Move MailStore Gateway to new machine

Revision as of 12:59, 16 July 2024 by Cstelzmann (talk | contribs)

MailStore Gateway has multiple dependencies to network infrastructure. Depending on your specific setup, firewalls and DNS zones have to be re-configured as well. Please read the following instructions carefully before starting the process.

Scenarios

The following scenarios are covered:

  • MailStore Gateway is exposed to the internet through a firewall. It does not matter, whether the firewall only does port-forwarding or acts as reverse proxy.
  • MailStore Gateway is exposed to the internet directly, e.g. when running in Azure or AWS.

Most steps are the same for both scenarios, differences will be pointed out when necessary.

Steps to Follow

To move MailStore Gateway to a new machine, please follow the steps below:

  • If MailStore Gateway is exposed to the internet directly, it might be beneficial to lower the TTL of the MX record of the Gateway email domain that points to the old machine beforehand.
  • Create a backup of your OLD machine.
  • Install MailStore Gateway on the NEW machine. The download can be found here [1].
  • On the NEW machine start the MailStore Gateway Config Tool by clicking on the desktop shortcut MailStore Gateway.
  • On the NEW machine stop the Gateway service by clicking Stop Service.
  • On the NEW machine close the MailStore Gateway Config Tool.
  • Copy the files config.json and gateway.db in the folder C:\ProgramData\MailStore\Gateway from the OLD machine to the same folder of the NEW machine, overwriting existing files.
  • If using a third-party TLS certificate, copy and install the certificate to the NEW machine.
  • Reopen the MailStore Gateway Config Tool from the desktop of the NEW machine and verify your settings. Especially that of the email domain and the certificate. Re-configure Let's Encrypt, if necessary.
  • Start the MailStore Gateway Service on the NEW machine.
  • If MailStore Gateway is exposed to the internet through a firewall, adjust firewall settings to forward Gateway traffic to the NEW machine.
  • Adjust DNS settings, if necessary.
  • If MailStore Gatway is exposed to the internet directly, adjust the MX record of the Gateway email domain to point to the NEW machine. Adjust the TTL in case it has been altered beforehand.
  • Ensure the NEW machine is receiving mails.
  • Ensure the OLD machine is not receiving mails, anymore. If MailStore Gateway is directly exposed to the internet, depending on the TTL of the MX record, this might take 24 hours or even longer.
  • After the machine is not receiving mails anymore, archive the remaining mails from the OLD machine.
  • Adjust the archiving profiles in MailStore Server to point to the new Gateway.
  • Adjust email client settings to point to the new Gateway if used as email proxy.
  • Decommission the OLD machine.