From time to time it may be necessary to perform a full system migration from one server to another server. This can be achieved using two different methods, depending on the data you need to migrate.
Migrating Content Using the Clone Tool
If you have a smaller system with just a few users/channels. It is recommended that you simply export your Carousel Channel(s) using the Carousel Clone Tool located either on the desktop of the server or in the TRMS\TOOLS directory on the server. Launch the clone tool on the existing server, select export then select the channel(s) you wish to export, then press export. Select the file name and target file destination and press save:
This will create a .CSL file containing all of the channel content you chose to export. The CSL file contains all of the Channel, Zone, Template, Media, and Bulletin information from the channel(s) exported from the previous server. It does not contain any User Management information or special server configuration information. This makes it an ideal migration path for smaller systems without any advanced configuration.
Once the file has been successfully exported, transfer it to the destination server and double click it to launch the clone tool, then select import. Add any desired zone tags when prompted, then import the channel:
Migrating All SQL Data and Media
If user management data must be maintained and/or if there are many channels to be migrated to the new server, a complete backup must be made on the existing server, then restored on the destination server.
This is an advanced operation which requires elevated knowledge of Windows operating system as well as advanced SQL and IIS settings. If you are not comfortable with any of the terminology in this article, please purchase migration assistance from Carousel Support as support will not be available otherwise
These instructions assume that the same version of Carousel is installed on both servers and is functioning with local SQL databases.
The Installation drive letter must be either C:\ or D:\ and must be the same on both servers.
Start by making a backup of both the FrontDoor and Carousel SQL databases. This can be achieved using one of two methods:
You can browse to the database backup utility located in FrontDoor>Server Setup>Database Tools. Select both the FrontDoor and Carousel Databases using the checkboxes next to them. Then choose your desired destination. Selecting "The Backup directory on this server" will save the databases to TRMS\DATABASE\BACKUP. If you have the Carousel system integrated with your email client, you can choose the email address checkbox and specify an email address to send the database backups to. Additionally, you can select an alternate local path on the server to save the databases to as long as you have the correct permissions to do so. You can select any number of these destinations and will receive
You can also use SQL management Studio to backup your databases directly. Simply open SQL Management Studio and Right click on each database and select "Tasks>Backup" The backup type should be "Full", verify that the specified location is correct and press "OK" to backup.
After The SQL databases are backed up, also make a copy of the Media folder located in TRMS\Web\Carousel\Media.
Transfer the .BAK files for both the Carousel and FrontDoor databases and the Media folder to the destination server.
Next, we will need to manually stop the following services, applications, and processes on the destination server that are connected to the Carousel and FrontDoor databases:
- CarouselService
- CarouselRendering Service
- RabbitMQ Service
- Notifications Service
- TimeSync Service
- IIS Web Server
- empd.exe process
- erl.exe process
- erlsrv.exe process
Once those items are stopped, you will want to transfer the Media folder that was copied from the previous server to TRMS\WEB\Carousel\ on the destination server
When the media folder is in place, open SQL management Studio and perform the following steps to both the Carousel and FrontDoor databases to restore the backups:
Right click on the Database in the object explorer pane and select Tasks>RESTORE>DATABASE
Select Restore from Device and click on the ellipsis on the right to choose the .bak file to restore. Select 'ADD' and browse to the file location of the .bak file to restore, then press OK
once the backup has been added to the restore plan list and it's box is checked, select 'options' and ensure that the option to overwrite the exiting database 'WITH REPLACE' is selected as well as the option to 'Close existing connections to destination database'
Select OK to restore the backup.
Once both the FrontDoor and Carousel databases have been restored, run the 'FrontDoor50-Populate' and 'Carousel50' SQL Database scripts located in TRMS\DATABASE\SCRIPTS against the newly restored databases.
After those scripts have been executed, reboot the server to complete the migration process. Check to ensure that you can log into the system and navigate the UI as well as see and exit content in your zones.