Moving to a new server

To move ITFlow, install a fresh copy on the new server and restore a full backup of the old one into it. The same steps bring ITFlow back after losing a server, as long as you have a backup and its key.

1. Take a full backup of the old server

1. In Admin > Backup, click Full Backup. Cron makes it within a minute, so cron needs to be running.
2. Download it from the list of backups.
3. Copy the Encryption Key shown on the same page. You'll need it to restore.

Data entered on the old server after this backup won't come across. Move out of hours, and ask your team to stop using the old server once the backup is made.

2. Install ITFlow on the new server

Install the same version or a newer one, with the script or by hand. Stop at the setup wizard, and don't make an account.

Then pause the new server's cron until you've switched over, so the two servers don't both email clients and charge cards:

mv /etc/cron.d/itflow /root/itflow.cron

3. Restore the backup

A backup up to the upload limit (500 MB) can be restored in the browser, at the setup wizard's Restore a backup step. Larger backups have to be restored from the command line.

From the command line

Copy the backup onto the new server, such as into /tmp, then run:

cd /var/www/itflow.example.com
sudo -u www-data php scripts/restore_cli.php --file=/tmp/itflow_backup.zip --key='the old encryption key'

It asks you to type restore, then replaces the database and the uploads folder. If the restore fails, it puts the old database back. --inspect shows what's in a backup without changing anything.

Running as www-data keeps the restored files owned by the web server's user. That user needs to be able to read the backup file.

4. Switch over

1. On the old server, go to Admin > Cron and click Turn cron off.
2. Point your domain name at the new server, and get its certificate. If ITFlow's address is changing, change $config_base_url in config.php too.
3. If the backup came from an older version of ITFlow, bring its database up to date:

   sudo -u www-data php scripts/update_cli.php --update_db

4. Put the cron entry back: mv /root/itflow.cron /etc/cron.d/itflow
5. Open ITFlow. After a restore from the command line, the setup wizard opens, because setup was never finished on the new server. Click Continue setup, then Finish and sign in.
6. Sign in with an account from the backup. Its password and two-step sign-in are as they were on the old server.
7. In Admin > Cron, check cron is running and switched on.
8. Send a test email from Admin > Settings > Mail, and check a few clients' files open.

The new server has a backup key of its own. Copy it from Admin > Backup: backups made from now on are locked with it. Backups from the old server still need the old key.

Keep the old server switched off, but don't delete it until you're sure nothing is missing.