Replace asterisk server and change its IP address

[xoy74]

I have a Vicidial cluster consisting of a database server, a web server and two Asterisk servers. All installed using ViciBox 10.0.1, VERSION: 2.14-853a, BUILD: 220328-1420
The cluster is still in testing but I didn't have suitable hardware for the Asterisk servers so they were built as virtual machines.
I now have the physical servers for them and I want to replace the VMs with physical servers. If possible, maintaining the configuration.
Secondly, the physical servers are in a different location under our MPLS network and have different IP addresses. So the IPs need to be updated as well (all servers have a single private IP address).
Not sure what would be the ideal procedure to accomplish the 2 tasks.
If the VMs need to be moved first to the subnet where I have the physical servers, that could be done as well, but I am hoping to move just a config backup rather than the whole VM.

[williamconley]

You'll still need to perform a full install on each of the new dialers. After you've done that, you could certainly back up and restore from the existing Virtual machines. The Vicibox installer does (in theory) have a restore function (in some iterations), but we've never used it since the Vicidial restore is a bit tricky, but not actually difficult.

Beware the location issue of the Vicidial servers. In production they must all be physically in the same location as the database server to avoid lag issues under pressure. Nothing worse then a fully functional and tested machine that melts down when you actually load it up for the full production run with everyone getting paid while it melts down and you have to figure out how to fix it Right Freakin' Now. lol

We often perform the installation of replacement machines by making them standalone all-in-one boxes, then restoring from the old dialers backup sets and disabling un-needed features (like mysql). The restoration process is really just files assuming the versions of all software are identical. Copy over all the Vicidial scripts, configuration files, etc. in the backup set (or rsync from the donor system if you prefer). Just be sure to also copy file permissions.

But in many cases we just perform a fresh install and delete the outgoing server from the server list. Simpler. Plus the advantage of being able to leave the old server online (for comparison) while performing the new install. Remember that the /etc/astguiclient.conf file is the ONLY "who am I?" that each of these servers relies on for the Vicidial linkage. So any new server can share all files with any other server with idential packages from the install, just be sure the astguiclient.conf file has a different value in the VARserver_ip field and that value is from the list of servers in admin->servers. Never create an admin->servers entry yourself, this happens during an install. But once installed, swapping just those values among servers changes identities even if the server was originally installed in a completely different cluster or as a standalone.

Also be sure to set the crontab -l entries appropriate for each particular server, and be sure that the "only one of these cron jobs per cluster" is adhered to properly.