Migrating from Ensim to Plesk and Need Some Help

[jlandes]

Good day to you all. I'm in the process of migrating an Ensim 4.0.2 server to a Plesk 7.5 server. I decided to do the process manually because I did not like the way the migration tools pulled everything over. My data center has given me use of a temporary server for setup until Saturday, then I'll move the configuration over to my server with a fresh install of Plesk 7.5.2. I have a few questions that I hope some of you more experienced Plesk users can help me answer.

Setting Up the DNS Service
I currently have four IP addresses alloted to me. The first is used for the Ensim box and also for the primary DNS server. The second is setup to use for the virtual DNS server. And, the rest are used for IP-based hosting sites. If it gives a clearer picture of what I'm talking about, here is how I currently have things setup for two of my domains and the reverse DNS entries.

[B]Zone for landeserve.com[/B]
HOST                       TYPE    DATA
-----------------------------------------------------
ensim.landeserve.com       A       69.64.34.57
ftp.landeserve.com         A       69.64.34.59
landeserve.com             NS      ns1.landeserve.com
landeserve.com             NS      ns2.landeserve.com
landeserve.com             A       69.64.34.59
landeserve.com Mail        MX      mail.landeserve.com [10]
mail.landeserve.com        A       69.64.34.59
ns1.landeserve.com         A       69.64.34.57
ns2.landeserve.com         A       69.64.34.58
[url]www.landeserve.com[/url]         A       69.64.34.59

[B]Zone for youngsrentals.com[/B]
HOST                       TYPE    DATA
-----------------------------------------------------
ftp.youngsrentals.com      A       69.64.34.57
mail.youngsrentals.com     A       69.64.34.57
[url]www.youngsrentals.com[/url]      A       69.64.34.57
youngsrentals.com          NS      ns1.landeserve.com
youngsrentals.com          NS      ns2.landeserve.com
youngsrentals.com          A       69.64.34.57
youngsrentals.com          MX      mail.youngsrentals.com [10]

[B]Zone for 34.64.69.in-addr.arpa[/B]
HOST                       TYPE    DATA
-----------------------------------------------------
34.64.69.in-addr.arpa      NS      ns1.landeserve.com
34.64.69.in-addr.arpa      NS      ns2.landeserve.com
57.34.64.69.in-addr.arpa   PTR     ensim.landeserve.com
58.34.64.69.in-addr.arpa   PTR     ns2.landeserve.com
59.34.64.69.in-addr.arpa   PTR     landeserve.com

What's the best way to setup Plesk to use something similar, if not exact, to what I have listed above? Basically, how can I setup Plesk to use ns1.landeserve.com and ns2.landeserve.com as the primary and secondary DNS servers for all domains created on the server? If you could tell me what I need to do, step by step, I'd be very much appreciative. I have a clean Plesk box with nothing setup on it yet.

Mailbox Users/Subdomains
In Emsim, when I create a user and wish to have a subdomain created for that user, that person manages only one account. For example, let's say I create a mailbox user for jdoe, so now she'd have the e-mail address of [email protected]. She also wants a subdomain to create her own Web page, so I set her up with a subdomain called jdoe.landeserve.com. When she logs into the user control panel in Ensim and changes her password, that password is changed for her mail account and for her FTP account. How is this handled in Plesk? Are these two accounts treated separately or not? If you could give me some more detail on how this is handled, that'd be great!

Web Users
I noticed that in Plesk you can create what are called Web Users. If I want a user to have access to a subdomain, do I need to first create them as a Web User?

Webmail
What does everything think of Horde/IMP verses SquirrelMail? Are they compariable in features and usability?

Anything Else?
Is there anything else that anyone would recommend I look out for whenever I'm doing the migration?

Thanks to everyone for their time and have a pleasant day.

 

[ooops]

1. Mailbox Users/Subdomains
in plesk you need to set three different passwords: for mail, for ftp and for control panel user. It is not so easy as in Ensim but this is more secure.
2.Web Users
if you want your users manage subdomains and only subdomains then you do not need create them as web users. You need only create subdomain and user for this subdomain, set password for this user and everytthing will work.
Web users manage their pages on addresses like
https://[domainname]/~jdoe So as you can see this is not the same as subdomains.
3. horde vs SquirrelMail
from my point of view both of them are real ****.
4. anything else
just try to check as much things as you can..and it would be great fro you if you allow to different people check this plesk...it will prevent a lot of problems and you will find almost all problems which there are.

 

[jlandes]

Thank you for your comments, they are very helpful. Can anyone give me any instructions for setting up the DNS service?

 

[jlandes]

I think that I found the solution to my question about the DNS setup in the following FAQ page:

http://faq.sw-soft.com/index.php?ToDo=view&questId=507&catId=80

I might have more questions as I move along in the setup. Thanks.

 

[jlandes]

Can anyone tell me how I have to setup the reverse DNS entries? Do I just need to setup a zone for 34.64.69.in-addr.arpa or is there a different setup method in Plesk than what there was in Ensim? I have four IP addresses, 69.64.34.57, 69.64.34.58, 69.64.34.59, and 69.64.34.60. Please refer to my original post for the way I currently have things setup in Ensim.

Also, what does everyone recommend for the shared IP address. Should the shared IP address be the same IP as the one the Plesk box uses?

Any help would be most appreciated.

 

[ooops]

You may setup reverse DNS entries with PTR records in DNS...I suppose you have got something like that in your dns template
<ip> / 24 PTR <domain>...so for each domain it will be configured automatically
And the shared IP address is IP from the box there plesk was installed. And if you create shared IP from PLESK it will be added to this box.

 

[jlandes]

Hello again! Here is what I have setup so far. Can anyone tell me if this is right or if I should make any changes?

[B]Zone for landeserve.com[/B]
HOST                       TYPE    DATA
-----------------------------------------------------
69.64.34.57 / 24           PTR     plesk.landeserve.com
69.64.34.58 / 24           PTR     ns2.landeserve.com
69.64.34.59 / 24           PTR     landeserve.com
ftp.landeserve.com         CNAME   landeserve.com
landeserve.com             A       69.64.34.59
landeserve.com             MX (10) mail.landeserve.com
landeserve.com             NS      ns1.landeserve.com
landeserve.com             NS      ns2.landeserve.com
mail.landeserve.com        A       69.64.34.59
ns1.landeserve.com         A       69.64.34.57
ns2.landeserve.com         A       69.64.34.58
plesk.landeserve.com       A       69.64.34.57
webmail.landeserve.com     A       69.64.34.59
[url]www.landeserve.com[/url]         CNAME   landeserve.com

Here's my new DNS Template:

HOST                       TYPE    DATA
-----------------------------------------------------
<domain>                   A       <ip>
<domain>                   MX (10) mail.<domain>
<domain>                   NS      ns1.landeserve.com
<domain>                   NS      ns2.landeserve.com
<ip> / 24                  PTR     <domain>
ftp.<domain>               CNAME   <domain>
mail.<domain>              A       <ip>
webmail.<domain>           A       <ip>

Any suggestions for changes here? What's the difference between <ip> / 8, <ip> / 16, and <ip> / 24 and how do I know which is best to use?

Thanks for your help, I might have more questions later. Hey, maybe this can turn into a "How To" document at some point.

 

[pran]

Interested to know how you migrated Squirrelmail folders to Horde/IMP

I'm interested if you have successfully migrated users with Squirrelmail folders to the new Horde/IMP system. I have a client who uses Squirrelmail primarily on the WEBppliance box and has a lot of custom folders. The custom folders can be found inside the user's home directory inside "mail/". Although the contents of this folder is copied to:

/home/httpd/vhosts/domain/web_users/username/mail

Horde/IMP doesn't seem to be referencing or using this folder. Is there a way to convert the folders, files, and attachments into something Horde/IMP understands?