What Belongs to the Machine and What Belongs to the Configuration
How the queue and the licence behave when an installation moves to another machine
An installation depends on two things that belong to the machine it runs on: the queue the product holds while it runs, and its licence. Both are rebuilt on a new machine. This article says how each behaves. The procedures for moving an installation are in the Xi-Text and Xi-Batch migration articles.
The queue
The product holds its queue in memory, writes it to disk when it stops, and reads it back when it starts.
The file on disk is a copy of that memory. It can be read only by the same product release on the same architecture. Copied to a machine of a different architecture, or read by a different major release, it loads without an error and produces an unusable queue.
To carry a queue to another machine, use the conversion tools. Each reads the file and writes the queue as text commands, which replay on any supported platform. Run the conversion with the product stopped, so that the file matches the queue.
The licence
A licence is a small record held on the machine it was issued for, keyed to that machine's hardware signature.
A licence applies to one machine. Renaming a machine does not invalidate its licence, where a change of hardware is likely to, as is a change between a 32-bit and a 64-bit build on the same machine. A licence file copied to a second machine is invalid there, and the daemon exits at startup.
Obtaining a licence
A licence relates to a serial number and is issued by Xi Software. A new machine can run on a trial licence until its serial is registered.
- Xi Software confirms the registration as a separate step, so allow for that interval in any plan with a cut-over date in it.
- A serial carries one live machine, so issuing a licence retires the machine held on it before: a test system licensed on a production serial takes the production registration with it.
- Xi-Text and Xi-Batch have separate serials, so a site running both licenses both.
- Licence codes are short-lived, so obtain them when you intend to use them.
An emergency licence is an ordinary licence record with a short term, for a machine whose licence has been lost or damaged. It is keyed to its machine like any other, and a permanent licence installed over it replaces it. When its term ends, the daemon exits at the next start.
What stays with the old machine
The conversion tools carry the configuration and the queue. These remain on the old system:
The licence
Keyed to that machine, as above.
Job numbers
The destination allocates its own. An external record that refers to a job by number refers to the old numbering.
Output already produced
The redirection settings travel; the output itself stays where it was written.
The system-wide settings
The values governing scheduling limits and logging return to their defaults on the new machine. Set them again and confirm they took.
Report files and activity logs
Keep the old machine's copies where you need the history.
Any category with no conversion tool
The product articles name these.
Queue entries whose spooled file has been removed
These are dropped from the export with no message and with the exit status unchanged. Comparing the entry counts before and after is what surfaces them.
Related articles
Migrating Xi-Batch to Another System
Exporting the schedule, variables, interpreters and users, the restore order, and the holidays gap
Migrating Xi-Text to Another System
Exporting the print queue, printers and users with xt-backup, and restoring them on a newly licensed machine
Choosing a Distribution Format - RPM, Debian Package or Tarball
What each format gives you, which platforms have which, and what an upgrade or removal does to your queue and licence