Migrate PM to VM 1.2.0

[Tom Elliott]

@george1421 and all I’m just guessing as to the problem as error logs would go a much longer way. First my guess is the issue is not the import directly, but rather the filesize upload limit set by php. In trunk builds I set the values dealing the post max filesize and Max upload size to a fairly decent 100meg limit. However, on 1.2 and earlier this value was left untouched. The post max filesize is defaulted to 8meg and the upload filesize is defaulted to 2meg. My guess is the upload failed because the size of the sql file is larger than the 2meg limit. The post max limits the number of files ( so 4 2meg files) allowed to upload and their combined size.

[george1421]

@Tom-Elliott You know I’ve been using the trunk version for so long I forgot all about the default file size limitation/setting in php. When I did the import / export test on the 1.2.0 instance I spun up so I could help with 1.2.0 questions. I downloaded, deleted a host reference and uploaded the saved copy and the host came back. But this system only has 2 images and 5 hosts. So the exported database wasn’t very big at all. If the OP has many systems or images I could see how it might reject the import as you stated. Good catch, I think you are spot on.

[Wayne Workman]

@george1421 said:

The one thing you have to be aware of when you migrate, you have to have the same version of FOG on both sides of the migration. For example if you try to migrate from 1.2.0 stable to 1.2.0 stable, you are pretty assured that the data will migrate without issue. But if you try to migrate from 0.32 to 1.2.0 the migration will fail without question. The same holds true if you try to migrate from 1.2.0 stable to 1.2.0 trunk 5676. (understand this is only used to prove a point). The database has changed quite a bit from 1.2.0 to any one of the trunk builds.

I know. I intend to cover this.

In the case of the OP, I think we need to look into why the database is not exporting and importing as expected. Something is not right here. At the very least we can use the process outlined by Arrowhead-IT to migrate the data. But I have a strong belief that this should be done from within the GUI to keep people out of the underlying OS whenever possible.

I’m talking about a total migration. Leaving one OS and going to another, and taking your data, certs, and settings with you. You can’t avoid interacting with the OS for this, if you have many hosts and rely on FOG to do many things you simply cannot abandon your certs and CA now.

[MRCUR]

@Wayne-Workman Have you gotten anywhere on a Wiki article on this topic? I found this thread while looking for the best and most up to date info on doing a FOG server migration. I’ve been looking for the best option to migrate from an existing Ubuntu VM running trunk to a new Ubuntu VM running trunk but don’t want to break anything given FOG runs its own CA now.

[Wayne Workman]

@MRCUR Thanks for bumping this thread.

Tagging this for the wiki so I don’t forget about it again.

But basically, for 1.3.0 (currently in development):

inside of /opt/fog/snapins/CA you’ll find your CA. This is the important piece that you want to save.

(You might want to copy /opt/fog/snapins/ssl too)

You’d use the web interface to export just your hosts and images. These can both be done from the host management page and the image management page.

Next you want to save your images. There are a large number of ways to do this - but NFS is the most simple as it doesn’t require credentials and the existing FOG server should already have the images exported via NFS.

On the new server, the commands to mount and copy would be:

cd /
mkdir /images
mkdir tempMount
mount x.x.x.x:/images /tempMount
cd /tempMount
cp -R *.* /images
umount /tempMount

However this can also be done recursively with FTP, and can be done with Samba as well. I’ve built a project that installs and configures Samba specifically for a fog server. It’s on sourceforge called “Samba for Fog”.

When you install fog on the new server, just go ahead and install it initially like normal. After it’s installed, you can swap out the CA for the old one. Then you’d run the installer again - this will re-create new certificates for you, based on that CA.

Then you’d import your images FIRST in Image management, and then import your hosts second in host management.

Importing images is a little funny, the ID numbers get re-set to begin at zero. For instance I have several images, all begin in the 30s and up. Re-importing those would reset all the IDs. I’m not sure if it matters at all, honestly. Just something I’ve noticed.

Of course, if your FOG IP changes, then you’ll need to update Option 066 / Next-Server on whatever is doing DHCP. If FOG is doing DHCP, it will configure itself for this. Also, if the IP changes, and you’ve installed the FOG Client using the IP, then all your FOG Clients will stop working (and will need re-installed). If you’ve installed the FOG Client using a FQDN, then all you need to do is update the DNS “A” record for that FQDN to point to the new IP, and make sure your new fog server has the same name as the old one.

The most important bit of advice I can give is don’t blow away your old server. Leave it alone in case disaster strikes. Only decommission it when you’re sure you’re solid.

[MRCUR]

@Wayne-Workman Thanks Wayne. That’s just the info I was looking for.

At this point, is the built-in config export/import not really needed anymore, or has it not been updated to handle the new CA/SSL pieces? I’m fine with your method since I’m not looking to migrate “bad” settings/config info, but I do use the location plugin and I’m not sure your method would move that data over.

[Wayne Workman]

@MRCUR The method I described is a way to leave behind settings that are unique to the old server.

The “Configuration Save” option inside the FOG Configuration area does not export the CA. The CA is rather important to protect. It’s what’s used to generate ssl certificates, you don’t want it so easily downloaded. Same goes for the certs.

The configuration save has it’s uses. I use it for backup purposes, I would not use it to migrate a fog server’s settings. Say if I’m playing around with the database manually via CLI, it’s a good idea to do a config save first. That way, I can go back easily without having to do something as drastic as restoring a snapshot.

I always thought that locations and storage nodes were really easy to set up…

also - I updated that below post a little.

[Wayne Workman]

@Wayne-Workman Updated steps are in the wiki in the below link for migrating SSL certificates. The directory locations of these files have changed in the last few months, so please follow the wiki’s examples.

https://wiki.fogproject.org/wiki/index.php?title=FOG_Client#Maintain_Control_Of_Hosts_When_Building_New_Server

[Wayne Workman]

I’ve updated this article to show how to move all images instead of just one. I’ve also linked it to the FOG Client article, and vice versa.

https://wiki.fogproject.org/wiki/index.php?title=Migrate_images_manually

[Wayne Workman]

For future readers: https://wiki.fogproject.org/wiki/index.php?title=Migrate_FOG

[astrugatch]

@Wayne-Workman

I know this thread is old but I am following the guide now and have a question.

I am in the process of building a new host. On my old host I have SSL setup (./installfog.sh -S). Do I set up the new machine with SSL and replace the certs with the one from the old machine? following the se instructions: https://wiki.fogproject.org/wiki/index.php?title=FOG_Client#Maintain_Control_Of_Hosts_When_Building_New_Server

Thanks

Nevermind I got it all sorted. Just wanted to make a note that the wiki needs to be update to reflect that the user that needs to be added and given permissions is now fogproject rather than fog

[Wayne Workman]

@astrugatch Ah good one. I see that @Sebastian-Roth has already updated the article. Thank you Sebastian for your speediness and pro-activeness, as always.