What is the best method of porting from an incumbent messaging system to GMS?

Question

GMS includes a utility to provide seemless porting from other mail servers. This utility allows email accounts to be ported from one proprietary system to another without the need to make any changes to the existing server. The administrator does not need to contact users in order to
change their passwords and the transfer of mail files takes place automatically.

Furthermore, the email service is not disrupted and users do
not have to disclose or change their passwords or change the configuration of mail clients. The transfer process between the GMS server and the existing server will work with any Internet Standards-Compliant messaging server as the source server including those supporting POP3, IMAP4 or SMTP protocols.

Answer

The porting of other servers to GMS is completed in three distinct stages as follows:

1. Preparation – The GMS System is prepared (off the network) by installing the GMS software, setting it up for porting and giving it the same IP address as the existing server you will be replacing.

   From within the admin interface, find the "Porting" node in the JAVA applet. Enter the IP address of your existing mail server where your user accounts currently reside. If you need further assistance in understanding the subsequent configuration options available, you can use the online help which is the button showing a life belt icon.
   
   Note: If you are running a build of GMS that does not have the "Porting" node described above, you can work around this by using the "System Variables" and creating a variable named "AutoportHost". The value will be the IP address of the existing server.

   You should now set the Unknown user action for the GMS server to send mail, received for accounts that have not yet been created, to the source server. Go to Administration>Mail>Domains>Settings and select "Redirect to mail server" entering the IP address of the source server.

2. Account Transfer – To begin the porting process, the existing server should be taken off line and given a new IP address. The GMS server is connected to the network (preferably on the same LAN segment) and the existing server and the GMS server restarted.

   Users can continue to collect and send email in the usual
   way as illustrated in the diagram.

   

3. Retiring the existing server – After a period of time you may determine that it is time to retire the existing server. Some special mail routing rules (e.g. forwards, auto-responders, etc.) and accounts that have not been accesssed will not be transferred automatically and will therefore have to be manually transferred.

   By reviewing the message logs, you can identify these special rules or accounts and take the required action.

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   See Also:

   • What mail servers can #GMSAUto# port from?
   • When using #GMSAuto# at what point do I retire the old server?
   • Gordano’s #GMSAuto# technology receives UK Patent
   • When using GMS Auto Port how is the user information moved from one server to another?
   • Why do my users not appear after using autoport to move them to GMS?
   • What is GMS Auto Port?

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