You can migrate an existing Voyager index to another Voyager instance while preserving the original index, configuration and security settings. Migrating indexes can be useful for administrators of Voyager to make upgrades go smoothly. This is especially useful when migrating indexes to a new server. You can not only migrate admin settings, but also thumbnails and preview images from your previous index.

NOTE: Voyager has tested side-by-side and in-place migrations to Voyager Search 2.0 from version 1.9.12. See Migrating to Voyager Search 1.9.12 for information on upgrading from previous versions to version 1.9.12.

If you have any questions about this migration or about this release, please do not hesitate to contact us. We’re here to help at support@voyagersearch.com

Migration Strategies

You can migrate Voyager using a parallel (side-by-side) model, or you can migrate Voyager in place. We recommend performing this upgrade as a side-by-side (parallel) migration, as shown in the diagram below.

Side-by-Side Migration of the Voyager Application vs Voyager Service

Voyager Server can be installed either as a standalone application or as a Windows Service. Steps to upgrade your instance for each of these configurations are described in the following sections.

Side-by-Side Migration - Voyager Application

This approach leaves your existing Voyager installation in place until you can confirm that the new version is up and running to your satisfaction. Installation instructions are available below.

To migrate Voyager side-by-side when Voyager is installed as a standalone application:

Make a copy of your Voyager Search content (including the Config, Data, Index, Meta and Maps folders in your data directory, and optionally your Logs and Temp directories) for the new version to use. (You might need to stop your existing Voyager briefly to make this copy).
Use our Windows installer to install Voyager Search 2.0 into a different directory. (Optionally, you may run Voyager Search 2.0 at this point with the default configurations to test that your installation was successful. If you have installed on a new machine, you may need to update your license).
Configure the new Voyager Search 2.0 to use the content above using the voyager.vmoptions file. This is often just a matter of setting the “-Ddata.dir” parameter, but can involve setting other data location parameters if your voyager deployment configures data directory sub-locations separately.
Restart Voyager Search 2.0 (this upgrades the content and configurations from previous versions
Confirm that Voyager Search 2.0 is functioning properly with your previous configurations and content.
Promote your Voyager Search 2.0 installation by configuring the default application port(s), and redirecting Domain Name Server and Load Balancers, etc. accordingly.
Retire your previous Voyager Search instance(s)

Side-by-Side Migration - Voyager Service

To migrate Voyager side-by-side when Voyager is installed as a service:

Make a copy of your Voyager Search content (including the Config, Data, Index, Meta and Maps folders in your data directory, and optionally your Logs and Temp directories) for the new version to use
Stop the current Voyager Service
Open a command prompt
Go to the app directory in the Voyager installation directory, for example
C:\voyager\server_1.9.x\app
In the app directory, enter VoyagerService.exe/uninstall
In the app directory, enter VoyagerService.exe/install
Configure the new Voyager Search 2.0 to use the content above using the voyager.vmoptions file. This is often just a matter of setting the “-Ddata.dir” parameter, but can involve setting other data location parameters if your voyager deployment configures data directory sub-locations separately.
Restart the Voyager service (this upgrades the content and configurations from previous versions)
Confirm that Voyager is functioning properly with your previous configurations and content.

Migrate in Place

A side-by-side migration to Voyager Search 2.0 might not be feasible for organizations with larger Voyager Search indexes. In this case, an in-place migration is suitable.

In this scenario:

Use our Windows installer to install Voyager Search 2.0 into the existing instance.
When this installation is complete, start Voyager Search 2.0 (this automatically upgrades the content and configurations from previous versions)

NOTE: An in-place migration is also suitable for organizations with multiple Voyager Search installations if one or more side-by-side migrations have been successful.

Migration Methods

There are three methods for migrating an index:

Method 1: Migrating Voyager's core search index using Snapshots

Backing up your Index

Before migrating your Voyager instance to version 2.0, you should always create a backup Snapshot. Use Snapshots to save a copy of the index to disk and import the index later.

To use these tools, go to Manage > Index > Snapshots

Follow the steps in these articles:

Method 2: Migrating Voyager's search index and other data folders using the Copy Data Folder method

To preserve thumbnail and metadata information in addition to your search index, you can directly copy the Data folder from an older Voyager instance to a newer one.

Make a copy of the Data folder from the Voyager installation directory.
Once the new instance has been installed, stop all Voyager processes. Copy the Data folder into the new install directory.
Restart Voyager.
The old Voyager index will be now be read by the new Voyager instance.

NOTE: Since this method requires creating a copy of an older Data folder (which contains the index, as well as the Meta and Config folders), it can take up significant disk space and also be time-consuming (depending on the size of the index). However, this method ensures that all user settings are migrated from an old to the new Voyager instance.

This option is useful when users want to retain all their previously configured settings including their core index, thumbnails, preview images, saved searches etc.

Things to consider while using this method:

Ensure that there is enough free space to copy over the older Data folder (less than 70% disk utilization). It could otherwise cause a "java.lang.OutOfmemoryError."
You can move portions of the .\data folder to a NAS device where you have more disk space. You will need to keep the index files (relatively small) on your C:\ in order to maintain best search performance. See here for additional information.
When migrating the Data folder to a new machine, do not copy over the license.dex file, as it could lock the instance out due to conflicting machine IDs.
if your discovery.dex file has relative paths (from the previous instance) that the new Voyager machine does not recognize, users could see missing locations on their Locations page.

Method 3: Migrating Voyager settings using the Copy Config Folder method

Use this method to preserve location and user settings without migrating the Search index, thumbnails or metadata etc.

Make a copy of the Config folder from the Voyager installation directory.
Once the new instance has been installed, stop all Voyager processes.
Copy the Config folder into the new install directory.
Restart Voyager.
The new instance of Voyager should reflect the older instance's Location and Security settings.

NOTE: With this method, previously indexed locations will be reflected in the Locations page of the new instance. in addition, user settings, passwords and groups will also get carried over. However, because the index doesn't get carried over, users will initially see a blank search page, and will have to scan all the locations in the new instance to populate their Search page.

Things to consider while using this method:

When migrating the Data folder to a new machine, do not copy over the license.dex file, as it could lock the instance out due to conflicting machine IDs.
if your discovery.dex file has relative paths (from the previous instance) that the new Voyager machine does not recognize, users could see missing locations on their Locations page.

See Also

In addition to using the methods listed above, users can also use one of the following to preserve their index settings:

Migration Notes

Voyager Setup Wizard

The Voyager Setup Wizard will run if site.dex flags the setup as incomplete (not SetupComplete=true) or if the contents of the /config directory are not completely copied from your previous Voyager instance. In the preferred migration scenarios that we describe above, neither of these events are likely. In their unlikely occurrence, you may need to relicense and/or redefine your Voyager Locations.

Licensing

Voyager will not run without a valid license. If your /config/license.dex file is missing or invalid, you will be prompted to enter a new license key before proceeding. After successfully licensing Voyager, the Setup Wizard may prompt you to identify new locations for Discovery. It is not necessary to add any locations here, as existing locations defined in your previous Voyager configurations will persist. Simply click Next on this screen to initiate the discovery process.

NOTE: This might not be ideal for clients with very large indexes. You can bypass the Discovery process by clicking Skip this Step. Keep in mind that Discovery locations and processes can always be configured later using Voyager's Manage UI.

Saved Searches

All of your Saved Searches from your previous version of Voyager will appear in your 2.0 instance after you have upgraded successfully.

If you want to remove old saved searches and start over with the out-of-the-box Saved Searches in 2.0, clear all of the Saved Searches in your pre-2.0 instance prior to starting the migration.

Voyager Search Help System

Migrating to Voyager Search 2.0