How to Relocate the ProjectDox File Share Folders and Contents to a New Server

Occasionally there is a need to relocate the ProjectDox File Share folders to a new storage location due to size limitations of the current storage device.  The following steps walk you through relocating one of the File Share Folders but specifics relating to the customer's install may be different depending on the implementation.  Customers should notify Avolve Support that they intend on relocating the file shares prior to performing the move and review and specifics that may differ from the steps below.  Avolve Support can assist with the relocation, but it is outside the scope of normal Support and would be billable to the customer.

The steps below are for relocating one of the ProjectDox File Shares and in this example we are specifically relocating the UserFilesSource folder.  The UserFilesPublish would follow

STEPS FOR RELOCATING THE USERFILESSOURCE FILE SHARE:

1. Schedule a time for the system to be taken off-line and inaccessible to Users.
2. Stop all Brava and ProjectDox Windows Services on all ProjectDox servers:  Brava Licensing Server, Brava Server, Brava Job Processor, ProjectDox Incoming, ProjectDox Project Creator, ProjectDox WCF, ProjectDox Workflow, ProjectDox Utility etc.
3. Login to ProjectDox with a System Admin account and go to the Admin, Configuration, Core tab and put a checkmark in the Lockout Users from App checkbox and hit Save button at the top of the page to prevent users from accessing Projects on the site temporarily.
4. On the server where the new storage location exists, check for the existence of the PD_USR and NETITSVC accounts, if they do not already exist, create two new user accounts and name them the same as they are on the other existing ProjectDox Servers.
5. Make sure that the PD_USR and NETITSVC accounts belong to the Local Administrators group on the Server.
6. Create a folder on the new storage drive named ProjectDoxSupportFiles.
7. Add the PD_USR, NETITSVC local user accounts and the Administrators local group account to the Security permissions granting them Full Control permissions.
8. Copy the existing UserFilesSource folder and it's contents to the new storage location under the ProjectDoxSupportFiles folder previously created.
9. After the copying of the files has finished, right-click on the UserFilesSource folder in the new storage location and select Properties.
10. Click on the Sharing tab and then click on the Advanced Sharing button and then put a checkmark in the Share this Folder option, using the default share name of UserFilesSource.  Click on the Permissions button.
11. Under the Group or User Names, remove the Everyone group, and then click on the Add button and enter PD_USR;NETITSVC;ADMINISTRATORS in the text box and hit the Check Names button to resolve the names and click OK, OK to accept your changes.
12. Now that the Share permissions and the Security permisssions are set on the UserFilesSource folder, login to ProjectDox with a System Admin account and go to Admin, Configuration, Core tab again and this time you will modify the UserFilesSource value to indicate the full UNC path of the new UserFilesSource folder that was created above and hit the Save button at the top of the page.  New Projects that are created will have the new path for the source files stored when they are created, but additional steps need to be taken to modify existing Projects which are still set to the old location. 
13. In order to change the existing Projects and update them with the new location for the UserFilesSource folder, the UpdatePaths.sql file needs to be ran against the ProjectDox database using Microsoft SQL Management Studio, adjusting the file paths in the script file with the correct values for your ProjectDox site.  The UpdatePaths.sql file can be found in the \ProjectDox\Database\MSSQL\ folder on the Web Server.
14. With the UpdatePaths.sql file open in the Management Studio, modify the values of the following variables at the top of the script.  You can perform a select statements forand view the records in the Files table to obtain the values for the OldServerSourcePath and the OldServerPublishPath.

set @OldServerSourcePath = '\\OldServerName\UserFilesSource\'
set @NewServerSourcePath = '\\NewServerName\UserFilesSource\'

set @OldServerPublishPath = '\\OldServerName\UserFilesPublish\'
set @NewServerPublishPath = '\\NewServerName\UserFilesPublish\'

If you are not updating the paths for both locations, simply use the same value as currently exists in the database for the OldServerName as you use in the NewServerName for either the UserFilesSource or the UserFilesPublish folder. 

Execute the script, making sure that the ProjectDox database is selected in the dropdown in the Management Studio window.  This script will update all of the locations in the ProjectDox database where the path is referenced.

Start the ProjectDox Windows Services backup, Brava License Server and Brava Server Services on the web server first and then the Brava Job Processor services in that order and then the remaining ProjectDox Services except the ProjectDox Project Creator Service until you can verify that is working.  Keep the Lock Users from App enabled until you have verified that you can upload and view files in existing Projects.  If you are able to view files in existing Projects, move forward to the final test by creating a new Project and then upload files and try to view after the publishing has finished. If you receive any errors during these tests or were not able to view the files on the site, then there is a problem with the relocation of the File Share folder.  You may first try reviewing the instructions for missed steps or contact Avolve Support for billable assistance.

If uploading and viewing is successful in both old and new Projects, then you may remove the checkmark from the Lockout Users from App on the  tab within ProjectDox and then notify the users that the site is accessible again.

Any questions, please contact Avolve Support by entering a ticket on the Support Portal.

Thank you