Upgrading to Unity 4.0 from 3.1(3) on a new isolated server

[CHRIS KALETH]

We currently have a Unity 3.1(3) server in office A. We bought a new server to relocate to office B (to become a local Unity server). I plan to install W2K and Unity 4.0 on the new server and then ship to office B to become their new server. I plan to configure the new server exactly the same as the old server. I will be configuring the new server in isolation to not conflict with the current server. What is the best way to copy the users & voice messages to the new server. Do I have to recreate every user and then just copy the existing messages? Are there any conflicts with this approach coming from a 3.1(3) to a 4.0 system? Thanks for your input!!

[lindborg]

The easiest way to do this is to use DiRT to haul your Unity data and (optionally) messages over for you. DiRT, however, must restore to the same exact version of Unity you backed up - so you'll either need to:

1. Do a DiRT backup of your 3.1(3) system, install a clean 3.1(3) where you want it, do a DiRT restore onto that box and then upgrade it to 4.0 or...

2. Upgrade your 3.1(3) system to a 4.0, then do a DiRT backup of the 4.0 system, install 4.0 clean in your new network and do a DiRT restore onto it.

Either way should work fine - you can check out the help file and training videos for DiRT on www.CiscoUnityTools.com - be sure to use the latest versions.

[CHRIS KALETH]

We only have about 60 exchange boxes on the current server. Would it be less time consuming to just create the new users on the 4.0 box and copy the existing messages? Are there limitations from copying messages from a 3.1(3) box to a 4.0 box? Thanks for your quick response!!

[lindborg]

If you want to rebuild the box from scratch that's no problem... you can use ExMerge (Microsoft tool) to move messages from one box to the other - you just need to be sure your mail aliases between the two systems match or it wont be able to merge those messages into the correct mailboxes - if you change your naming convention things could get difficult for you.