Update Notices for MailStore SPE to version 25.1 or newer

With version 25.1, MailStore is, for the first time, not fully backwards compatible with all older versions. In order to be independent of outdated Microsoft C++ runtime libraries, support for Firebird 3 and 2.5 had to be removed. An update to version 25.1 therefore requires that all internal archive stores have previously been updated to Firebird 4.

Archive stores created with version 23.4 or a previous version use Firebird 3 or Firebird 2.5 as the database system. Firebird 4 was introduced with MailStore 24.2. Newly created archive stores have since been automatically created with Firebird 4 databases. Older archive stores must be updated manually.

All other update notices for MailStore SPE can be found here.

About databases in MailStore

MailStore SPE uses Firebird Embedded as a database system for the configuration and metadata of the archived emails. The configuration is stored in the so-called master database, the email metadata is stored in the archive store databases.

If a new Firebird version is supported in MailStore, the master database is automatically updated when the new version is started for the first time. This database can be updated in a reasonable amount of time without affecting operation.

The archive store databases are not updated automatically. Since this process can be lengthy and thus affect operation, the administrator must start it manually.

In order to be able to perform these database updates, MailStore must support both the old and the new Firebird version.

Firebird's dependencies on C++

Firebird 4 has dependencies on Microsoft's C++ runtime library 2015-2022.
Firebird 3 has dependencies on Microsoft's C++ runtime library 2013.
Firebird 2.5 has dependencies on Microsoft's C++ runtime library 2010.

All of these runtime libraries were automatically installed with MailStore SPE up to version 24.4.

Microsoft has discontinued support for the C++ runtime libraries of versions 2013 and 2010.

Changes in MailStore SPE 25.1

This MailStore version, as well as all newer versions, is no longer able to load or update old databases.

When the instance host service starts and loading instances' databases fails, a corresponding error message is stored in the Windows Application event log.

If the client tries to connect to a MailStore SPE instance that is trying to load an incompatible database, the client displays an error message that the database format is unsupported.

What to do next?

Depending on the initial situation, different steps are necessary to become independent of Firebird 3 and 2.5.

Update from version 24.x

If you are currently using MailStore SPE 24.2 to 24.4, you must have updated the archive stores of all instances to Firebird 4 before being able to update to MailStore SPE 25.1 or newer. The dashboard in the Management Console and the archive stores page will inform you whether this step is necessary.

Ms spe dashboard archive store needs upgrade.png

Ms spe archive store needs upgrade.png

  • Make sure that no archive store has the status Disabled. MailStore cannot determine whether these archive stores need to be updated.
  • Change the status of disabled archive stores to write protected.
  • Detached archive stores are not listed in the list of archive stores. Therefore attach detached archive stores and set them to write protected status.

If a hint is displayed that an upgrade is required, follow these steps:

Update from version 23.x and older

If you have previously used MailStore SPE 23.4 or older, you must perform an intermediate update before updating to the latest version.

A direct update to the latest version is not possible.

  • Create a data backup.
  • Download MailStore SPE 24.4 from here.
  • Read the Update Notices for version 24.2 (!) and follow the instructions. You can ignore the known problems in this version because you are installing version 24.4, in which these problems have already been resolved.
  • Install version 24.4 of MailStore SPE.
  • Make sure that no archive store has the status Disabled. MailStore cannot determine whether these archive stores need to be updated.
  • Right-click on the disabled archive stores and change the status to write protected.
  • Detached archive stores are not listed in the list of archive stores. Therefore attach detached archive stores and set them to write protected status.
  • Update all archive stores.
  • Create another data backup.
  • Download the latest MailStore SPE version [2].
  • Read the Update Notices for the current version up to version 24.2 and follow the instructions.
  • Install the latest version of MailStore SPE.

Updating individual instances and archive stores

If you have instances or archive stores detached or archives stores disabled because you do not need permanent access to their contents, their databases must also be updated to Firebird 4 in order to be able to load them into current MailStore SPE versions.

If your MailStore SPE installation is already on version 25.1 or newer, you cannot use this installation to update the instances and archive store databases. You need a second system on which you can perform the interim update.

Contact support in case you need to upgrade individual instances on a second installation.

Restoring a backup

Backups that contain Firebird 3 or Firebird 2.5 databases cannot be read by MailStore 25.1 and newer.

If you restore such a backup, you must load it once with MailStore SPE 24.4 and update all archive store databases. The backup will then also be compatible with the current MailStore version.

Contact support in case you need to restore a backup on a second installation.

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