Version 94 Mail Node Production Questions

[WebJIVE]

Now that 94 has been released, it's noted that mail nodes are now non-experimental. While there is information on how to create these nodes, there are not many faqs (none that I can find) on how these nodes work, mainly mail nodes.

Existing accounts:
1. Does WHM pick up the mail accounts and move them to the mail node, and if so, is there downtime for the client?
2.When setting up and connecting a mail node, and WHM moves these accounts mail to that node, does WHM automatically adjust the ZONE records to reflect this?
3. Does mail storage on the mail node get included for account overall storage limits?

New accounts:
1. For WHMCS and other systems, when adding new accounts, is there a setting in WHM that automatically create mail accounts on the mail node so that we don't have to manually move them?

Management:
1. Do the existing email functions on the main server nodes control that mail node or do you have to login to that node separately and perform those same mail functions.

I'm sure I'm missing a TON of questions but, from an operational perspective, I think these are good to start with. We have been wanting to break out mail from web serving for YEARS with cPanel and hoping this might be our jumping-off point.

Thoughts?

 

[cPRex]

Hey there! I'll go through and answer these in order for you to make sure I don't miss anything:


Existing accounts:
Q1. Does WHM pick up the mail accounts and move them to the mail node, and if so, is there downtime for the client?
A: Yes, that's how it operates. There would not be any downtime for the client, although if they happened to connect at the exact moment the mails were being moved it's possible they would see messages "missing" until that is complete.
Q2.When setting up and connecting a mail node, and WHM moves these accounts mail to that node, does WHM automatically adjust the ZONE records to reflect this?
A: There are no DNS changes as this all operates at the software level. The domain and user have no idea the mail is in a different location as only the server admin sees that happening behind the scenes.
Q3. Does mail storage on the mail node get included for account overall storage limits?
A: That's correct :D These get checked and compared nightly.

New accounts:
Q1. For WHMCS and other systems, when adding new accounts, is there a setting in WHM that automatically create mail accounts on the mail node so that we don't have to manually move them?
A: Yes - there's an option during the account creation process as described here: cPanel Linked Nodes Guide | cPanel & WHM Documentation

Management:
Q1. Do the existing email functions on the main server nodes control that mail node or do you have to login to that node separately and perform those same mail functions.
A: You can actually have settings in both areas, but they should be set on the server that is handling mail for that particular account. It is possible to have different settings on the parent and child as they are independent mail servers.

 

[WebJIVE]

Hey there! I'll go through and answer these in order for you to make sure I don't miss anything:


Existing accounts:
Q1. Does WHM pick up the mail accounts and move them to the mail node, and if so, is there downtime for the client?
A: Yes, that's how it operates. There would not be any downtime for the client, although if they happened to connect at the exact moment the mails were being moved it's possible they would see messages "missing" until that is complete.
Q2.When setting up and connecting a mail node, and WHM moves these accounts mail to that node, does WHM automatically adjust the ZONE records to reflect this?
A: There are no DNS changes as this all operates at the software level. The domain and user have no idea the mail is in a different location as only the server admin sees that happening behind the scenes.
Q3. Does mail storage on the mail node get included for account overall storage limits?
A: I would expect this to be the case, but I don't have official details on how the quotas get handled. I'll get more details on this and get back with you :D


New accounts:
Q1. For WHMCS and other systems, when adding new accounts, is there a setting in WHM that automatically create mail accounts on the mail node so that we don't have to manually move them?
A: Yes - there's an option during the account creation process as described here: cPanel Linked Nodes Guide | cPanel & WHM Documentation


Management:
Q1. Do the existing email functions on the main server nodes control that mail node or do you have to login to that node separately and perform those same mail functions.
A: Can you be a bit more specific? Do you mean tools like the Exim Configuration Manager?

Thank you SO much for answering these questions and getting back on another one.

To your question about being more specific. Attaching an image from WHM regarding some of these functions.

Thought of one last management/operational feature, backups! Would the parent server still manage mail backups or is that handled by the child node? If its handled by the child node, would cPanel only backup software handle that or would JetBackup be an option?

 

[cPRex]

Thanks :D

For clarity, I just edited my earlier post instead of adding a new one.

 

[WebJIVE]

Thanks :D

For clarity, I just edited my earlier post instead of adding a new one.

I added one more question above about backups. I had thought of it but forgot when typing the original thread. Super important.

 

[cPRex]

The backups get run on the parent server and do grab the child's data:

How to Use Server Profiles | cPanel & WHM Documentation

This document explains WHM's Server Profiles feature.

docs.cpanel.net

"You must perform backups for linked cPanel accounts on the controller node."

Let me know if that helps!

 

[WebJIVE]

The backups get run on the parent server and do grab the child's data:

How to Use Server Profiles | cPanel & WHM Documentation

This document explains WHM's Server Profiles feature.

docs.cpanel.net

"You must perform backups for linked cPanel accounts on the controller node."

Let me know if that helps!

AWESOME!

 

[WebJIVE]

AWESOME!

Did you ever find out if the node disk usage is included/mnaged in the WHM disk space quota?

We charge for disk overages.

 

[cPRex]

I thought Q3 from above covered that?

"Q3. Does mail storage on the mail node get included for account overall storage limits?
A: That's correct :D These get checked and compared nightly."

The parent machine will check and handle quotas on the child side as well.

 

[WebJIVE]

My humble apologies, was on the phone when I drafted this and thought I had read the whole thread completely.

One last question before we pull the trigger on this and set it up. Do you have to have 1 mail node connected to one server or can you say have to servers connected to one mail node in (cluster) for both servers?

 

[cPRex]

Sure - one parent can have multiple children. What you can't do is have one *account* get spread to multiple children, as in you couldn't have domain.com use two different children for email.

 

[gatewayza]

I love this, as now we can split mail to high storage servers, and websites on fast SSD's.

The million dollar question, will the license stay per server, and not change to per account?

 

[equens]

Hello, I have a question about Jeckbackup and Reseller privileges.

We usually allow access Jeckbackup to resellers. They can manage their backups, restore, etc. We have a Standar parent Node and a Child Mail Node. Reseller can login to parent node but not to child. What if reseller needs to restore email backup?

 

[cPDavidL]

Hello @gatewayza. To your specific concern:

The million dollar question, will the license stay per server, and not change to per account?

I would encourage you to reach out to our Customer Service group on this topic. This can be done through support.cpanel.net, or by emailing [email protected]

 

[cPDavidL]

Hello @equens! To your specified concern:

We have a Standar parent Node and a Child Mail Node. Reseller can login to parent node but not to child. What if reseller needs to restore email backup?

My understanding is that the actual restoration would occur on the cPanel, with data being written to the mail node. Unfortunately I've not been able to find anything documenting this process with JetBackup, to be able to say for certain. I would encourage you to reach out to their support staff for more detailed advice: Submit Ticket - JetApps.com

 

[equens]

Hello @equens! To your specified concern:


My understanding is that the actual restoration would occur on the cPanel, with data being written to the mail node. Unfortunately I've not been able to find anything documenting this process with JetBackup, to be able to say for certain. I would encourage you to reach out to their support staff for more detailed advice: Submit Ticket - JetApps.com

Restoring email from JetBackup deletes email from cPanel... I will wait until developers fix these creepy errors

Ok, let's supose we are using the cPanel Backup (indeed incremental backup is active in both servers, parent and child nodes).
We can't restore a folder or message located in/home/username/mail... (mail folder is not listed)



So, how can we restore email? We can not?

Also I think there is an error, because there is no "Restore" button when selecting other files.

 

[cPRex]

@equens - it would be best to keep this thread focused on the mail node setup. If there are issues with JetBackup or other restore tools, could you make a new thread for that?

 

[equens]

@equens - it would be best to keep this thread focused on the mail node setup. If there are issues with JetBackup or other restore tools, could you make a new thread for that?

Of course, about this thread "Mail Node Production Questions", we are using the cPanel Backup (incremental backup) in both servers:

Server 1 - Parent - Standar node
Server 2 - Child - Mail Node

We can't restore a folder or message located in /home/username/mail... (mail folder is not listed).

Do we have any option in /whm or /cpanel to restore emails in a distributed account?

 

[cPRex]

Can you let me know where specifically you are trying to perform that restore work and where you aren't seeing the mail folder listed?

 

[p.jiraphat]

@cPRex Hi may i ask some question about Mail Node reliability.

1. If Mail Node down and we reinstall cPanel (to be Mail Node) on old Hostname does we need to manual relink ,and Does we need to restore email data account by account or will cPanel will automatically do everything after relink?

2. If Parent Node down (still had DNS Server/Cluster function)
2.1 Will user still be able to use email in Mail Node normally?
2.2 After we reinstall cPanel Parent Node then relink to active Mail Node, will New Parent overwrite Email Data ,User Configuration ,And other data in Mail Node?