[Mailman-Users] How to move a list from 2.1.2

[Mark Sapiro]

Anders Norrbring wrote:
>
>I have a bunch of lists that resides on an old 2.1.2 installation.. I 
>want to move these to a newer machine with Mailman v2.1.7.
>I'd like to move both lists and archives.
>
>On the mailman web site, a script called "move_list" is mentioned, but 
>that script doesn't exist on any of my systems...

The move_list script was for Mailman 2.0.x. It is not in Mailman 2.1.x.

The process is fairly straightforward, but it is complicated a bit if
the domain names for web access and/or email are different on the new
machine. There are many discussions of this in the archives of this
list and there is a FAQ at
<http://www.python.org/cgi-bin/faqw-mm.py?req=show&file=faq03.004.htp>
but it too is out of date.

The basic procedure assuming domain names change is the following:

1) move the lists/listname/ directory and contents for each list.
2) move the archives/private/listname.mbox/ directory and
archives/private/listname.mbox/listname.mbox file for each list.
3) run fix_url on each list to update its host_name and hidden
web_page_url attributes. fix_url runs under bin/withlist. Run
bin/fix_url.py for instructions.
4) run bin/arch on each list to build the archives with correct links
to the listinfo page.

If domain names don't change, you can skip steps 3 and 4 and add to
step 2 - move the archives/private/listname directory and it's
contents for each list. You don't need to move the archives/public
stuff as it is checked and created/deleted as necessary each time the
list is accessed.

Mailman will automatically update the list data as needed from 2.1.2 to
2.1.7 when the list is accessed.

The above assumes there aren't held messages. If there are, they should
be dealt with on the old machine before the move. Also, if there is
the possibility of incoming posts during the move, it is a good idea
to stop the MTAs to keep things from hitting Mailman during the move.

-- 
Mark Sapiro <msapiro at value.net>       The highway is for gamblers,
San Francisco Bay Area, California    better use your sense - B. Dylan