A tool for moving databases: Part I

Suppose you create a new Domino server and want to move a large set of databases from an older server onto the new one. What steps would be involved in doing this correctly? While different administrators have different approaches to this task, here's a reasonable sequence of steps:

1. Replicate the database onto the new server.
2. Change the Help-About document from the old database so it announces that this database is no longer in use. Also include a link to the new database, so users can easily add it to their desktop.
3. Change the launch property of the old database, so it always shows the Help-About document.
4. Change the ACL of the old database so it is read-only.
5. Disable replication of the old database, just to be safe.
6. If the old server was the administration server, change the admin server setting in the new replica.
7. If the old server was named as the "run on" server for any agents in the database, change the agents to use a new run-on server.

It would be nice if you could perform all these steps automatically, with the push of one button. And it would be great if you could move many databases at once.

This tip contains a tool that does all of these steps, and a bit more. One of the additional slick features is that you can turn on (or off) each of the steps mentioned above. So you can change the Help-About document for any set of databases without moving them at all. You can also make existing databases read-only without moving them, or move databases without making the old replicas read-only.

I am making the tool, which I call DB Mover, available for free to the Domino community. You may use DB Mover in any way that you like, including modifying or improving its code. The only restriction is that you must continue to give me credit for creating the tool, by including my name and web link in the Help-About and Help-Using documents. Here it is on my download page: http://www.chc-3.com/downloads/dbmover103.zip

Future monthly tips will explore details of how the tool works, including some coding tricks that may not be obvious.

Chuck Connell is president of CHC-3 Consulting , which helps organizations with all aspects of Domino and Notes. CHC-3 allows companies to outsource their Domino administration needs via DominoAdministration.com and runs the popular security site DominoSecurity.org .