[SOLVED] Migration Fails to move databases with error

[KirkM]

Well, it appears that optimism does pay off sometimes. Alexey worked very hard with me offline and has identified the issue. Not only are they working on it for an MU update, he also pointed out a simple workaround in the GUI until the MU is ready.

The issue stems from a problem with IP addresses and mail. If you have the general email settings on the TARGET server set to assign a specific IP address to domain emails, it will error. As soon as you change it back to the default of sending from domain IP address, it works flawlessly. You can simply use the Migrator to move domains and then switch it back to the fixed IP setting. Works like a charm.

Alexey may want to chime in with a bit more detailed explanation but that is generally it. I have tested the workaround with all sorts of domains and haven't had a failure.

Thanks Alexey!

 

[trialotto]

@KirkM,

The workaround in the GUI was pointed out by me to the Odin Team, some weeks ago by mail. No results, no reaction.

The issue with IP addresses and resetting them with, in essence, IP allocation via the GUI is a simple solution, that should have already been included in a micro-update.

Anyway, the issue with the IP adresses should not occur, it is really not necessary (in general, it is not. Also note that previous migration managers suffered by the same problem and that the bug has been fixed many times, making it rather strange that the current version of the migration manager still has the same or a similar bug).

Glad to hear that you are satisfied, with a currently not-properly-working migration manager.

But certainly, Alexey can start a conversation and explain to me what the exact problem is, I am rather curious.

 

[KirkM]

Sorry, this is a bit OT, but I too am curious about something, if you knew all of this information, the possible cause and the GUI workaround, why did you not point that out at the beginning of this thread? This knowledge could have saved much time and effort.

You didn't get a response when you emailed Odin and were understandably disappointed in that. However, you directly engaged the Odin Team in this thread multiple times and took the time and effort to discuss many aspects about this issue (and the panel in general), but didn't bring up the fact that you knew of a probable cause and workaround that was the whole point of this thread? That was your perfect opportunity to address with them the exact issue you claim you tried to notify them about previously.

I don't get it.

The other thing I don't get is, since you seem to have such distaste for the Plesk Panel and Odin support, why do you use it?

 

[trialotto]

@KirkM,

Yep, your post is really off-topic.

In general, Odin Team gets bug reports, proposed bug fixes and so on. It takes time to implement them and, moreover, there is a development policy that can hinder implementation.

No disappointment on my side there, it is just a normal process.

Nevertheless, I am "angry" about the fact that basic errors are still introduced in new packages and/or new releases, if these errors already have been fixed in the past.

As you know by now, Plesk Customers do report issues with specific packages, including the packages with unnecessary bugs.

As a result, three things occur:

a) the Plesk Customers are mentioning issues or alleged issues AND Odin Team investigates most or even all of them, in order to improve Plesk by micro-updates and/or new packages,

In essence, Odin Team becomes focussed on a lot of issues at the same time, which require investigation.

The simple result is that more emphasis is on bug identification than on bug fixing, as such a natural effect of this forum.

b) the Plesk Customers are communicating with Product Experts and/or Odin Team, as such not always the best method to get bugs fixed directly.

In essence, it is a one-sided communication and that is not the best practice to get micro-updates fast.

c) the Plesk Customers are inclined to return to the last Plesk installations that worked for them: in your case the upgrade to 12.5.30 was postponed.

In essence, this inclination of customers results in the problem that many bugs in new Plesk releases are not identified or not identified fast enough, making it even more acceptable that new Plesk releases are not adopted by Plesk customers, which in turn aggravates the problem of bugs not being identified.


In conclusion, it is a precarious balance of development, customer feedback, bug investigation and bug fixing.

In the current situation, the precarious balance is not in favour of either Odin (Team) or the Plesk Customer.

That is a shame, that is the part that I am "angry" about, since improvements to the whole process can be made easily.

Now we can turn to your explicit questions of "why did I not report the solution?".

A simple answer suffices: the solution I found is not a solution, but a work-around.

The actual solution has to be implemented within the Plesk core code and that is really the task of Odin Team.

Why did I not mention the work-around?

Really, if I have to say that in most cases the worst-case scenario of "migrating per domain, several times, in between adjusting IP addresses and repeating the process many times for each domain" has to be implemented, than this "work-around" is not a solution that I want to bother Plesk Customers with.

Remember, it is the task of Odin Team to prevent this beforehand, not resolving the issue afterwards (and in the meantime relying on Product Experts/Plesk Customers to provide temporary "solutions").

Also, remember that you yourself have chosen to not use the migration manager, making the whole "work-around" (and mentioning thereof) really obsolete.


You know, I also do not get one thing about your statement.

Due to some minor issues with migration (in a migration process that is far from practical and/or adviceable, moving a 12.0.18 instance to a 12.5.30 instance), you are now not using the Plesk 12.5.30 version, even though you have paid for a license that allows this upgrade and, moreover, even though the upgrade is really adding value to hosting services.

You are paying for Plesk components, such as the migration manager, that does work for across-platform migrations and many other types of migration, with the exception of the types of migrations that entail Plesk-to-Plesk migrations.

And you are not bothered about that?

Please note that the Plesk Migrator was originated as an extension to Plesk 12.0.18 and intended to be a cross-platform migration tool, functioning alongside the Plesk migration manager in the Plesk 12.0.18 version.

Also, please note that the before mentioned extension was already buggy.

Finally note that the Plesk migration manager and the Plesk Migrator extension have (apparently) been combined in Plesk 12.5.30, as such a strange move, since most of the intended functionality of the Plesk Migrator extension is not very valuable for Plesk-to-Plesk migrations and, in the current situation, these (non-valuable) functionalities and/or a poor integration seem to be the root cause of migrations not being executed properly.

Can you imagine that I am somewhat bothered about the whole new migration manager, certainly when taking into account that an (not properly tested) extension is included and, in essence, is breaking a perfectly "good" migration manager, as has been included in Plesk 12.0.18?

By the way, note that the old and new versions of the migration manager are, in fact, intended to facilitate small migrations (not bulk migrations) and are therefore primarily aiming at the Plesk Customers that do not have the experience to perform migrations with the plesk command line tools and/or other command line tools, such as rsync.

Can you also imagine that I am little bit bothered about the new migration manager in general, given the fact that specific Plesk Customers do need and/or want a Plesk GUI based migration tool, that has not been working properly for many months now?

Really, it is up to you determine what you think about all of the above.

As for me, I sincerely hope that Odin Team gets things right as fast as possible, with respect to the migration manager (and many other reported issues and/or bugs).

After all, customer satisfaction and/or the future of Plesk 12.5.30 depends on it.

Regards.....

 

[KirkM]

I find most of this deflective but I will address a couple of things.

Now we can turn to your explicit questions of "why did I not report the solution?".

A simple answer suffices: the solution I found is not a solution, but a work-around.

I did NOT say you claimed you had a solution. I said you were aware of a possible CAUSE and a workaround.

if you knew all of this information, the possible cause and the GUI workaround,

1. Pointing Alexey to that IP setting in the GUI as being the factor that was creating the failures would have cut out almost all of the time we spent doing detective work to narrow it down to that, and would have allowed him to immediately duplicate the issue in his test environment. A simple "hey, I have figured out that the IP assignment in the General Mail Settings are creating these types of failures when set to a fixed IP. You should focus there." would have been very helpful. All those lengthy posts about CLI ways to work around it and not one word about knowing that a general email setting in the GUI was triggering it???

2. Informing me (and anyone else following this thread looking for help) that you knew the simple GUI workaround for it would have been a much more helpful contribution than the posts on how to do a bunch of manual tasks to workaround it on the command line, interspersed with negative shots at the Panel and the Odin Team. After all, doing this in the GUI was the whole point of the thread (and the whole point of the panel, for that matter).

Due to some minor issues with migration (in a migration process that is far from practical and/or adviceable, moving a 12.0.18 instance to a 12.5.30 instance), you are now not using the Plesk 12.5.30 version, even though you have paid for a license that allows this upgrade and, moreover, even though the upgrade is really adding value to hosting services.

Again, something you could have remedied by posting the cause and easy GUI workaround which now HAS been remedied by Alexey giving me that information while they fix the bug. So, I WILL be using the new panel. BTW - the panel is free with my server lease so I am not paying extra for an unlimited license of any version I choose.

Look, I am pretty much done with this. I am not a blind defender of Plesk / Odin. I have used the panel since at least version 8 (probably farther back, I really can't remember before then) and it has had its ups and downs and certainly some infuriating bugs in EVERY SINGLE VERSION.

I have also had some REALLY awful experiences with their support. I have also had some really great ones. Depends upon who owns the company, the general attitude in the developer / support areas at that particular point in time and the specific person with whom you contact. I wish it were a perfect solution. It isn't. But it is pretty good and incredibly useful for me and my clients, and it MAKES ME MONEY.

I write php data systems and I wish every program I wrote was perfect. They aren't. They are never done and they are never perfect. No such thing as "done" in software development.

I have been running tests on this 12.5 panel for weeks on all services and features relevant to my needs and only found two problems. One was fixed on an MU about a day after I ran into it (they were obviously aware and working on it before I even caught it) and the other was this Migrator problem, which appears to be on track for an MU fix and has a very simple GUI workaround. I am confident I can now use this version for production. Is it bug-free? OF COURSE NOT. Is it possible I will run into a very problematic issue after I am in production that didn't show up in my preliminary testing? ABSOLUTELY. That's how it works in this business, like it or not.

If you want absolute guarantees and perfection, get out of IT. However, I am not sure what you can get into in business (or life in general) that will give you that.

I leave this thread wishing you all the best and sincerest appreciation for the exchange of perspectives.

 

[trialotto]

@KirkM

With respect to this quote

Pointing Alexey to that IP setting in the GUI as being the factor that was creating the failures would have cut out almost all of the time we spent doing detective work to narrow it down to that, and would have allowed him to immediately duplicate the issue in his test environment.

you should be aware that this has been mentioned by others (when using the Migrator extension in 12.0.18) and by me, in the form of a (informal) bug report some months ago.

In short, even in the preview versions of 12.5.30, the issue and work-around were already known to Odin Team.

With respect to this quote

2. Informing me (and anyone else following this thread looking for help) that you knew the simple GUI workaround for it would have been a much more helpful contribution than the posts on how to do a bunch of manual tasks to workaround it on the command line ...

the reply must be: no.

Why "no"? Simple reason: using command line utilities (being those from Plesk or other command line tools) are always the better option.

Most sysadmins do not use the GUI based migration manager, for many (obvious) reasons.

By the way, to remind you: I proposed multiple work-arounds, four or more (including a specific one for WordPress migration).

Again, something you could have remedied by posting the cause and easy GUI workaround which now HAS been remedied by Alexey giving me that information while they fix the bug.

Listen, this discussion is also concerning something that I always discuss internally, with other Product Experts.

I am in favour of a "system of roulation", in which Product Experts try to answer questions from forum members as much as possible AND report factual bugs to Odin Team.

No support by other Product Experts (in the best case, everyone is doing their own thing) and certainly no support by Odin Team.

Be aware of the fact that you do not know all details behind the screen.

So, I WILL be using the new panel. BTW - the panel is free with my server lease so I am not paying extra for an unlimited license of any version I choose.

Yes you are, you are paying at least € 3,50 per month for Plesk licenses and, depending on the type of license and/or server setup, that price per month is higher.

In short, your license fee is included in the server price.

Look, I am pretty much done with this. I am not a blind defender of Plesk / Odin. I have used the panel since at least version 8 (probably farther back, I really can't remember before then) and it has had its ups and downs and certainly some infuriating bugs in EVERY SINGLE VERSION.

NOW we are getting somewhere.

Infuriating? Yes, absolutely true.

Why? Since it almost always involves the same or similar bugs, implying that some "bug prevention" would not leave Plesk Customers with buggy Plesk releases.

Personally, I am a defender of Plesk for any person that needs or prefers a GUI based hosting management tool.

For a seasoned sysadmin, gui based management does not add value, but most of the Plesk Customers a gui based management tool is just the reason to buy Plesk.

And GUI based tools are all about user-friendliness and user-experience, whilst continuous bugs are certainly not.

In short, EVERY SINGLE VERSION of Plesk should be perfect, from the start.

In essence, it is my personal opinion that developers should develop, not be busy with bug-fixing.

I have also had some REALLY awful experiences with their support. I have also had some really great ones. Depends upon who owns the company, the general attitude in the developer / support areas at that particular point in time and the specific person with whom you contact. I wish it were a perfect solution. It isn't. But it is pretty good and incredibly useful for me and my clients, and it MAKES ME MONEY.

Yep, you are not the first one to make notice of that.

Personally, I do not use their support, for many reasons.

But one thing I can mention, being this question: if you were confronted daily with many questions about alleged (not factual) issues, would you be inclined to have a positive attitude to resolve the next support question with the mindset "yes sir, we will resolve the isse gladly, as soon as possible"?

To be honest, to be member of the support staff must be a hard job.

I leave this thread wishing you all the best and sincerest appreciation for the exchange of perspectives.

Good luck with the new version.

As for the Plesk migration manager, we all hope that this (and other) issues will be fixed soon.

Regards....

 

[KirkM]

New Plesk MU #13 issued Nov. 30 has fixed all issues for me with Plesk Migrator. Thanks Odin Team!

 

[trialotto]

Not really, some of the (minor) issues still exist. Also note that micro-updates 11 to 13 are all including bug fixes for the Plesk Migrator. Moreover, note that many of the Plesk installations do not automatically install micro-updates (at all and/or not properly), as such another bug.

Finally, note that previous migrations (before micro-updates 11 to 13 were applied) can still result in new migrations (with the last micro-update applied) failing.

Regards......

 

[KirkM]

Didn't say all bugs in Plesk are fixed. As it relates to this thread and all of the problems I was having, this issue is SOLVED. My migrations are working perfectly from my 12.0 server to my 12.5 server.

 

[trialotto]

nice to hear......but my advice was: check migrated data and settings manually, to be sure.

You can ignore that advice, if you want to, no problem.