8.1 Understanding the Merge Process

A merge is performed between the primary domains of two GroupWise systems. Merging one system (the primary domain and all of its subordinate objects) with another consolidates the two systems, resulting in only one primary domain and one or more new secondary domains and their subordinate objects.

To avoid confusion, we will hereafter refer to the system whose primary domain you’ll retain as Site #1 and the other system as Site #2.

Figure 8-1 GroupWise Systems to be Merged

In the above illustration, we have two GroupWise systems that are not connected. We have designated the Manhattan GroupWise system as Site #1 and the Lakewood GroupWise system as Site #2. The Lakewood system will be merged into the Manhattan system.

If you have three or more systems to be merged, you must merge the systems one after the other. We will not use references to a Site #3, a Site #4, and so on. Instead, after the first and second systems have been merged, the third system will become Site #2 as you go through the merge planning, preparation, and step sections again. Therefore, each system will take its turn at being Site #2 while the first system being merged to will continue to be Site #1.

The merge process permanently affects a database. Before merging, you create backups of all wpdomain.db files for the primary and secondary domains that will be affected by the merge. This allows you to recover from any mistakes. For more information, see Section 8.4, Planning the Location of the Domain Database Backup Directories.

During the merge, you must shut down any GroupWise Message Transfer Agents (MTAs) that can write to the domain databases. Even though you shut down the MTAs during the merge, users can continue to use GroupWise because the Post Office Agents (POAs) do not need to be shut down. The following GroupWise agent functions are not available until the MTAs are running again:

Print a copy of the Merge Planning Worksheet.

If Site #2 has a primary domain and some secondary domains, you first release all of the secondary domains in Site #2 to become primary domains in their own GroupWise systems. Then you merge each Site #2 primary domain one at a time with the primary domain of Site #1. In other words, you run the merge process once for each domain in Site #2. For more information, see Section 10.5, Releasing Site #2 Secondary Domains.

One link (of any type) must exist between a domain in Site #1 and the domain being merged in Site #2. The merge utility automatically creates indirect links between the Site #1 secondary domains and the Site #2 domain being merged. You have the option to accept these indirect links and configure them later (if necessary), or you can create direct links between all domains in Site #1 and the domain being merged from Site #2 before beginning the merge. All links must be completed and correct before you run the MTAs after merging the systems. For more information, see Linking the Domains.