Move SmarterMail from Hosted to Self-Installed

SmarterMail > Installation and Configuration
This article applies to recent versions of SmarterMail. View articles for SmarterMail 16.x and earlier.

If you are moving from one shared hosted provider to a self installed version of SmarterMail the easiest and best solution to retrieve your emails, users, settings, etc. is to contact your current hosting provider and request your domain folder. The domain folder is where all domain level settings such as users, passwords, email, calendars, etc. settings are kept. Once you have the domain folder you can Install SmarterMail and follow the steps below:

NOTE: SmarterMail migrations should occur from two mail servers on the same version number. When installing SmarterMail, ensure you install the same version that the hosted service is running. An upgrade can be performed after the data has been successfully migrated. Additionally, MAPI/EWS must be enabled on the source server so that Calendars, Contacts, Tasks, and Notes can be moved.

  1. On the destination (self-hosted) server, log in as the System Administrator.
  2. Add the domain that you want to move over, leaving all the settings as their defaults.
  3. Stop the SmarterMail service. (I.e., mailservice.exe)
  4. Overwrite the contents of the domain's folder on the destination server -- by default, it will be located at c:\SmarterMail\Domains\domain.com -- with the copy you received from your hosting provider. It should be in the same format: named "domain.com" 
  5. Re-start the SmarterMail service, and verify the domain's settings, users, etc. They should be discovered by SmarterMail once the service restarts.
Please be aware that not all hosting companies will provide you with your data when leaving. If they do not you will still be able to retrieve your emails only. This will be done using the migration utility that is built into SmarterMail. You will need to recreate all users and their settings (passwords, contacts, calendars, etc.). Once they are created please refer to this knowledge base to pull in emails: Import Mailbox Data to SmarterMail from Third-party Mail Servers.
 
Below is a sample list of items that will need to be created if the hosting company will not provide the domain folder:
 
  1. Domain
  2. Domain level settings
  3. Aliases
  4. Users
  5. User settings (passwords, contacts, calendars, etc.)
  6. Mailing Lists
 
Learn more about using SmarterMail for your email accounts and company-wide chat.
Article ID: 2875, , Modified: 9/12/2023 at 12:57 PM

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