[mkb]

I am planning to upgrade a Domino version 2.2 BES to 4.0 and I was curious as to what rollback plans others have used in the event that something would go wrong with upgrade. Also, if anyone had to do a rollback, was it easy to do? My plan at this point is to save a copy of the BES folder under the Domino\Data directory prior to the upgrade and then to just reinstall 2.2 and copy the folder back. This seemed to work OK in a test environment, but I just wanted to make sure that I'm not missing anything. Thoughts?

[bfrye]

I've never tried on the same server. We've always stood up a different server, mirrored the database and brought up the new one as the old one was brought down.

[mkb]

When you say "mirrored the database" are you referring the to the blackberryprofiles database? Are there any other files or databases that you would be concerned with saving or moving?

[bb_admin]

There is no roll-back, other than to uninstall 4.0 and re-install 2.2. I recommend that you back up the entire BES directory (including all sub-directories).

[greywolfe]

The database totally changes, so rollback proceedures are hard to implement...total backup of everything is highly recommended

[jibi]

was BES 2.2 for domino that much different than BES 3.6 for exchange? there really wasn't much to backup from the database on the exchange side of the world, as most information that pertained to the users was kept in the service account's mailbox in hidden folders. the only information that was kept in the database was the license keys and it policies.

if thats the case with the domino side as well, then worst case is you'd have to recreate IT policies. i think. 4.0 may do something to the mailbox information though.

on 4.0, even if you lose the database, you won't lose functionality by bringing it back up elsewhere, either. i just dropped my database the other day and created a new one. i had to add users back manually and kept their information and i was fine.

[greywolfe]

Databases are the same really, regardless of mail server.

[jibi]

k, if thats the case, there's hardly any information stored in the older versions' databases. there's the stored procedures, which won't change from a fresh install (perhaps during service packs and hot fix applications, but something you can get back to). the IT policy, if utilized, would need to be reapplied (since it differs from version to version), so back this up. and your license information is about the only other stuff, but that can be easily typed in. you'll want to backup your user list, but that is separate from the database.

you possibly would want to delete old MAPI profiles on the machine, as well (and recreate when prompted during installations), although it won't really matter. these can be found in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Cur rentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles\.

[BB1877]

I had to do this exact rollback from BES 4.0 to 2.2 a couple weeks ago. BES 4.0 didn't work with our network...it generates a LOT more traffic due because of all of the new OTA features. We have mail servers at remote locations on frame relay links all over the world and the pipes were filling up.

RIM didn't recommend or support the rollback. Their warnings: Rollback may fail. May cause unexpected errors. All pending messages will be lost. Users may have to recradle. Users may lose ability to reply/forward older messages.

Here is their procedure:

-Backup the entire BES directory (typically in c:\lotus\domino\data)
-Backup BESMgmt database
(I had a full tape backup of the server as well)
-Tell BES Quit, shut down Domino
-Uninstall BES 4.0
-Uninstall MSDE
-Set Domino service to Disabled, Reboot box
-Install BES 2.2
-Make sure the BES folder is where it belongs, replace if not from backup
-Manually insert SRP identification, user licenses, etc. in notes.ini (was cleared out)
-Start Domino, Load BES

It was nerve wracking, but it did come back up okay. None of the users had to recradle, nor did they lose the ability to reply or delete previous messages. We did lose about 2 hours worth of messages. It's been stable for several weeks. The only impact on the BES is the inability to Disable MDS individually.

As recommended above...to do this over again...I would have pitched for a second server and done a phased upgrade. (RIM will give you a loaner SRP if you ask nicely). This way you can roll back much easier/safer, and can gauge the network traffic increase.