Need to do an OS Reinstall!! Need input!

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louie55

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Has anybody here had to do an OS reinstall before?? If so, can you give me some tips.

My main concern is getting DirectAdmin up and running with the data from the old server.

I have made a complete server backup using the Admin-level server backup tool.

My main question is, how easy is it to take the files in this backup and migrate them to a fresh install of DA???

I need as many details as possible so this goes smooth.

My main questions are:

-The old server had RedHat 9.0, the new server will have CentOS 4.2. Will this mess up the restoring of the backup??

-Does DA restore automatically from a backup, or do I have to copy all files manually??

-Is the best way to restore users to make individual user backup files, then create new users with the same account name on the new box, then restore the user backups?? Or will the RedHat 9.0 to CentOS change break that??

-Or, should I just manually copy all files that are in the entire server backup and manually put them where they should go?

As you can see, I'm confused on how this process should work. Any input will be appreciated, especially if you've tried to do what I'm doing before.

Thanks.

Louie
 
Basically any process that you mentioned can work, however I would suggest just making a backup of all users through the reseller level(s) since it's easier to restore, especially when moving to a different Operating system.

I would also suggest getting a 2nd server (destination server) and transfer everything to it and verify all data made it before disposing of your old server.

There is more detailed information on most of the used processes around these forums.
 
I'll add to Jon's excellent reply that before restoring resellers be sure to create the accounts as resellers on the new server, so you'll restore them with full reseller privileges.

You can use the admin level backup command but there's no restore function; you'd have to restore manually, and you'll definitely have to consider the differences between RHL9 and CentOS4. For example, CentOS4 runs BIND in a chroot environment, so you can't just restore the /etc/named.conf and the /var/named/* files where you got them from.

I also highly recommend having a copy of the old server around until the new server is built.

If that's not possible at least have the drive available.

Yes, it's worth buying more drives to have the old drive available.

Jeff
 
Thank you VERY much for the replies, this will help a lot.

So, just to clarify, if I try to restore individual user backups on the new machine, it should work even though I will now be on CentOS??

Also, Jlasman, you said that the named files would be different. How would I go about knowing where to put them on CentOS?? Just search for them after the reinstall and then copy them over??

Thanks.

Louie
 
louie55 said:
Also, Jlasman, you said that the named files would be different. How would I go about knowing where to put them on CentOS?? Just search for them after the reinstall and then copy them over??
Click to expand...

That should be done by DirectAdmin if your using the reseller or user level backup/restore functions.
 
I'm sorry if my post wasn't clear; I was mentioning one of the problems you'd run into if you were manually restoring a backup made with the System backup facility (sysbk).

Jeff
 
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