[OPLINTECH] OPLIN e-mail failure

Mon Mar 9 11:43:38 EDT 2015

Yeah I'm with you on all those points, and haven't ruled out the idea
of a failover mail server. Tricky part is that I know which domains we
need from the Barracuda but I don't know the 2600 user accounts.

It's not ruled out.

Karl Jendretzky
IT Manager - Ohio Public Library Information Network
(614) 728-1515
karl at oplin.org

On Mon, Mar 9, 2015 at 11:30 AM, Chad Neeper <cneeper at level9networks.com> wrote:
> Whaaaat?  You mean you can't turn water into wine? You don't have unlimited
> resources? You can't turn base metals into gold? My world has just been
> shattered.
>
> I think probably we all totally understand where you're coming from.
> Personally, I greatly appreciate all of the hard work you AND the rest of
> the team have done over the years. You all deserve an extra vacation and pay
> raise. Or at least a nap.
>
> From a library point of view, I'm hoping that you set up another mail
> server. Big picture, I'd strongly suspect the amount of time and money saved
> is worth it vs. each individual library having to deal with it. It stinks
> for OPLIN Support, but it's hugely useful, especially for smaller libraries.
>
> You'll hate this idea too (don't shoot the messenger), but someone suggested
> to me just now that perhaps you could set up another mail server in the
> short term and re-create the accounts with the understanding that all mail
> is gone and this may only be a temporary interim solution. It would be a
> huge pia for Support to recreate accounts, but it would go a long way
> towards keeping business running at individual libraries. You could still
> decide not to continue the service going forward, but it would help reduce
> the emergency thrust upon the libraries and allow them to more gracefully
> switch to another system.
>
> Chad
> ______________________________
> Chad Neeper
> Senior Systems Engineer
>
> Level 9 Networks
> 740-548-8070 (voice)
> 866-214-6607 (fax)
>
> Full IT/Computer consulting services -- Specialized in libraries and schools
>
> On Mon, Mar 9, 2015 at 10:41 AM, Karl Jendretzky <karljendretzky at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> Well, frankly trying to host mail with limited staff is what got us in
>> this spot in the first place. OPLIN is 5 people, and I'm the only
>> sysadmin we have. I've been mostly awake since 2:45am on Friday, and
>> though I may be overruled at some point I hope that we don't offer
>> mail any more. Even when working properly it strains the staff an
>> unnecessary amount.
>>
>> Currently I'm in talks with the mail group with the State of Ohio.
>> They work with Microsoft to provide email to state agencies. I'd like
>> to have a info sheet we can give to libraries outlining how they can
>> move onto the state's mail system, but initial response from the state
>> indicates their team might not be able to handle the load. I've got a
>> conference call tomorrow morning with the state mail team, and should
>> know more after.
>>
>> -Karl
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 9, 2015 at 10:30 AM, Chad Neeper <cneeper at level9networks.com>
>> wrote:
>> > Ouch.  Thanks for the info.
>> >
>> > That's a sinking feeling when you're in the middle of it and watching
>> > the
>> > server not do what it's supposed to. I don't wish that feeling on
>> > anyone!
>> >
>> > This is probably early and you may not be ready to announce, but any
>> > thoughts to set up another mail server and web front-end available to
>> > all
>> > libraries, or are you getting out of that game entirely? Knowing that
>> > will
>> > help to decide what to do.
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> > Chad
>> >
>> > ______________________________
>> > Chad Neeper
>> > Senior Systems Engineer
>> >
>> > Level 9 Networks
>> > 740-548-8070 (voice)
>> > 866-214-6607 (fax)
>> >
>> > Full IT/Computer consulting services -- Specialized in libraries and
>> > schools
>> >
>> > On Mon, Mar 9, 2015 at 10:09 AM, Karl Jendretzky
>> > <karljendretzky at gmail.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Everything besides the Zimbra server is running properly.
>> >>
>> >> The Zimbra server was running Ubuntu 10, which is reaching end of life
>> >> and
>> >> needed updated. The server was pushed to Ubuntu 14, and a patch was run
>> >> on
>> >> Zimbra to bring it up to date, but after the patching finished the 80GB
>> >> LDAP
>> >> database was corrupted. Attempts to fix the corrupted database failed.
>> >> Backups were restored, and a small patch was attempted to bring it up
>> >> to
>> >> U14, but once again there were LDAP issues. A new Ubuntu 10 mail server
>> >> was
>> >> built, and the exact version of Zimbra for the backups was installed,
>> >> and
>> >> the backup data was put in place, but failed. Each step was slightly
>> >> different errors.
>> >>
>> >> My thought is that the Zimbra server went through many updates through
>> >> it's life, and at some point some of the data went out of spec just
>> >> enough
>> >> that it could only ever run on the exact U10 environment that it had.
>> >> That
>> >> U10 environment no longer exists.
>> >>
>> >> Zimbra is a nasty beast. It uses many packages, but none are the
>> >> repository default packages. All are bundled with Zimbra, and all work
>> >> just
>> >> the way Zimbra wants them to, meaning that support resources are
>> >> sparse.
>> >>
>> >> The only thing that the Zimbra server was doing was personal email
>> >> accounts.
>> >>
>> >> -Karl Jendretzky
>> >>
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> OPLINTECH mailing list
>> >> OPLINTECH at lists.oplin.org
>> >> http://lists.oplin.org/mailman/listinfo/oplintech
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
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>> > OPLINTECH at lists.oplin.org
>> > http://lists.oplin.org/mailman/listinfo/oplintech
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> -Karl
>> _______________________________________________
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>> OPLINTECH at lists.oplin.org
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