Skip to content

Migration of an Installation under GNU/Linux#

This article focuses on the general procedure to migrate an i-doit installation from one GNU/Linux to another one. The migration includes databases as well as files and directories.

Preparation and Assumptions#

Both systems must use the same i-doit version!
In the case of Red Hat-based operating systems, argon2i may have to be installed additionally

You have to observe a few things to guarantee a smooth migration:

  1. i-doit is installed on both servers in the same version.
  2. Both systems were created with the idoit-install script.
  3. Both systems use the same passwords for MariaDB and can be changed afterwards. If not, you can also use the optional steps.
  4. We do not change the old system so that we can quickly return to the original state if the worst comes to the worst.
  5. The commands shown are suitable for a current Debian GNU/Linux and should be adapted to the corresponding environment. Blind execution of the commands should be avoided

Preparation of the New System#

First of all, it is necessary to prepare the new systems as far as possible by observing the following:

  1. The system requirements correspond to the version used, see the Compatibility matrix.
  2. The system settings have been configured on the new operating system.

Closing Down the Old System#

The old system should not be used productively during the migration process anymore:

  1. Empty the i-doit address (URL) in the i-doit administration and set it again on the new system.
  2. Downtimes are annoying, especially unexpected ones. The users of i-doit should have been informed in advance that the installation is moving and during which period it will be unavailable.
  3. You should deactivate automated access of third-party systems.
  4. Also cronjobs should be deactivated. In most cases, it is sufficient to comment out the command lines.

  5. After the above mentioned points have been completed, you should stop the Apache Webserver:

    1
    sudo systemctl stop apache2

Move old system#

  1. First, the i-doit folder is packed into a file:

    1
2
    cd /var/www/html
zip -rq /tmp/i-doit-migration.zip .


    1
2
    cd /var/www/html
tar -czvf /tmp/i-doit-migration.tar.gz .

  2. Dump the databases into a file and pack them with gz:

    1
    mysqldump -hlocalhost -uroot -p --all-databases | gzip -9 > /tmp/idoit-backup.sql.gz

  3. Then transfer the files and the database dump to the new host:

    1
2
    scp /tmp/i-doit-migration.zip user@newsystem:/tmp/
scp /tmp/idoit-backup.sql.gz user@newsystem:/tmp/


    1
2
    scp /tmp/i-doit-migration.tar.gz user@newsystem:/tmp/
scp /tmp/idoit-backup.sql.gz user@newsystem:/tmp/

Move to new system#

  1. Unzip the files and change to the html folder beforehand:

    1
2
    cd /var/www/html
unzip /tmp/i-doit-migration.zip


    1
2
    cd /var/www/html
tar -xzvf /tmp/i-doit-migration.tar.gz

  2. Import database:

    1
    gunzip < /tmp/idoit-backup.sql.gz | mysql -hlocalhost -uroot -p

  3. If the file system rights are no longer correct:

    1
2
3
4
    cd /var/www/html
sudo chown www-data:www-data -R .
sudo find . -type d -name \* -exec chmod 775 {} \;
sudo find . -type f -exec chmod 664 {} \;

  4. i-doit stores internal caches under the temp/ directory. The contents should be completely removed. When i-doit is used for the first time, the caches are created automatically:

    1
    sudo rm -r temp/*

  5. It should be checked whether the .htaccess file has been copied:

    1
    ls -lha /var/www/html/.htaccess

OPTIONAL: Use other database passwords#

If other passwords are used for the database, the following steps are also necessary. In this example, we use the following access data:

Benutzer Passwort
System DB user root
System DB password root
i-doit DB user idoituser
i-doit DB password idoitpass

  1. To establish access to the Admin-Center, the config.inc.php must be adapted:

    1
    nano /var/www/html/src/config.inc.php

  2. Adjust and save the values under $g_db_system for user and pass.

  3. Log in to the Admin-Center via the URL http://idoiturl/admin, select the client in the Tenants tab and click on Edit.
  4. Enter the new Username and the new Password as well as Retype password in the MySQL settings and save.
  5. Log out of the Admin-Center and log in to i-doit.

Follow-up Work#

  1. Log into the Admin-Center and check the Licensing and Encryption method.
  2. Afterwards, you should adapt DNS entries, IP addresses, host names etc., so that i-doit can be accessed as usual.
  3. Now interfaces to third-party systems can be reactivated. The functions should be checked.
  4. Reactivate cronjobs and test them.
  5. Set up backups and test them.
  6. When the Web GUI reacts as usual and all data are available in i-doit, the migration was successful.
  7. Doing the usual security measures.