Moving RPM 6.2 to RPM 7 on a New Computer

This page explains how to move RPM Remote Print Manager® (“RPM”) 6.2 from one computer to RPM 7 on a different computer, keeping your queues, actions, devices and settings. If you are upgrading RPM 6.2 to RPM 7 on the same computer, you don’t need this page: the RPM 7 installer converts your settings automatically.

Why this takes more than a file copy

RPM 7 stores its settings in a Firebird 5 database. RPM 6.2 used Firebird 2.5, and Firebird 5 cannot open a Firebird 2.5 database file, so copying RPM.FDB to the new computer is not enough. Instead, you export your settings on the old computer and import them into RPM 7 on the new one.

What moves and what doesn’t

Item	Where it lives	Moves?
Queues, transforms, actions	Settings database	Yes
Devices, hosts, users, schedules	Settings database	Yes
Saved passwords (printer, FTP, email)	Settings database	Yes. RPM 7 re-encrypts them with a key unique to the new computer.
Job history and message log	Settings database	Yes
Email alert settings	`config.xml` in the RPM program folder	No. Re-enter them on the new computer.
Diagnostic logging options	`log.xml` in the RPM program folder	No. RPM 7 starts with its own defaults.
Spooled job files	`Spool` folder	Copy by hand if you need held or retained jobs
Overlay and watermark files	`Overlay` folder	Copy by hand
Windows printers and drivers	Windows	No. Create them on the new computer.
Windows user accounts	Windows or your domain	No. Local accounts used for printer credentials must be recreated.
License	Brooks License Manager	No. Activate RPM 7 on the new computer.

The settings folder is C:\ProgramData\Brooks Internet Software\RPM unless you chose another location when you installed RPM. It holds the Spool and Overlay folders.

Before you start

Have your RPM 7 license information ready. If your RPM 6.2 license needs to move to the new computer, contact us about the transfer.
Sign in to both computers with an administrator account.
On the new computer, create every Windows printer that an RPM action prints to, using the same printer names as the old computer. Actions find printers by name.
Let the queues on the old computer finish. Jobs still waiting to print when you move need their spool files copied, and the simplest move has no pending jobs.
Plan how print clients will reach the new computer. Hosts that send jobs to the old computer’s name or IP address must be pointed at the new one, or the new computer must take over the old name or address.
Schedule a window when no jobs are being sent. RPM does not receive jobs while its service is stopped.

Step 1: Export your settings on the old computer

Download the RPM 6.2 Export tool and unzip it:
RPM 6.2 Export tool
Double-click rpm62export.exe and allow it to make changes when Windows asks. It works with both 32-bit and 64-bit RPM 6.2, and nothing is installed.
Choose what happens to RPM on the old computer afterwards. The recommended choice leaves RPM stopped and disabled, so the old computer stops receiving jobs that would be missing from the export.
Click Export. The tool stops RPM, saves your settings, and puts the file on the desktop, named like RPM-6.2-export-20260929-1405.zip.
Copy the export file to the new computer, along with the Overlay folder from the settings folder. Copy the Spool folder too if you have held or retained jobs to keep.

Step 2: Import your settings on the new computer

Install RPM 7 and activate your license.
Copy the Overlay and Spool folders into the RPM 7 settings folder.
Open a Command Prompt as administrator, stop RPM, and change to the RPM program folder:
```
net stop rpm
cd "C:\Program Files\Brooks Internet Software\RPM"
```
Check the export file with a dry run. It reads the file and reports what it contains without changing anything. Replace the path with wherever you copied the file:
```
fbimport-50.exe -i "%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\RPM-6.2-export-20260929-1405.zip" -n
```
Run the import. It replaces everything in the new RPM 7 database with the contents of the export:
```
fbimport-50.exe -i "%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\RPM-6.2-export-20260929-1405.zip"
```
Start RPM. On startup it re-encrypts the imported passwords with this computer’s key; you don’t need to do anything else.
```
net start rpm
```
Re-enter your email alert settings in the RPM interface. They were stored in config.xml on the old computer and are not part of the export.

Never delete rpm.key from the settings folder. It is the key for every saved password on this computer, and without it they can’t be decrypted.

After the move

Open General settings and confirm the Spool folder and Overlay folder exist on this computer.
Open Devices and confirm every printer is found. A device that names a missing Windows printer fails when a job reaches it.
Check actions that use saved credentials. The Windows accounts they name must exist on the new computer or in your domain.
Confirm the Windows Firewall allows the ports your clients use. The installer adds the rule for LPD (port 515); add rules for any other ports your queues listen on.
Send a test job to each queue you depend on, from a real client.
Trigger a test alert to confirm email notifications work.
When everything checks out, uninstall RPM 6.2 from the old computer.

If something goes wrong

The export tool says RPM 6.2 was not found. Run it on the computer where RPM 6.2 is installed. If that computer already runs RPM 7, this tool doesn’t apply.

The export tool reports that the export failed. It restarts RPM on the old computer and saves the details next to where the export would have gone, in a file ending in -error.txt. Send that file to support.

The import reports rows “skipped - FK violation”. Those rows referred to records that no longer existed in the old database, usually log entries for deleted queues. Everything else was imported.

The import prints “This backup came from an RPM 7 system”. You are importing a backup made by RPM 7, not by the RPM 6.2 Export tool. Its passwords were encrypted with the other computer’s rpm.key. Before starting RPM, copy that computer’s rpm.key into this computer’s settings folder, replacing the one there.

RPM logs an “Encryption key” critical event. The key file does not match the saved passwords. Put back the rpm.key that belongs with this database, from a backup or from the computer the data came from, and restart RPM. If you can’t find it, re-enter the affected passwords.

You need to go back to the old computer. The export doesn’t change your RPM 6.2 settings. In Windows Services, set the RPM service’s startup type back to Automatic and start it.