1 Topic by echo5

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Topic: How best to upgrade old server from RHEL7/iR0.9.3 to Rocky9/iR1.7.6?

==== REQUIRED BASIC INFO OF YOUR IREDMAIL SERVER ====
- iRedMail version (check /etc/iredmail-release): 0.9.3
- Deployed with iRedMail Easy or the downloadable installer? Manual
- Linux/BSD distribution name and version: RHEL7
- Store mail accounts in which backend (LDAP/MySQL/PGSQL): MySQL
- Web server (Apache or Nginx):  Apache
- Manage mail accounts with iRedAdmin-Pro?  No
====

I'm seeking advice. I have a very old iRedMail 0.9.3 server running on RHEL7. Since there are no updates or security updates available I need to update this *somehow*.

I have the ability to install a fresh Rocky 9 VM and configure iRedMail in any manner (MySQL, LDAP, etc). The question is, how to migrate the users, settings, email inboxes and folders, etc to the new server.

Does anyone have a proven method to migrate an old server's contents to a new server?

Thanks!

----

Spider Email Archiver: On-Premises, lightweight email archiving software developed by iRedMail team. Supports Amazon S3 compatible storage and custom branding.

2 Reply by dittman

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Re: How best to upgrade old server from RHEL7/iR0.9.3 to Rocky9/iR1.7.6?

I recently went through this process following the documentation.

The first thing I did was clone my old mail server to test the process.  I then went through the steps for each release to get to 1.7.4 (that's the latest release) on the clone.  I made notes of any issues and I saved the update files so I'd have them when I went to update the production server to save time.  I also created a new server using the new OS and installed iRedMail 1.7.4 on it.  Both servers were isolated from the production server.

At this point I tested generating fresh backups on the clone server and restoring to the new server.  After that I tested the new server, sending emails to verify they went through and my DMARC/SPF/DKIM records were all working.  I also created a NAT from one of my public IPs to the new server and tested that the emails from outside were received.  I tested over a couple of weeks.

Once I was satisfied everything was working I created a fresh new server that would replace the old server and installed iRedMail 1.7.4 on it.  I then disabled my incoming firewall rules for the mail server to block new email coming in and went through all the steps to update the old server.  I also enabled soft_bounce in Postfix.  Once that was done I did the backup and restore, updated the CNAMEs to point to the new email server, rebooted the new server, updated the firewall rules with the new server's IP, and re-enabled the firewall.

I left soft_bounce on for a week and watched the logs.  I found a couple of issues that I corrected.  Once I was satisfied I turned off soft_bounce.

3 Reply by echo5

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Re: How best to upgrade old server from RHEL7/iR0.9.3 to Rocky9/iR1.7.6?

Wow, respect. *That* was a lot of work. I guess that would stick me with the mysql and not moving to ldap or anything. At one time I thought I saw some process where you could use imap to push/pull each account over to a new server and retain time/date, etc.

4 Reply by GerryM (edited by GerryM 2026-01-23 03:31:06)

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Re: How best to upgrade old server from RHEL7/iR0.9.3 to Rocky9/iR1.7.6?

echo5 wrote:

At one time I thought I saw some process where you could use imap to push/pull each account over to a new server and retain time/date, etc.

There should be a migration guide in the documents section. That's what I used migrating from my Windows mail server to iRedMail, and what I may do again when I build a new box with the current versions.
edit-
Migration link https://docs.iredmail.org/migrate.to.ne … erver.html is hiding in the Upgrade document, just above the release notes. smile

5 Reply by dittman

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Re: How best to upgrade old server from RHEL7/iR0.9.3 to Rocky9/iR1.7.6?

echo5 wrote:

Wow, respect. *That* was a lot of work. I guess that would stick me with the mysql and not moving to ldap or anything. At one time I thought I saw some process where you could use imap to push/pull each account over to a new server and retain time/date, etc.

There are a couple of tools to sync imap accounts.  I thought about doing that but decided upgrading and then rsyncing the mail and doing the backup/restore of the databases would be slightly faster.

6 Reply by aszczupal (edited by aszczupal 2026-09-15 20:01:45)

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Re: How best to upgrade old server from RHEL7/iR0.9.3 to Rocky9/iR1.7.6?

==== Required information ====
- iRedMail version: 1.8.3
- iRedAdmin-Pro: 5.7.1
- Store mail accounts in which backend (LDAP/MySQL/PGSQL): MySQL
- Linux/BSD distribution name and version: CENTOS 7.9.2009
==========================

Hi
I'd like to continue this thread.
I also have an "old" iRedMail  server (Old CentOS 7.0 !!! ) , but  I'm trying to be "up to date" with iRedMail (I have 1.8.3 MariaDB version ) .
I can not upgrade Centos do Rocky directly becouse i have/use some external repo..:-(
I want to migrate this server to iRedMail EE !! , but on a completely new server based on Rocky Linux 9 !!
I was looking for procedure for it :-( without sucess...
I'm thinking of migrating first to  Rocky 9, then migrate to EE .. ?
@dittman Can you tell me more about this procedure ?
Anybody knows , is it possible to migrate in in "one step" ? ( backup some date form old Server , and restore it a new one ) ?

Best regards
Adam

7 Reply by ZhangHuangbin

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Re: How best to upgrade old server from RHEL7/iR0.9.3 to Rocky9/iR1.7.6?

aszczupal wrote:

I can not upgrade Centos do Rocky directly becouse i have/use some external repo..:-(

One possible upgrade path: upgrade to CentOS Stream / Rocky / AlmaLinux 8 first, then migrate to EE immediately.

  • Prepare EE migration by following this tutorial: https://docs.iredmail.org/iredmail.to.ee.html

  • Upgrade iRedMail to latest release (1.8.8 today). Since we're going to migrate to EE later, it's ok to upgrade just SQL structure changes and ignore software update (e.g. Roundcube, netdata, iRedAPD, mlmmjadmin).

  • Disable all third-party repositories and remove the packages. Related services may stop working, but i suppose this is acceptable? EE will install required packages from official yum repositories offered by Linux vendor.

  • Upgrade to CentOS / Rocky / Alma 8 in place.

  • Make sure MariaDB service is running, migrate to EE in place by following this tutorial: https://docs.iredmail.org/iredmail.to.ee.html

  • Login to EE as global admin (same account as you used to login to iRedAdmin or iRedAdmin-Pro), click "Deployments" on left sidebar, click "Re-perform full deployment" to (re-)generate config files for new software offered by OS 8.

You can upgrade to OS 9 / 10 later, just click the "Deployments" -> "Re-perform full deployment" immediately after OS upgrade.

8 Reply by aszczupal

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Re: How best to upgrade old server from RHEL7/iR0.9.3 to Rocky9/iR1.7.6?

Hi Zhang
Thank You , but I can NOT use Your method, but i want to test another ..

I mean: first  MOVE iRedMail 1.8.8 from "old" server to a "new" one ,
I can clone/copy disk with mailboxes , and backup/restore MariaDB content .. using "Migrate old iRedMail server to the latest stable release" ,  and "Backup and Restore" dokuments
I will share results...

then migrate to EE .
Best Regards
Adam