Migrate from Courier to Dovecot

[wtsdyo]

Hi, I would just like to know what (if any) potential issues we could face when we change our mailserver from Courier to IMAP. I tried googling this topic and all I can find are related to manually migrating from Courier to Dovecot.

I can't find anything with regards to using Cpanel's "automatic" conversion via selecting Dovecot in Service Configuration > Mailserver Selection. Does the lack of forum posts indicate that the conversion is really as easy as selecting Dovecot, making sure the "Convert Mailbox Format" checkbox is checked then clicking "Save"?

I have not done this migration before so I would be grateful if anyone could post what issues they have encountered (again if any) when they did this.

Also can you give me an idea on how long the migration might last? We have about ~300 users (spread over different domains). The total size of the /home/account/mail folder is around 19Gb.

Our server is on CENTOS 5.9 i686 kvm using WHM 11.38.1 (build 15).

 

[PenguinInternet]

We just switched all of our servers recently over to Dovecot and the process was very smooth. The speed will depend on server load, specification, etc but you're probably looking at about 10 mins per server in all.

 

[wtsdyo]

We just switched all of our servers recently over to Dovecot and the process was very smooth. The speed will depend on server load, specification, etc but you're probably looking at about 10 mins per server in all.

Thanks a lot!

 

[cPanelMichael]

Hello

The primary issue you may encounter is that switching mail servers may cause some mail clients to redownload all stored mail messages for the account. This is primarily is seen with POP3 configured accounts. The time it takes for the conversion varies depending on your server hardware and load, but in general it's not likely to take more than an hour.

Thank you.

 

[ethical]

sorry for reopening an old thread but given the notice that servers will automatically be updated, I thought it was relevant again, ive been late to the game in converting to dovecot, is this issue of redownloading messages solved by now? from my reading is has to do with the UIDL not being preserved but there are scripts to check this? this would be a disaster if it happened so how can i check first?

 

[cPanelMichael]

Hello

The issue is better explained at:

http://wiki2.dovecot.org/Migration#POP3_migration

There are no native features designed to prevent this from occurring, but the above URL explains how you can verify if it will happen.

Thank you.

 

[ethical]

thanks Michael i did read that and figured cpanel would have that solved with your script?

also the testing steps they mention dont say how to do and it seems like it asks you to do it AFTER the migration to check the UIDLS? seems silly since then you have to rush to figure out how to fix the issue before someone hits send receive?

i also read this
Migration/Courier - Dovecot Wiki
but not sure if thats compatible with your script (and figured you probably already had it built in?

 

[timthomas]

Hello! I'm a user of a VPS with WHM and Cent OS. Yesterday WHM told me to change from courier to dovecot. Than I updated the WHM via the update-routine on the gui. Since this time I'm not able to check my mails.

Is there a quick solution? I didn't know that is such an effort to by doing this update.

Thanks in advance

Thomas

 

[timthomas]

Hello! I'm a user of a VPS with WHM and Cent OS. Yesterday WHM told me to change from courier to dovecot. Than I updated the WHM via the update-routine on the gui. Since this time I'm not able to check my mails.

Is there a quick solution? I didn't know that is such an effort to by doing this update.

Thanks in advance

Thomas

There was a problem with the SSL certificate. Just resetting it solved the problem!

Best wishes
Tom

 

[ethical]

this is what i get when i run the test script

this doesnt look good for a smooth transition? it looks like its not finding ANY UIDS? can someone comment am i hosed on this conversion?

Thanks
John

Testing conversion to Dovecot format
Finding maildirs under /home/SITE
/home/SITE/mail/.courierimapsubscribed: No imap/pop3 uidlist files
/home/SITE/mail/.maildirsize: No imap/pop3 uidlist files
/home/SITE/mail/.INBOX.Drafts: No imap/pop3 uidlist files
/home/SITE/mail/.courierimapuiddb: No imap/pop3 uidlist files
Use of uninitialized value in scalar chomp at ./courier-dovecot-migrate.pl line 193, <$f> line 1.
Use of uninitialized value in pattern match (m//) at ./courier-dovecot-migrate.pl line 198, <$f> line 1.
Use of uninitialized value in pattern match (m//) at ./courier-dovecot-migrate.pl line 198, <$f> line 1.
Use of uninitialized value in pattern match (m//) at ./courier-dovecot-migrate.pl line 198, <$f> line 1.
Use of uninitialized value in concatenation (.) or string at ./courier-dovecot-migrate.pl line 215, <$f> line 1.
/home/SITE/mail/.Sent/courierpop3dsizelist: Broken line:
Exiting subroutine via next at ./courier-dovecot-migrate.pl line 216, <$f> line 1.
Exiting subroutine via next at ./courier-dovecot-migrate.pl line 216, <$f> line 1.
Exiting subroutine via next at ./courier-dovecot-migrate.pl line 216, <$f> line 1.
/home/SITE/mail/.INBOX.Trash: No imap/pop3 uidlist files
/home/SITE/mail/.INBOX.Sent: No imap/pop3 uidlist files
/home/SITE/mail/.sent-mail: No imap/pop3 uidlist files
/home/SITE/mail/.Trash/dovecot-uidlist already exists, not overwritten
/home/SITE/mail/.Drafts: No imap/pop3 uidlist files
/home/SITE/mail/.saved-messages: No imap/pop3 uidlist files
Use of uninitialized value in scalar chomp at ./courier-dovecot-migrate.pl line 193, <$f> line 1.
Use of uninitialized value in pattern match (m//) at ./courier-dovecot-migrate.pl line 198, <$f> line 1.
Use of uninitialized value in pattern match (m//) at ./courier-dovecot-migrate.pl line 198, <$f> line 1.
Use of uninitialized value in pattern match (m//) at ./courier-dovecot-migrate.pl line 198, <$f> line 1.
Use of uninitialized value in concatenation (.) or string at ./courier-dovecot-migrate.pl line 215, <$f> line 1.
/home/SITE/mail/./courierpop3dsizelist: Broken line:
Exiting subroutine via next at ./courier-dovecot-migrate.pl line 216, <$f> line 1.
Exiting subroutine via next at ./courier-dovecot-migrate.pl line 216, <$f> line 1.
Exiting subroutine via next at ./courier-dovecot-migrate.pl line 216, <$f> line 1.
/home/SITE/mail/.spambox: No imap/pop3 uidlist files

 

[ethical]

well just an update that my admins ran the update without me realizing it and well there were no issues even though the test script gave errors (blackberry Q10 seemed to have issues though but removing and resetting up the account solved it

 

[cPanelMichael]

New well just an update that my admins ran the update without me realizing it and well there were no issues even though the test script gave errors (blackberry Q10 seemed to have issues though but removing and resetting up the account solved it

I am happy to see there are no issues at this time. Thank you for updating us with the outcome.