help

[Dan Jenkins]

Dan Coutu wrote:

> Ken wrote:
>
>>     I hope this has not been a recently discussed issue....
>> I am running RH6.2 with Postfix, Apache and Mailman. I currently have 
>> over
>> 500 email accounts. I have built up new box (more horsepower, ram, drive
>> space, etc) and do not wish to enter these users manually. Please 
>> point me
>> to a solution if one exists.
>
> One of the things that I really like about UNIX based systems is that 
> once data is in the system somehow
> you pretty much never need to re-enter it. Just transform it or move it.
>
> You should be able to copy most of your existing setup's key files 
> from one system to another and get
> the new one up and running just like the old. If you already have 
> Postfix, Apache, and Mailman
> installed on the new system try copying the config files from the old 
> system to the new. Likewise you
> can use tar to migrate entire directories such as user's home 
> directories and the mail spool directories.
> You probably want to copy /var/spool/mail (incoming mail) and 
> /var/spool/mqueue (outgoing mail)
> also. Just be sure to turn off sendmail on both systems before doing 
> the transfer and enable sendmail
> only on the new system once you're done.

Postfix doesn't use /var/spool/mqueue (outgoing email). You need to copy 
/var/spool/postfix.
/var/spool/mail will get the incoming email, assuming you are not 
delivering email to somewhere
else (Maildir, for example). I don't recollect where Mailman lives by 
default. The same thing applies.
Just copy the directory.

Config files are here:
/etc/postfix
/etc/mailman (? maybe)
/etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, /etc/group for users & groups - extract the 
user accounts only (not root, bin, etc.)

Feel free to ask for details.

(Small self-serving plug - we also do this for a living if you just want 
someone else to deal with it. ;-)

-- 
Dan Jenkins (dan at rastech.com)
Rastech Inc., Bedford, NH, USA --- 1-603-624-7272
*** Technical Support for over a Quarter Century