If you have a Windows based installation and you would like to change to a Linux based system you will need to setup a Linux server or virtual machine and install OTRS there (see the installation instructions). This will be the target system for the migration.

Please go to the admin menu of the Windows based system and install the newest version of OTRSCloneDB package into your OTRS:

You can install the OTRSCloneDB package directly from the package manager. Select "OTRS Extensions" from the dropdown list on the left and click on the button "Update repository information" below. Then the OTRSCloneDB package will be shown in a list where you can click on "Install".

You could also download the package manually from the OTRS FTP server and install the package manually as described below. http://ftp.otrs.org/pub/otrs/packages/

Please download the package with the highest version number:

OTRSCloneDB-1.0.13.opm
                

Figure 2.10. Download OTRSCloneDB - screenshot

and install it to your Windows based installation:

Figure 2.11. Install OTRSCloneDB - screenshot

It is also no problem if you have installed some additional features or custom developments on your OTRS. You just need to take care that all of your installed packages are also compatible with Unix based systems. For packages provided by OTRS this is the case.

The OTSRCloneDB script will copy the database data over the network, so we need to enable remote access to the database. The setup is different for the different databases, we will describe opening remote access for a PostgreSQL database here.

After logging into your target system via SSH you need to change into the postgresql directory:

shell> cd /etc/postgresql/9.4/main
shell> vi postgresql.conf
                

Add the following line at the end of the file:

listen_addresses = '*'
                

Save the file.

shell> vi pg_hba.conf
                

Add the following line at the end of the file:

host all all  0.0.0.0/0 md5
                

Save the file.

Restart your PostgreSQL server:

shell> service postgresql restart
                

Stop all running services of your target system:

shell> service cron stop
shell> service apache2 stop
shell> su - otrs
shell> cd /opt/otrs/
shell> bin/Cron.sh stop
shell> bin/otrs.Daemon.pl -a stop
shell> exit
                

The OTRSCloneDB script will not remove the data in the existing otrs database of the target system, so we need to do this manually:

Change the user to the postgresql user:

shell> su - postgres
                

Drop the existing otrs database:

shell> dropdb otrs
                

Create a new otrs database for the otrs user:

shell> createdb --owner=otrs --encoding=utf8 otrs
                

Go back to root user:

shell> exit
                

Change into the OTRS directory of your target system:

shell> cd /opt/otrs
                

and take a look at the configuration file of your target system:

shell> less Kernel/Config.pm
                

You will find your database password if you scroll down a bit:

Figure 2.12. Get target database password - screenshot

In our example:

I88cm34A1B6xrl3
                

Write the password down on a piece of paper.

Switch back to your Windows based installation and open the SysConfig admin menu. Please select the group "OTRSCloneDB" and the subgroup "Configuration":

Figure 2.13. Configurate OTRSCloneDB SysConfig 1 - screenshot

We need to configure the SysConfig option OTRSCloneDB::TargetSettings with the following values:

TargetDatabaseHost => 192.168.137.20 (Here you need to enter the ip address of your target system)
TargetDatabase => otrs
TargetDatabaseUser => otrs
TargetDatabasePw => I88cm34A1B6xrl3 (Here you need to set the password of your target system)
TargetDatabaseType => postgresql
                

Figure 2.14. Configurate OTRSCloneDB SysConfig 2 - screenshot

To run the OTRSCloneDB script we need to switch to the command prompt of our Windows based OTRS and to change into the base directory of our OTRS installation:

shell> cd "C:\otrs"
                

If you are using StrawberryPerl, then you maybe need to activate your shell for Perl:

shell> StrawberryPerl\portableshell.bat
                

Figure 2.15. Run OTRSCloneDB script 1 - screenshot

The OTRSCloneDB script is located in the bin directory of the OTRS directory.

shell> cd "OTRS\bin"
                

Run the OTRSCloneDB script:

shell> perl otrs.CloneDB.pl
                

Now you should see some information about the script and its parameters.

Figure 2.16. Run OTRSCloneDB script 2 - screenshot

Note... Errors which occur at running without any parameters could relate to wrong login data for the database or problems with the database connection.

If no errors occurred, check if the dry run is successful:

shell> perl otrs.CloneDB.pl -n
                

Figure 2.17. Run OTRSCloneDB script 3 - screenshot

Start the cloning of your database and cross your fingers:

shell> perl otrs.CloneDB.pl -r
                

An example of a successfully run look like this:

Generating DDL for OTRS.
Generating DDL for package OTRSCloneDB.
Creating structures in target database (phase 1/2)
...
...
Creating structures in target database (phase 2/2)
...
done.
                

You need to copy some files from your Windows based system to the target system. You can do this for example with a free tool like "WinSCP" (just search the internet for "WinSCP"). Copy the following files from your Windows based system:

C:\otrs\OTRS\Kernel\Config\GenericAgent.pm
C:\otrs\OTRS\Kernel\Config\Files\ZZZAuto.pm
C:\otrs\OTRS\var\article\*
C:\otrs\OTRS\var\log\TicketCounter.log
                

to your target system:

/opt/otrs/Kernel/Config/GenericAgent.pm
/opt/otrs/Kernel/Config/Files/ZZZAuto.pm
/opt/otrs/var/article/*
/opt/otrs/var/log/TicketCounter.log
                

Open the file /opt/otrs/Kernel/Config/Files/ZZZAuto.pm on the target system and replace all paths like "C:/otrs/OTRS/" with "/opt/otrs/"!

If you have have manually changes in your Kernel/Config.pm then please copy these changes to the target system's Kernel/Config.pm. Don't copy it 1:1 because you will now have different database settings and the file paths on the target system are different from Windows!

Reinstall all packages with the package manager to get all custom files back.

shell> bin/otrs.SetPermissions.pl --otrs-user=otrs --otrs-group=otrs --web-user=www-data --web-group=www-data /opt/otrs
shell> su - otrs
shell> cd /opt/otrs
shell> perl bin/otrs.Console.pl Maint::Cache::Delete
shell> perl bin/otrs.Console.pl Maint::Loader::CacheCleanup
shell> perl bin/otrs.Console.pl Admin::Package::ReinstallAll
shell> exit
                

Fix all permissions in your OTRS system again:

shell> bin/otrs.SetPermissions.pl --otrs-user=otrs --otrs-group=otrs --web-user=www-data --web-group=www-data /opt/otrs
                

Undo all steps you did to enable the remote access for the PostgreSQL database to your target system.

Change into postgresql directory:

shell> cd /etc/postgresql/9.4/main
shell> vi postgresql.conf
                

Remove the following line at the end of the file:

listen_addresses = '*'
                

Save the file.

shell> vi pg_hba.conf
                

Remove the following line at the end of the file:

host all all  0.0.0.0/0 md5
                

Save the file.

Restart your postgresql server

shell> service postgresql restart
                

Start services of your target system:

shell> service cron start
shell> service apache2 start
shell> su - otrs
shell> cd /opt/otrs/
shell> bin/Cron.sh start
shell> bin/otrs.Daemon.pl -a start
                

Now you should be able to open the OTRS of your target system in the browser with the imported data of your Windows based system.