Migration from Qmail + Courier

[Misha Politaev]

Hello everyone!

Is there a way to migrate from Plesk qmail (smtp) + courier (imap/pop3) mail servers to another (not plesk) server. With dovecot and postfix? I need except migration mailboxes, save uid mails migrate users and password database from mysql. Also maybe redirect set on someone mail accounts.

I found http://wiki.dovecot.org/Migration/Courier but think that doesn't explain full migration rules from Plesk against from standalone Courier.

 

[trialotto]

@Misha Politaev

There are multiple methods, I will explain two of them briefly.

1) Use a migration script, for IMAP servers.

The best candidate is Larch: simple to use and with a bash script, running through all mailboxes, you can migrate fast and reliable, every time.

2) Use a manual approach

The following steps should be followed (in chronological order)

a) change Qmail + Courier to Postfix + Dovecot on your Plesk server

Note that this step is not necessarily required, but it enhances reliability a bit.

b) copy relevant files and directories to your postfix and dovecot directories on the new (not Plesk) server: just use rsync

Be certain that

- the directory /var/qmail/mailnames (also applies for Postfix on a Plesk server) is copied to the appropriate directory on the new server,
- a copy of the user database on the new server is made,
- the user database (it location can be found in the postfix config file) is copied to appropriate location on the new server (read: overwriting the old user database),
- the postfix and dovecot config files on the new server are pointing to the correct locations (read: to location to which data of the Plesk server has been migrated),
- a restart of postfix and dovecot is executed, only after checking and finishing all manual edits and migrations,

and that is about it, at least in very rough outlines.


In short, it is much more easy to use the Larch scripts AND a bash script (calling Larch for every mailbox), which can also be used to automatically migrate mailboxes frequently.

Hope the above helps a (tiny) bit.

Regards...

 

[Misha Politaev]

User database... If I wont change to postfix from qmail on plesk server. How I can get user database? I saw mysql psa database with usernames. Which "Select" is right for get users and pasword? (maybe not usernames and password matter? Maybe something else?)

One more question. If qmail hold user database in mysql. Does it mean that on new server postfix must use for user database mysql too or can use file user database for it?

Thank you for answers.