone knows a simple way to restore a few sites manually, would the Migration Tool handle everything for me and essentially leave me with a duplicate of my production server, so I can just change the DNS settings and turn off the old machine? I am sure there will be a few more questions as I go on… but to begin with – is the Migration Tool a perpetual licence, or is there a limit to the number of times I can use it? I ask because I am not sure the new VPS will be sufficient and I may need to relocate again sometime soon and if I use this tool, I don’t want to have to buy it again in a few weeks. Also, does it matter that the new server and the old one are not on the same network? Mine is in a datacentre in London and the new host is a VPS in Holland? Any pointers gratefully received.
yes You can find the licensing terms on the Migration Tool page: https://www.ispconfig.org/add-ons/ispconfig-migration-tool/ This does not matter.
Many thanks for the speedy reply @till One last question - as I have 'played' with the new server - creating a user and website, then trying to upload the original backups, etc... would I be better of starting with a fresh installation of ISPConfig, if so is there a way to 'factory reset' the installation - or will it just delete the existing data and replace with the data from the source server? Thanks
I would reinstall it to get a fresh installation. There is no factory reset. You can use the tool with the current system, but it will not replace existing data as it imports data into the database of the existing server.
Thanks - if I run the installation again on the server, will it overwrite everything back to default, or am I best to start with a fresh instance of Ubuntu?
Start with a fresh Ubuntu instance. Using the auto-installer after you set up the fresh base os makes reinstall easy: https://www.howtoforge.com/ispconfig-autoinstall-debian-ubuntu/
