Ubuntu Migration Plan

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Hello,

I’m going to test the 18.04 ubuntu_bionic branch upgrade on my system.

Can someone please point me to the install instructions to test?

My upgrade and test plan (untested instructions):

  • give users plenty of notice of when downtime is.
  • make sure updated to v0.29 of mailinabox.
  • take a snapshot on digital ocean of the mailinabox droplet.
  • convert backups to snapshots on digital ocean for the mailinabox droplet (so they are kept after “rebuild”).
  • make sure backup files are copied offsite and current ( Mail-in-a-Box Maintenance Guide ). If you haven’t done a backup restore before, perhaps try restoring them on a separate practice droplet (you should practice restoring anyway!!). If you want to be extra safe do a practice restore anyway.
    And make sure you force a backup locally before you back up the files offsite. So that your backup is current.
cd mailinabox
sudo management/backup.py
  • create a fresh Ubuntu 18.04 install (keeping the same ip, use Droplet → Destroy → “Rebuild”. Make sure convert backups to snapshots, and make sure your backup files are current up first!!)
  • On rebuilt fresh install… check out ubuntu_bionic branch of mailinabox git repo, and install mailinabox.
$ git clone --single-branch -b ubuntu_bionic --depth=1 https://github.com/mail-in-a-box/mailinabox.git
$ cd mailinabox
# bash setup/start.sh
  • restore backup files (Mail-in-a-Box Maintenance Guide)
    Note you may need to move the user-data files the mailinabox installs out of the way to make room for your ones.
$ mv /home/user-data /tmp/user-data.bak
# do restore here...
  • rerun sudo mailinabox now that your old files are back.
  • test system (send/get emails, calendar, admin section, etc). Look at system checks: Mail-in-a-Box Setup Guide
    You will see this failure message because you are running an unsupported pre-release version of mailinabox.

:heavy_multiplication_x: A new version of Mail-in-a-Box is available. You are running version Unknown. The latest version is v0.29. For upgrade instructions, see https://mailinabox.email.

  • test backup and restore of backup files also works (on a separate droplet).
  • if testing of system fails: restore from digital ocean snapshot.
  • if testing of system passes: make mental note to buy mailinabox people another beverage in the future, and do happy dance.
  • keep snapshot backup around for a few weeks in case something wrong in future is noticed.
  • keep copy of backup files in case need to restore from them again in the future.

Why “rebuild” on Digital Ocean? It keeps the IP address (it took months to gain reputation on the IP).
Your droplet will be rebuilt using your snapshot image, permanently destroying anything currently on the droplet, but keeping the IP address. – Question | DigitalOcean

Note: these are untested instructions. Corrections very welcome!

cheers,