This article details the steps needed to move the MFT Hub service to a new machine.
Moving your SureSync MFT Hub installation to a new machine might be necessary. For instance, the machine you have the Hub installed on could be being replaced by newer hardware.
Please note that special care must be taken when moving a database to a new machine to ensure that users are not locked out of the SureSync MFT (MFT) database due to lack of permissions on the Job Folder(s) in the database. If the old machine and the new machine are both members of the same domain and you use domain accounts and groups for Job Folder permissions in MFT, no additional work should be needed. The same user accounts and groups will be recognized on the new machine.
If you are using local groups only, you must change the permissions on the Job Folders in your database before copying it to the new machine. You can end up using local groups either by choice when in a domain (you decide not to use domain accounts for the Job Folder permissions) or because one or both of the machines are standalone and do not have access to domain accounts.
You can also have problems if the machines are members of different domains and no trust is established between them. In these cases, you must add the "Everyone" group to each Job Folder in your database and grant that group "Full Control" before copying the database to the new machine. This will allow you to open the database on the new machine, and you should immediately redefine your security for each Job Folder on the new machine and then remove the "Everyone" group to prevent unauthorized access to the MFT database.
To move the MFT Hub to a different machine you would do the following:
- Disable all Jobs in the MFT Desktop on the original Hub machine. This will ensure that the Jobs don't launch on the new machine before you've verified everything is configured correctly on the new machine.
- If your SQL database is hosted on a separate SQL server, you need to know the server name, instance name (if any), and database name to open the same database on the new machine. If the database is hosted on a SQL instance on the machine being retired, you will need to use SQL Management Studio to perform a full backup of the database and restore it into SQL on the new machine. This is most common with SQL Express installations. You can easily retrieve your database information by launching the MFT Desktop on the old machine and looking in the lower right corner. There will be Database: [DatabaseName] on [server\instance]. Make note of these details. You will need to know a SQL credential with db_owner permissions to the database in question.
- Install the full MFT installation on the new machine.
- Launch the MFT Desktop on the new machine. You will be prompted to open a database. Click the "Open an unlisted database" button. Provide the relevant details for the database obtained in step 2.
- Expand "Computers and Storage" in the left-hand tree navigation and click on "Servers."
- Click on "Computer" in the Ribbon Bar to launch the Computer Wizard. Add the new machine to the database.
- Click on the new computer under Servers. Check "Run the SureSync MFT Hub Service on this machine." Click "Apply."
- Click on the old Hub machine in Computers and Storage under "Hubs." Uncheck "Run the SureSync MFT Hub Service on this machine." Running multiple Hubs is not supported at this time. Answer "Yes" to "Do you want to stop using 'machinename' as an MFT Hub."
- Stop the "Software Pursuits SureSync MFT Communications Agent" service on the old and new Hub machines.
- On the old Hub machine go to C:\Users\Public\Software Pursuits in Windows Explorer and delete the SureSync MFT1 folder.
- Restart the "Software Pursuits SureSync MFT Communications Agent" service on the new Hub machine. You can also restart the service on the old Hub machine if it will remain a root path in Jobs. If not, you can go to Add/Remove Programs on the old Hub machine and remove SureSync MFT.
- It is critical you ensure all paths are correct. If the old Hub machine had paths in the Jobs and the machine is being retired, you need to update the paths in the relevant Jobs to use the new Hub agent.
- If the old Hub machine is being fully removed, you can right-click on that machine under "Computers and Storage" and delete the machine. You will also want to deactivate the machine by clicking on Licenses in the Ribbon bar, clicking on "Activations..." Check "Deactivate" for the old machine and click on the "Activate, Deactivate or Refresh via Internet" button.
- Enable your Jobs from the new Hub machine.