Server replacements are usually handled by a general IT provider, and PCLaw is often the one application on the server they have not moved before. Most of the "PCLaw stopped working after our new server" calls we receive come down to a step missed on moving day. This checklist covers all of them.
Before moving day
Record the current setup. Write down:
- The exact PCLaw version and edition (c-tree or SQL Server)
- Where the program is installed and where the data lives
- The share names and drive letters the workstations use
- The SQL Server instance name and version, if you run PCLaw Enterprise
- Where bill, cheque and report templates are stored
- Every other program that connects to PCLaw
- Your licence details
Check compatibility. A new server usually means a newer Windows Server, and sometimes a newer SQL Server. Confirm with the vendor's system requirements that your PCLaw version is supported on them. If it is not, you need to upgrade PCLaw as part of the project, and that changes the plan. See PCLaw end of support.
Check the data. Run Verify Data Integrity and fix any errors on the old server, where you still have a known working system.
Get the installer. You need the installer for the same version you run now. Do not assume it can be found on moving day.
Moving day
Pick an evening or a weekend. Then:
- Get everyone out of PCLaw, and keep them out.
- Take a full backup on the old server and copy it somewhere that is neither server.
- Install PCLaw on the new server, the same version as the old one. Do not upgrade and move in the same step unless that was planned and tested.
- Move the data, by the method for your edition, below.
- Move the templates and any attached documents.
- Set up sharing and permissions on the new server to match the old.
- Reconnect and test each workstation.
- Set up backups on the new server before anyone starts work.
Moving c-tree data
Use PCLaw's own backup on the old server and its restore on the new one. This is safer than copying the data folder by hand, because the restore puts everything where the new installation expects it. Keep a plain copy of the whole data folder as well, as a second route.
Moving SQL Server data
Use a SQL Server backup and restore, or the data-moving tool the vendor provides for PCLaw Enterprise. Do not copy the database files from a running SQL Server. After restoring:
- Confirm the database is online and that the logins PCLaw uses exist on the new server.
- Re-create the backup and maintenance jobs. They do not move with the database.
- Run an integrity check on the restored database.
Reconnecting the workstations
- Point each workstation at the new server. Depending on your setup this means updating a mapped drive, a server name, or reinstalling the workstation software.
- Open PCLaw on each one and log in.
- Print a test bill and a test cheque from each. Printers and templates are the most common thing to break.
- Check that security software on the new server has the exclusions PCLaw needs.
Check the figures before anyone works
Run these on the new server and compare them with the same reports from the old one:
- Trial balance
- Client trust listing
- Trust and general bank balances
- Aged accounts receivable
- Work in progress total
They must match exactly. Then enter one test time entry, save it, and delete it, to prove the system can write as well as read.
Keep the old server
Leave the old server switched off but intact for at least a month, or until the first month-end has been closed on the new one. It is your fallback if something was missed, such as a template folder nobody knew about.
Make sure nobody can still open the old copy by mistake. Two live copies of the books, with staff posting to both, is a much worse problem than the move itself. Remove the old share once the new server is confirmed.
The mistakes we see most
- A different PCLaw version installed on the new server than on the old.
- Templates left behind.
- No backups configured on the new server for weeks.
- One workstation still pointing at the old server.
- SQL Server installed with default settings and never tuned.
- The move done during working hours.
Have it done for you
We move PCLaw to new servers regularly, working with your IT provider so that each of you does the part you know best. It is part of our PCLaw installation service and, where an upgrade or a change of database is involved, our PCLaw migration service. Contact us before your server is ordered and we will check the plan with you.