How do I migrate Pacific Timesheet to a new server?

Question

How do I migrate a Pacific Timesheet self-hosted system to a new server?

Answer

Moving Pacific Timesheet to a New Server

Step 1: Install Pacific Timesheet on New Server

Download and install the appropriate version of Pacific Timesheet on your new computer. Your customer relationship manager can provide you with download links to the setup program for your operating system. You can install a newer version of Pacific Timesheet than what you currently have running – your data will be automatically migrated to the format for the new version.

Note: If the new computer has a different host name, you will need to obtain a new license key in order to run Pacific Timesheet. After installing Pacific Timesheet on the new computer you can find the host name from the System > General page by clicking the “Enter New License" button. Contact your sales representative or email [e-mail] with the new host name, and a new license key will be provided at no cost.

Step 2: Edit Schema Configuration

If you are using an external database to store your Pacific Timesheet data, you will need to edit the new Pacific Timesheet installation to use that database. If you are using the built-in MySQL database then skip this step and go to the next step. Go to the System > Schema page to see which type of database your system is using. To edit which database Pacific Timesheet is using open a web browser on the new computer (for security reasons you must be running the browser on the same computer that Pacific Timesheet is installed on) and log into Pacific Timesheet as an administrator. Go to the System > Schema page. Click the Edit button and enter the settings appropriate for your database. Restart the Pacific Timesheet service – after restarting your data will be automatically migrated to the format for the new version if it is newer than your old installation.

Note: For security you can only access the System > Schema page from a web browser on the computer that the Pacific Timesheet service is installed on.

Step 3. Copy Database to New Computer

If you are using the built-in MySQL database then you will need to copy your Pacific Timesheet data from the old system to the new one. To do this follow these steps:

a. Open a command prompt on the old computer and change to the Pacific Timesheet nstallation directory: cd C:\Program Files\PacificTimesheet

b. Execute the following backup command: bin\backup.bat or on UNIX systems: bin/backup.sh

After a few minutes (depending upon how much data you have) this will generate a backup file named “timesheet.backup” in the current directory.

c. Copy “timesheet.backup” to the Pacific Timesheet installation directory on the new computer.

d. Open a command prompt on the new computer and change to the Pacific Timesheet installation directory.

e. Execute the following command to load the backup file into the new system:

mysql\bin\mysql --port=3316 --user=root --password=timesheet timesheet < timesheet.backup

This may take a few minutes to finish depending upon how much data you have. Note that you may have to change the port number in the above command if it is not 3316 on your system. You can check which MySQL port number is being used by opening the file mysql\my.ini in the Pacific Timesheet installation directory and searching for “port”.

Step 4. Copy Report Templates

Note: This step is only needed if you are running a version of Pacific Timesheet prior to 6.69. Starting with version 6.69, Pacific Timesheet stores report templates in the database. You can check the version you are running by clicking the About link in the upper-right corner of Pacific

Timesheet. n the old computer locate the “custom” directory:

<install dir>\tomcat\webapps\timesheet\WEB-INF\custom

For example:

C:\Program Files\PacificTimesheet\tomcat\webapps\timesheet\WEB-INF\custom

Make a copy of this directory and move it to the new computer. Replace the corresponding

custom directory on the new computer with this one.

Step 5. Restart Pacific Timesheet

Restart the Pacific Timesheet service. On Windows you can use the Start > All Programs > Pacific Timesheet > Stop Service/Start Service commands (or the Services control panel, alternatively).

On UNIX systems you can execute the following commands to stop then start the service:

cd /opt/PacificTimesheet

bin/stop.sh

bin/start.sh

Step 6. Enter New License

If your new computer has a different host name, you will need to obtain and enter a new license, as noted in step 1.