Moving from a self-hosted ViciBox to managed VICIdial

ViciBox is an openSUSE-based VICIdial appliance image. You boot it, answer a few setup questions, and you have a running dialer. The tradeoff is that you own everything from that point on: OS patches, MySQL tuning, Asterisk upgrades, disk management. When the hardware ages out, or when you want someone else to own that work, moving to a managed VICIdial host is a logical next step.

Because ViciBox runs stock VICIdial underneath, the migration is essentially a data copy with a carrier reconfiguration. For the full strategy, read the complete VICIdial migration guide alongside this post.

What lives on your ViciBox

Your ViciBox has three categories of data to move: the MySQL database (campaigns, Lead list tables, Status (lead status) codes, DNC list, user accounts, Ingroup definitions), the Asterisk configuration files (SIP peer definitions, dialplan extensions), and the recordings archive at /var/spool/asterisk/monitor.

Database migration

The safest approach is a selective table export rather than a full mysqldump. A full dump from ViciBox will include the VICIdial install's auto-generated configuration rows (like default admin accounts and the initial server setup) that you do not want to overwrite on the managed host. Instead, dump the operational tables: vicidial_list, vicidial_lead_list, vicidial_dnc, vicidial_statuses, vicidial_inbound_groups and vicidial_users (minus the admin accounts).

For Lead records, using the Lead loader to import a CSV is more reliable than a direct table restore because it validates rows and handles duplicates gracefully. Export your vicidial_list rows as CSV, then re-import on the new host via lead-loader.

Carrier reconfiguration

Your ViciBox SIP trunk lives in Asterisk config files, not the database. On your managed host you will re-enter the carrier credentials through the admin interface (or directly in Asterisk's PJSIP config files). Collect your SIP trunk registration string, your carrier's SIP host, any codec preferences, and your DID (direct inward dialing) numbers before you start. The managed host's VICIdial will need these to register with your carrier and receive inbound calls.

Migration flow

flowchart LR
    A[ViciBox MySQL] --> B[Selective table dump]
    B --> C[Import to managed VICIdial]
    A --> D[vicidial_list CSV export]
    D --> E[lead-loader import]
    E --> C
    A --> F[Recordings rsync]
    F --> G[Object storage or new host]
    H[ViciBox Asterisk configs] --> I[Note SIP credentials and DIDs]
    I --> J[Reconfigure on managed host]
    J --> C

Recordings and retention

Copy your recordings to object storage (S3-compatible) before decommissioning the ViciBox. Your Recording retention obligations do not end when the hardware changes. A managed VICIdial host will store new recordings on the VPS, but for archiving the old ones, object storage is cheaper and survives server rebuilds.

Also review the migration cutover plan to define your go/no-go criteria before the switch.

If you want the managed destination to be ready before your data is fully prepared, VICIfast managed plans provision a fully installed VICIdial server on a dedicated cloud VPS in under 40 seconds. Bring your existing carrier and import your data - you are done maintaining the OS.