How to move Hub from one location to another.

The following article provides step-by-step directions on how to move the on-premise GateKeeper Hub database. The GateKeeper Hub is a server application with an SQL database connection for admins to manage users, computers, and auditing information. If you want to move the Hub to another server on your network, please follow the steps below. 

Before you begin, please have the following completed:

• Matching SQL admin credentials in the target SQL Server - For the target SQL DB, the admin must have the same username and password as the previous server. If this information does not match, you CANNOT decrypt the GateKeeper DB on the new server.
• Have your GateKeeper Hub Decryption Key
• Installed Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio on both the new and old server - Click here to download the software from Microsoft.

Here is a summary of the process:

Step 1: Moving the SQL Server

• Backing Up databases on the source server
• Restoring databases to the destination server
• SQL Server Login Validation

Step 2: Moving the GateKeeper Hub

• Install the GateKeeper Hub
• Connect the SQL Database to the GateKeeper Hub instance

Step 3: Pointing the GateKeeper Client computers to the new server location 

Step 1: Moving the SQL Server

Backing Up Databases on the Source Server

1. Begin by logging into the Source server (the server you are moving databases from or off of). Open Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio by selecting Start > Microsoft SQL Server >  Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio.

2. Log into the SQL server using Windows Authentication or SQL Authentication.

3. Expand the server, expand Databases, and select the GateKeeper database you want to move.

4. Right-click on the GateKeeper database and select Tasks, then click Back Up...

5. On the Back Up Database screen, choose the Backup Type as Full, make sure the correct database is selected, and then set the destination for the SQL backup. 

6. Under Backup Type, check the box for “Copy-only backup.” 

7. You will see a location under Destination for the path of the new backup. Typically you will Remove this entry and then Add a new one to select a folder that SQL has read/write access to. Adding a new Backup Destination shows a path similar to the following:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL14.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\Backup\

This C:\ path is where your stored database backup is. Note this location for later reference, as this is the default path to stored backups and will have to have proper read/write access for SQL services.

8. Ensure that the filename has the type .bak and click OK.

9. The database will begin backing up. You will see a progress bar in the lower left corner, and when the backup is complete, a window will appear stating ‘The backup of database ‘GateKeeper’ completed successfully.‘

Navigate to the destination path, noted earlier, (in this case C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL14.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\Backup\) you will see your newly created file (in this case GateKeeper.bak). This file is the full export of your database and is ready to be imported to the new server.  

Restoring Databases to the Destination Server

The database backup file needs to be transferred to the destination server. After copying the database backup file, please store it on your destination server. For our example, we have stored it on the C drive in a folder named C:\SQLBackups.

1. Open Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio.

2. Log in to the SQL server using Windows Authentication or SQL Authentication.

3. Expand the server and right click on Databases and select Restore Database.

4. Under Source, you will want to select Device instead of Database. Once you’ve chosen Device, click the browse icon […]

5. Select Add, then navigate to the folder that contains the GateKeeper.bak file (in this case, C:\SQLBackups).

6. Select the GateKeeper.bak file for restoring the database and click OK.

7. Leave the default options to fully restore the old database to the new server.

8. Clicking OK begins the restore process as indicated by the popup window that reads ‘Database ‘GateKeeper′ restored successfully.’ 

SQL Server Login Validation

Backing up and restoring the databases will not move the SQL login for the old server with the correct permissions to the new server. You can verify this by opening SSMS (SQL Server Management Studio) on the destination server and navigating to Server > Security > Logins. But if you go to Server > Databases > GateKeeper > Security > Users you’ll see the correct login for the GateKeeper Hub associated with the database. You must delete this user and re-associate it with the GateKeeper database.

1. Right-click on the user for the GateKeeper database (typically it will be gkeeper) and Delete it.

2. Next, right-click on the Server > Security > Logins and click New Logins. This will open a window to create a new user for logging into the SQL server.

3. Click SQL Server authentication create a new user called gkeeper and choose a strong password. Make sure to remember this password as you will need it when we connect the new Hub instance to this SQL server. 

4. Choose the Default database as GateKeeper (our newly restored database).

5. Next, click User Mappings and select the GateKeeper database and choose the roles as db_owner and public.

6. Click OK to create the new user and associate it with the GateKeeper database.

You have now finished migrating the GateKeeper database to the new server. Next, we will install the GateKeeper Hub on the new server and set it up with the new GateKeeper Hub database.

Step 2: Moving the Hub

Install GateKeeper Hub

1. Copy the appsettings.json file from the source server. This file is located in the C:\program files (x86)\Untethered Labs\GateKeeper Hub directory. 

2. Create the same folder in the destination server and paste the appsettings.json file into this new folder.

3. Download the GateKeeper Hub installer from the GateKeeper Customer Portal and follow the steps for installing the Hub on the new server. See the following article for installing the Hub. 

How to install the GateKeeper Hub server application.

4. Once the installation is finished, the GateKeeper Hub Manager application will launch. We will connect the GateKeeper Hub instance to the newly restored database using the Hub Manager.

 

Connect SQL Database to the Hub Instance

1. Open the GateKeeper Hub Manager.

2. Click the Settings icon next to the SQL Server Connection.

3. Click the Edit Database Connection icon to show the Edit Connection to Database sidebar.

4. Fill in the details of the new SQL server and database. The username and password should be the ones created during Step 2 above. 

5. Save the database connection. The GateKeeper Hub application will now connect to the new SQL server and restart the web application.

At this time, the Web Application status should display as ONLINE.

You can now remove the GateKeeper Hub on the old server by uninstalling it through the Control Panel.

 

Step 3: Pointing client computers to the new server location

Once the new GateKeeper Hub server is online, you will need to point all the GateKeeper-enabled computers (clients) to the new server. 

1. Open the GateKeeper Client application (search in Windows or click on the icon in the tray) and click the Settings tab on the left side.

2. Click the Server Settings tab.

3. Type in the IP address or DNS name of the computer on which the GateKeeper Hub application has been installed. Make sure to include "https://" before the IP address. Type in the port number on which the GateKeeper Hub server is running. The default port number is 3015.

4. The GateKeeper Client application will attempt to connect to the new server and will show the status as CONNECTED once it is successful.

5. Repeat this on every GateKeeper-enabled computer on the network.

Congratulations! Now you are ready to use the new GateKeeper Hub instance for your organization.

For any additional questions or concerns regarding proximity login, computer locking, credential management, or compliance, please contact GateKeeper Enterprise support using the Support Ticket form at https://gkaccess.com/support/ or email [e-mail].

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