[MikeDelta]

Hello, all.

I currently have an incredibly horribly misconfigured BES setup that I administer, and in the spirit of "doing it right the first time," I'm looking to replace it with another server. (Upgrading this thing just isn't going to work based on the server itself being as horribly configured as the BES application itself).

Old server is a physical one, windows Server 2k3 R2 Standard, running "BlackBerry Professional Software for IBM Lotus Domino" v 4.1.4 (Bundle 143). I'd like the new server to run 4.1.7 (as BES Express 5 doesn't support Domino, and I don't know that we're licensed for a proper BES 5 install), and the server itself will be a virtual machine, ideally running 2k8 R2.

What issues in your experiences can I look forward to with migrating the users from one to another, and will there be any issues (in your experiences) with standing up a second BES? (It's not going to violate the the license or "deactivate" the old server suddenly, or anything like that, right?)

TIA.

[DarthBBerry]

Originally Posted by MikeDelta

Hello, all.

I currently have an incredibly horribly misconfigured BES setup that I administer, and in the spirit of "doing it right the first time," I'm looking to replace it with another server. (Upgrading this thing just isn't going to work based on the server itself being as horribly configured as the BES application itself).

Old server is a physical one, windows Server 2k3 R2 Standard, running "BlackBerry Professional Software for IBM Lotus Domino" v 4.1.4 (Bundle 143). I'd like the new server to run 4.1.7 (as BES Express 5 doesn't support Domino, and I don't know that we're licensed for a proper BES 5 install), and the server itself will be a virtual machine, ideally running 2k8 R2.

What issues in your experiences can I look forward to with migrating the users from one to another, and will there be any issues (in your experiences) with standing up a second BES? (It's not going to violate the the license or "deactivate" the old server suddenly, or anything like that, right?)

TIA.

You may want to double check the compatibility matrix for BES Express for Domino.
http://us.blackberry.com/support/sof...o_feb_8_12.pdf
Seems to me that BESX5 does support Domino.

Since your old server is BPS 4.1.4 and you are probably going to BESX 5.0.3, most of us would normally recommend the Transporter tool and a Migration Kit. However, you don't have a solid foundation in your BPS 4.1.4 structure. I would say you need to decommision BPS and install BESX fresh from scratch.

Depending on your number of users, this may be the cleanest route. If you have too many users, you may be forced to pursue the Transporter / Migration kit method.
http://docs.blackberry.com/en/admin/...1-5.0.3-US.pdf

[MikeDelta]

Originally Posted by DarthBBerry

You may want to double check the compatibility matrix for BES Express for Domino.
<url removed because of limitation on posting links until making 15 posts.>
Seems to me that BESX5 does support Domino.

Oh, thank you so much for correcting me on that. Saved me a load of pain.

Originally Posted by DarthBBerry

Since your old server is BPS 4.1.4 and you are probably going to BESX 5.0.3, most of us would normally recommend the Transporter tool and a Migration Kit. However, you don't have a solid foundation in your BPS 4.1.4 structure. I would say you need to decommision BPS and install BESX fresh from scratch.

Depending on your number of users, this may be the cleanest route. If you have too many users, you may be forced to pursue the Transporter / Migration kit method.
<url removed because of limitation on posting links until making 15 posts.>

OK, well my number of current users is "up to 30," and I think we're at that limit now (maybe only 28 or 29). Ideally, I'd like to have both BES servers running at the same time, so I can be sure the new one works before cutting everyone over to it. (Stand up the new box, install BESx, move a few users over manually to make sure it works, then move or migrate the rest over.) Is that an option?

[stevew]

Yes, we did that and then moved the users one by one to BES-X from BES 5. It was painless and quick. We did for a few days have some users on BES 5 and others on BES-X. We're less than 30 users...but it was easy. If you're going BES-X...that's probably your best bet. Get it up and running, then port one user over, or try a wireless activation to ensure it all works and once you're sure all's good, you can start moving them over. We didn't use the migration tool, we just used the "move user" command in the GUI IIRC.

[DarthBBerry]

Originally Posted by MikeDelta

Oh, thank you so much for correcting me on that. Saved me a load of pain.



OK, well my number of current users is "up to 30," and I think we're at that limit now (maybe only 28 or 29). Ideally, I'd like to have both BES servers running at the same time, so I can be sure the new one works before cutting everyone over to it. (Stand up the new box, install BESx, move a few users over manually to make sure it works, then move or migrate the rest over.) Is that an option?

You should be able to use the Transporter (Read the manual). But with only 30 users, wipe em out and start fresh.

[MikeDelta]

Thanks to both of you (DarthBBerry and stevew), that covers it. I'll be starting fresh and manually moving them over one by one. No misconfigs will taint the new box, since I'm making sure it gets done right by doing it myself. ;)

[knottyrope]

Originally Posted by MikeDelta

I'm making sure it gets done right by doing it myself. ;)

I thought that too before

but i know a lot more aboot BES now.

good luck on your upgrade and dont be afraid to come back with questions.