Potential convert from Ensim 3.1.12

hooter

New member
Joined
Dec 25, 2003
Messages
3
Hello all,

If this is posted in the wrong forum, I apologize. Didn't see a category for Pre-Sales questions.

First I must say from what I've seen so far I am IMPRESSED!

1. Is DA NOT tied to OS unlike Ensim? So I can update OS packages without fear of breaking the Control Panel?

2. What would be my best course of attack/migration plan to get to a box with DA and my hosted domains converted over? I have one Ensim 3.1.12 box (RH 7.2) with 13 hosted accounts (a couple of IP-based and the rest name-based.) I also run my own name servers with 2 different IPs.

3. Can you define script-aliasing in DA? I mean I have one site that is running /cgi-bin aliased as /pages - aliasing might be the wrong term - under Ensim for each domain account you can name cgi-bin to whatever you want.

4. Would my SSL certificates still be good under DA or would I have to get new ones?

I've played with the demo and I think it is super! Lightning fast compared to Ensim - and IP management yes!

That's it for now, and I can see the user community is most helpful as well. All very encouraging! Hopefully someone can further enlighten me on the points raised above.

Thanks in advance.
 
hooter said:
1. Is DA NOT tied to OS unlike Ensim? So I can update OS packages without fear of breaking the Control Panel?


You wouldn't be able to simply upgrade your OS without some work, basically the reason being is the rpms between OS's will be different based on RH - 7.3 rpms wont always work with 9 etc). Its simple enough to backup main data (everything you need) then do a fresh install of directadmin, then just restore your data.

It should be a process, the most difficult task would be removing the old version of Directdmin itself to install the new version although im sure support would help you out with that and advise on the uninstall process.

hooter said:
2. What would be my best course of attack/migration plan to get to a box with DA and my hosted domains converted over? I have one Ensim 3.1.12 box (RH 7.2) with 13 hosted accounts (a couple of IP-based and the rest name-based.) I also run my own name servers with 2 different IPs.

Easiest way, get another server run both at the same time transfer data ensure everything is running smoothly on DA then just switch the DNS, leave both servers up for a few days then if needed you should be able to turn off your old server without much downtime.

If you check the 3rd party software section there is an ensim 301 > DirectAdmin converter although i suggest you contact the author first since he has said it is customised slightly to his needs and may not be suitable for users.

hooter said:
3. Can you define script-aliasing in DA? I mean I have one site that is running /cgi-bin aliased as /pages - aliasing might be the wrong term - under Ensim for each domain account you can name cgi-bin to whatever you want.

Paths would have to be changed unfortunately, ensim has a different path to public html thatn DirectAdmin and that will always be a problem unless the control panel you wish to select has the same paths as your existing control panel.

hooter said:
4. Would my SSL certificates still be good under DA or would I have to get new ones?

Aslong as you have the CRT and KEY files you can just transfer them and install with DirectAdmin, shouldn't see any problem there.

Chris
 
Re: Re: Potential convert from Ensim 3.1.12

ProWebUK said:
You wouldn't be able to simply upgrade your OS without some work, basically the reason being is the rpms between OS's will be different based on RH - 7.3 rpms wont always work with 9 etc). Its simple enough to backup main data (everything you need) then do a fresh install of directadmin, then just restore your data.

It should be a process, the most difficult task would be removing the old version of Directdmin itself to install the new version although im sure support would help you out with that and advise on the uninstall process.



Easiest way, get another server run both at the same time transfer data ensure everything is running smoothly on DA then just switch the DNS, leave both servers up for a few days then if needed you should be able to turn off your old server without much downtime.

If you check the 3rd party software section there is an ensim 301 > DirectAdmin converter although i suggest you contact the author first since he has said it is customised slightly to his needs and may not be suitable for users.



Paths would have to be changed unfortunately, ensim has a different path to public html thatn DirectAdmin and that will always be a problem unless the control panel you wish to select has the same paths as your existing control panel.



Aslong as you have the CRT and KEY files you can just transfer them and install with DirectAdmin, shouldn't see any problem there.

Chris

Thanks Chris for your reply. And my choice of terms was less than perfect:confused:

With regards to upgrading OS packages and not breaking DA, what I should've said is upgrading baseline apps like sendmail, perl etc. Ensim uses customized source/rpm's for many of these and you couldn't touch them using generic rpms/source - you had to wait for Ensim to release their own patched rpms or you risked borking your Ensim Webppliance - recent sendmail exploits and Ensim taking well over 2 weeks to release a patched sendmail is a case in point and is just another in a list of frustrations by many Ensim box owners.

Regarding paths - I understand that part. But what I meant was in Ensim, you can define the name of your cgi-bin folder ie: it doesn't have to be cgi-bin - it could be something like "scripts".

Thanks Chris.
 
Re: Re: Re: Potential convert from Ensim 3.1.12

hooter said:
With regards to upgrading OS packages and not breaking DA, what I should've said is upgrading baseline apps like sendmail, perl etc. Ensim uses customized source/rpm's for many of these and you couldn't touch them using generic rpms/source - you had to wait for Ensim to release their own patched rpms or you risked borking your Ensim Webppliance - recent sendmail exploits and Ensim taking well over 2 weeks to release a patched sendmail is a case in point and is just another in a list of frustrations by many Ensim box owners.

I think the only customised software DA uses are:

exim
vm-pop3d

Apart from that you should be able to update pretty much anything you have without any problems, obviously with perl if you upgrade you realise that everything goes with perl must also go with the version you are trying to install else you will face problems, same with other software.

hooter said:
Regarding paths - I understand that part. But what I meant was in Ensim, you can define the name of your cgi-bin folder ie: it doesn't have to be cgi-bin - it could be something like "scripts".

Basically done the same way as with ensim, its not an option as default but it is possible as far as i know.

Chris
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Potential convert from Ensim 3.1.12

ProWebUK said:
I think the only customised software DA uses are:

exim
vm-pop3d

Apart from that you should be able to update pretty much anything you have without any problems, obviously with perl if you upgrade you realise that everything goes with perl must also go with the version you are trying to install else you will face problems, same with other software.



Basically done the same way as with ensim, its not an option as default but it is possible as far as i know.

Chris

Excellent! Many thanks Chris for your informed responses - I'm definitely leaning towards DirectAdmin at this point and am now trying to get "all my ducks lined up" so to speak:D

Thanks again.
 
Hello,

Just an FYI:

exim
vm-pop3d

Those can actually both be upgraded as needed as well... for exim, just make sure you include perl.o.

The goal of DirectAdmin is to provide a tool that can be customized to suite *your* needs. With the template system, it's quite easy to modify settings to work as you want.

:)

John
 
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