Hi Michelle, At 10:37 19-06-2003 +0100, Michelle A. Hoyle wrote:
Detailed Discussion:We currently host a high-volume mail/web site on our RaQ4, but due to problems with the network interface constantly thinking the network doesn't exist, we're moving it from the RaQ4 to our RaQ550. The two machines have a different block of IPs assigned to them, so we will be changing the IP address. Prior to actually doing this move, I've been experimenting with a domain which does not any active user e-mail accounts (seejapan.co.uk).
Why do you have to change the IP addresses? You are moving the mail server to another host (RaQ550). It's only a matter of point the MX to the new host.
I have the following MX rules set up on the DNS server (not managed via
the RaQ itself):
* mail for seejapan.co.uk is delivered to raq550 with a preference of 5
* mail for seejapan.co.uk is delivered to raq4 with a preference of 10
These MX rules force mail to be delivered to the RaQ550 which isn't
currently handling mail for that domain because the domain hasn't been
moved over. I want the RaQ550 then to try to deliver the mail to the next
MX server in the list (the RaQ4) where e-mail is still being
handled. Then, on the day that I'm actually doing the changeover, the
RaQ550 would now be accepting mail for that domain (and mail would go
there first) where it would be kept. Then mail on the old machine could
be forwarded back to the new machine using I don't know what.
You can use the mailertable feature (of sendmail) to override the MX preference and route the mail to the RaQ4. You may have to generate a new sendmail.cf if your existing configuration does not support that feature.
I suspect there's a better way to do this -- one which might actually work. How do other people do this so that you don't end up with mail on the old machine that hasn't been POPped yet?
You could use fetchmail to retrieve mail from the old server and inject it into the new mail server if you know the users passwords.
I could tell everybody to POP it using the RaQ4 name and the switch to the RaQ550 name later, but I'd rather keep them using mail.seejapan.co.uk (for example) which has an A record to the appropriate RaQ.
You could set a cut-off date and ask the user to POP mail from the old mail server at least once after that. They then shoulder the responsibility for mail retrieval. :-)
You should expect problems. Getting the users involved will avoid you some hassle. Draw up a timetable for the transition and explain how the move might affect them. It's nice to see how you summarized the problem and detailed your requirements. Good luck on the move.
Regards,-sm