Advanced Techniques: Domain Migration from One Smarter Mail Server to Another

A system administrator may need to transfer a domain from one Smarter Mail server to another, such as if the domain is using excessive disk space and needs to be moved to a free server.

Note: 

• Don’t move the domain from a previous Smarter Mail installation or older version to a new server running the current 100.0.xxxx version.
• If you want to upgrade at the same time as a domain migration, migrate to a server running the same release or version and then perform the upgrade, or perform the upgrade on the old server and migrate to the latest version.

a) How do I move a domain from one Smarter Mail Server to another ?

1. First, create a backup of the domains.json file in C:\Program Files (x86)\SmarterTools\SmarterMail\Service\Settings\ and the desired domain folder, which is typically located in C:\SmarterMail\Domains\. For example, to move example.com to a new Smarter Mail server, backup C:\SmarterMail\Domains\example.com.

2. Then, stop the Smarter Mail service on both servers.

3. After that, copy domain folders from the old server to the new server, ensuring the default installation path matches the old server: C:\SmarterMail\Domains\[domain_name].

4. Next, open the domains.json file on the old server using Notepad or a text editor in C:\Program Files (x86)\SmarterTools\SmarterMail\Service\Settings\.

5. Then, the domain you wish to move will be displayed in the following format:

"example.com": {
"data_path": "c:\\SmarterMail\\Domains\\example.com"
},

6. After that, copy the domain entry from the file and save it on hand, then delete it and save the file. 

Note: To ensure Windows security, it may be necessary to save the file to your desktop and manually replace the original file.

7. Next, back up the domains.json file on the new server.

8. Then, open domains.json on the new server using a text editor like Notepad.

9. Afterwards, the domain entries from the file should be pasted onto the old server, ensuring they are correctly titled and formatted.

10. Next, save the file.

Note: To ensure Windows security, it may be necessary to save the file to your desktop and manually replace the original file.

11. Then, start the Smarter Mail service on both servers.

12. Finally, update the domain’s primary MX record to the new IP. Transmission may take up to 24–48 hours.