Setting lost after major upgrade SM16 to SM17

Problem reported by Dave Camenisch - 3/29/2020 at 9:08 AM

Resolved

One week ago I migrated my SM16 installation from a Windows 2008 Server to a Windows 2019 Server (new hardware). Everything works fine.

The next step is to update SM16 to SM17 (Build 7242). I tried to do this today according to the standard instructions (https://portal.smartertools.com/kb/a2856/major-upgrade-of-smartermail.aspx). The installation also worked, but somehow the previous settings are completely gone.

Instead of my previous domains being displayed, I see only one "test.com" domain with the error "Failed to Load". Also the rest of my setup is not correct anymore. It looks like a complete new installation.

Anyone have any idea what went wrong? Here are the steps taken:

1. Backup of the whole server

2. Stopped SM service, SM IIS site and application pool

3. Uninstalled SM via Add/Remove programs

4. Installed latest SM17 version (with path from previous install)

5. Started SM service and SM IIS site

Already the login screen showed a different background. Did I missed something? If I repeat the installation and come across the same result, what could I check? Path or some files?

Thanks,

Dave

7 Replies

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Patrick Mattson Replied

3/29/2020 at 8:13 PM

Can you sign in? Did the user accounts move over? I think my background changed to.

When I did my upgrade for the most part it went smooth. I went from 14 to 16, then 16 to 17. I ran into some issues with the config files. SmarterTools switched to a .json file format some of my files were not configured right. I made a few changes and everything started working.

I think a lot of your settings will be found in C:\Program Files (x86)\SmarterTools\SmarterMail\Service\Settings or whatever drive you installed SmarterTools to.

Dave Camenisch Replied

3/29/2020 at 11:08 PM

That's exactly what I've already noticed. The default settings and the domains were simply not converted after the update. The "domains.json" file is empty except for the entry test.com.

Patrick Mattson Replied

3/30/2020 at 5:27 PM

Unfortunately you may need to change those, not sure if Smarter Tools has a program to convert it. If you see how test.com is there you should be able to add the rest. Unless you have a lot of domains. If you need an example, I am sure you have already fixed it by now.

Dave Camenisch Replied

3/30/2020 at 11:15 PM

I am in contact with SmarterMail support. There really seems to be a problem somewhere in my configuration.

Dave Camenisch Replied

4/4/2020 at 1:18 AM

Marked As Resolution

Solution

The SmarterMail support could help me and localize my problem. Obviously I had already started the upgrade to SM17 once and so some JSON files were already created (C:\Program Files (x86)\SmarterTools\SmarterMail\Service\(Settings)). These then prevented the reinstallation from working correctly.

Many thanks to Kyle and Josh for the great support!

Christophe Winzenried Replied

4/7/2020 at 11:04 AM

Dave Camenisch how can a previous update try be cleared for a new success update?

Dave Camenisch Replied

4/8/2020 at 12:20 AM

@Christophe Winzenried: I suppose that a future version of SM will automatically address this problem.

In my case, I deleted the existing .json files in the folder "C:\Program Files (x86)\SmarterTools\SmarterMail\Service\Settings". After that the update worked normally again.

Please note: I also had some .json files in the Service folder. I'm not sure if I deleted them too (I think so). Try it if necessary.

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