How to upgrade from 7.0.3 to 7.5.1
Hi All.
I thought I would share my experience with the Plesk upgrade process on my server.
Step 1 - copy the mail enable files as you will need them later - in particuarly take note of the path to the current files before you upgrade......
Win2003 SP1
I was running Plesk 7.0.3 with all the standard options:
mail enable standard
PHP upgrade as provided by plesk
MSSQL Server - MSDE version provided with Plesk 7 install.
I first created a fresh Plesk backup, and ensured that the backups worked properly by restoring on a test server.
I then removed all SSL certificates that were installed and all logos that were installed as my test upgrades failed with errors due to these.
I then ran the Plesk 7.5.1 Network install.
I selected "Transfer - Migrate all files" Whichever option was to upgrade all data and settings.
Plesk started to remove the previous version 7.0.3 and any applied security patches. It then upgraded my Plesk Key (even though the documentation never said that it would do this)
I would install a trial plesk key of 7.5 before doing your upgrades as if your upgrade fails you cannot roll back to your old key if it's been upgraded.
The system then proceeded to generate it's first error.
unable to remove plesk product directory
c:\program files\sw-soft\plesk\mail enable\bin\meaiam.dll
Access is Denied
This can be fixed by connecting to the machine via terminal services and stopping the mail enable services as there are about 4 or 5 services still runnning and the install didn't stop them. You can then click continue and the install will proceed.
The second error generated was
Unable to remove plesk data directory Error: Error 5 at move directory "path to plesk data" Access Denied.
Again connect to the server via Terminal Serivces (TS) and stop the MSSQL server services which are still running. Plesk is then able to backup the Directory with the SQL server Data. Press Retry and continue.
The system will then reboot and complete removal of plesk.
The install process for Plesk 7.5.1 will then commence and generate the next error.
Run time error command kavupdater.exe
Just ignore this message as it's related to the new antivirus trying to update itself.
The next error I encountered is the worst but still did not stop me upgrading. After plesk is installed the data restoration process begins. Plesk will generate an error:
Unable to restore "MAIL" component. Error: COM Error 800A0035 (unknown error 0x800a0032, File not found: MEAISM.DLL) at restore configuration and data.
What this means is Plesk cannot restore the mail as it cannot find the path to mail enable. The new version of plesk moves the mail enable dat files to a sub directory and hence cannot find the files to use to restore.
Login via TS again.
I created a shortcut to the new location which allowed the install process to continue but mail was not restored. A better solution would probably be to copy the new mail enable dat files to the location that the install is looking for the files. This may allow the mail to be restored. Anyway I clicked retry and the process continued.
The process then completed I think, but MSSQL server services were not running and generated errors in the event viewer. The problem was that Plesk restore did not restore the MSSQL database files.
Simply look for the backup that plesk made during the install which should be called plesk.old and you will find the MSSQL folder within. Just copy it to the correct location and start MSSQL server and associated services.
Reboot the server and you're done. All services and Data should be intact. At least mine was - except for the mail that would have been in the inbox for each client. All mail accounts were restored but no messages. My MSSQL server DB's were intact and also the control panel still had the ODBC connections and the DB's showed up under each client.
A total success. I couldn't believe it. Still very stressful.
Anyway I wish you all luck on your upgrade process. If I had to do it again I would stop the mail enable and MSSQL server services before running the upgrade and I would install a plesk trial key.
I hope this is helpful to someone. I know it would have been for me a few days ago....
Doug
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