v15.5 deactivation & v16 activation on new machine

[[email protected]]

Q1: I was attempting to follow the instructions shown here to move my 3CX (v15.5) install to a new machine:
https://www.3cx.com/docs/manual/pbx-backup-restore-failover/#h.2a3yvcw23lo4/
but where the above shows "Free Version - Activate - Cancel" buttons, the v15.5 license page has no such buttons, and instead has "Edit - Cancel - Refresh License... - Replace License Key" across the top. Am I looking in the wrong place?

Q2: I installed v16 on the new machine anyway, and (probably wrongly) activated it with the same license key. It activated fine (or appears to have). Can I just deactivate v15.5 on the old machine now, and still be good to go with the new machine?

Thanks!

 

[cobaltit]

There's nothing to deactivate. Just make sure the old machine doesn't go back online.

 

[[email protected]]

Thanks for the reply. Hmmm... I've had to revert back to the old machine due to firewall problems. I can't get the new machine to pass the firewall tests, despite reconfiguring our router's NAT and firewall to point to the new machine, even with the machine's (Windows Server 2019) firewall turned off. That's not license related, though, I think? Any thoughts as to why the new machine wouldn't pass the firewall tests?

 

[YiannisH_3CX]

Any thoughts as to why the new machine wouldn't pass the firewall tests?

Can you provide some details on your setup and what errors you are getting when running the firewall checker? Do you SIP trunks or remote extensions failing to register?

 

[[email protected]]

Our old server is running 3CX v15.5 on Windows 10, with:
-Patton ATA for 1 POTS line
-VoIP provider (voip.ms)
-about 10 phone sets (Polycom)
-ZyXel USG40 router / security gateway (configured w/NAT - ports pointing to server, firewall opens all 3CX ports)
-static WAN IP
-3CX maintenance, and 3CX SSL cert
This setup has been working well for years.

Our new server is running 3CX v16 on Windows Server 2019 (not VM). Installed v16 with restore from v15.5 backup. The changes made to switch to the new server are (1) change ZyXel NAT to point to new server, (2) change firewall to open ports to new server, (3) change SIP IP on Polycom sets to register on new server.

The errors I'm getting with the firewall checker are all "full cone test failed" on all ports.

This is odd, though. I didn't previously try running the firewall checker on the old (v15.5) server, since it's working well, and has a green checkmark for firewall on the dashboard, but if I see now that when I run the firewall checker on the old server, I get the same errors, even though it is working well. Maybe I have something else wrong that I didn't know about.

Neither the Patton ATA, nor the Polycom sets will register on the new server.

On the new server, I can make incoming and outgoing calls from/to the VoIP trunk, and from a Windows client, with perfect audio both ways.

The Windows client shows extension presence/status info when connected to the old server, but not the new server. (...maybe because the sets are not registering on the new server?)

Thanks for the assistance.

 

[cobaltit]

At your next maintenance interval I would just shut down the Windows 10 machine, change the Windows 2019 machine to the same IP and then restore. Would make your life easier and everything should just 'work' minus the firewall checker.

Regarding the firewall checker, it's just a tool. Having it pass does not guarantee things will work and having it fail doesn't guarantee things won't work. Assuming your firewall rules are based on IP and not MAC address then putting the new machine at the same IP as the old machine should work exactly as it does now.

 

[[email protected]]

The new server is running! To find my errors, I had to export configuration files from both the Patton ATA and also the phones, and found other buried IP addresses still pointing to the old server. Fix them up, and everything came to life.

Still have the firewall test errors, but no different than with the old server, and it works. I'll put it on my 'to do' list to check into that later.

Thanks for the help, everyone. Much appreciated.

 

[eddv123]

I would also recommend updating your Patton's firmware now and also re-provisioning the device with the new system template as well.