SETUP 3CX IN NEW LOCATION

[MARK AH]

HI gents,
i have an existing 3CX instance installed on the cloud. i have access to my customer portal and to the 3CX management console. my plan is to Reinstall the 3CX using my same 8SC PRO license but on a new cloud server and decommission the current 3CX server. the problem is that i don't have access to my old cloud server (windows) where the 3CX is installed right now. so i can't uninstall the the current 3CX session.
please can anyone advise me what to do ?
thank you!!!

 

[cobaltit]

Wait until you do have access?

 

[MARK AH]

Wait until you do have access?

access is lost waiting does not do the job

 

[leejor]

If you do not have access to your old server, then there is something else going on here.

 

[MARK AH]

If you do not have access to your old server, then there is something else going on here.

the old It manager left the company along with the passwords, does this help? as well we discovered that he was hosting 3CX on his own bedroom servers and charging us cloud fees. i cant go deeper in details if you have an answer i would be very thankful.

 

[cobaltit]

Probably should have clarified that in your first post then.

No one is going to know the situation better than you, so only you can figure out what to do. Short version is you can't have two instances online at the same time which you seem to understand. So if you can't turn off the existing install, then there are only a couple options.

If you want to try and keep the FQDN, this *should* work. I say *should* because I haven't tried it and you haven't mentioned what version of 3CX is on the old box. But assuming a relatively recent version of 3CX you can try this:

- Make a backup of the existing system and copy it off the server (with license key and FQDN)
- Generate a new Try key in the partner portal.
- Spin up a new instance somewhere with the Try key.
- Make backup of the Try key instance.
- Copy the backup of the try key instance into the backup location of the old server if it's something like Google Drive/FTP. If it's local you won't be able to do that so you'll have to change the backup location via the management console to something you do control.
- Restore the try key backup on the Windows box. This should blow away that instance and have the try key environment running.
- Now you can restore the old backup on the new cloud server.

This is very convoluted, not tested, and requires some skill. If you are ok with possibly losing the FQDN then the easier way would be to:

- Make backup of the existing system and copy it off the server. (without license key and fqdn)
- Generate a new try key in the partner portal
- Replace the key in the windows instance with the try key. This will free the old license key but the old FQDN will be tied to the try key (may not work as I know there are some restrictions with replacing keys and try keys)
- Go into the customer portal for the try key and release the fqdn.
- Restore backup to new cloud server and try to use the old FQDN.

There's no guarantee either of these steps will work, and releasing the FQDN does not mean it will be available to use again. Realistically you may just need to buy a new key, take a backup of the system without the key/fqdn, and restore with a new fqdn. That's about the only guaranteed recovery method.

 

[cobaltit]

the old It manager left the company along with the passwords, does this help? as well we discovered that he was hosting 3CX on his own bedroom servers and charging us cloud fees. i cant go deeper in details if you have an answer i would be very thankful.

Sounds like you either need to offer to pay him an hour of time to get access or threaten legal measures. Might be easier than the steps I outlined.

 

[MARK AH]

Probably should have clarified that in your first post then.

No one is going to know the situation better than you, so only you can figure out what to do. Short version is you can't have two instances online at the same time which you seem to understand. So if you can't turn off the existing install, then there are only a couple options.

If you want to try and keep the FQDN, this *should* work. I say *should* because I haven't tried it and you haven't mentioned what version of 3CX is on the old box. But assuming a relatively recent version of 3CX you can try this:

- Make a backup of the existing system and copy it off the server (with license key and FQDN)
- Generate a new Try key in the partner portal.
- Spin up a new instance somewhere with the Try key.
- Make backup of the Try key instance.
- Copy the backup of the try key instance into the backup location of the old server if it's something like Google Drive/FTP. If it's local you won't be able to do that so you'll have to change the backup location via the management console to something you do control.
- Restore the try key backup on the Windows box. This should blow away that instance and have the try key environment running.
- Now you can restore the old backup on the new cloud server.

This is very convoluted, not tested, and requires some skill. If you are ok with possibly losing the FQDN then the easier way would be to:

- Make backup of the existing system and copy it off the server. (without license key and fqdn)
- Generate a new try key in the partner portal
- Replace the key in the windows instance with the try key. This will free the old license key but the old FQDN will be tied to the try key (may not work as I know there are some restrictions with replacing keys and try keys)
- Go into the customer portal for the try key and release the fqdn.
- Restore backup to new cloud server and try to use the old FQDN.

There's no guarantee either of these steps will work, and releasing the FQDN does not mean it will be available to use again. Realistically you may just need to buy a new key, take a backup of the system without the key/fqdn, and restore with a new fqdn. That's about the only guaranteed recovery method.

that's what i was afraid of, lately one of my keys was blocked and the reason was that it was installed elsewhere. possibly i will try step one. step 2 does not work because commercial keys cannot be replaced by free keys, tried this before. i think the easiest way is to release the FQDN and buy a new key than install on new server with a backup file without FQDN and License key. it should be a windows server not an express server. express setups usually ask for FQDN and LIC Keys.

 

[MARK AH]

Sounds like you either need to offer to pay him an hour of time to get access or threaten legal measures. Might be easier than the steps I outlined.

if he picks up his phone the owner would gladly pay him an extra hour. but talking about legal measures ? here in Lebanon

 

[cobaltit]

Hah well if legal measures aren't viable over there I assume other options (like standing outside his door with pitchforks) might encourage him to cooperate . But a difficult situation to be in so best of luck!

 

[MARK AH]

Hah well if legal measures aren't viable over there I assume other options (like standing outside his door with pitchforks) might encourage him to cooperate . But a difficult situation to be in so best of luck!

thank you i guess luck is all we need here.
i think i will buy a new license, this is the fastest and safest approach for not losing connection with the phones and the SBCs and the gateways. i will stop the running 3CX services, release the FQDN then install a fresh copy with same fqdn and new key, using the latest backup file.
thank you for your advise! and have a nice eve!!!

 

[Quentin D]

You could try to migrate to an "Hosted by 3CX" option from customer portal.
This will adjust all settings on 3CX side and after a few days you can switch back to a self hosted plan.

Before doing that don't forget to take a full backup from management console and delete all extensions/trunk/everything possible from the old server.