rayves
asked on
Moving profiles to a new server
I have a Windows 2000 server and all users have roaming profiles.
We are doing a new installation with Windows SBS 2003 on a new harddrive, using the same hardware.
This means I will not be able to have both systems running simultaniously.
The old drive containg the profiles will be accessible on the new system, but I assume just copying the profiles folder won't do me any good as all users will be created from scratch on the new server.
My current plan is to make a copy of the profiles locally on every users computer and then copy it to the new server once it is up, but I was hoping for a quicker solution.
Any suggestions?
We are doing a new installation with Windows SBS 2003 on a new harddrive, using the same hardware.
This means I will not be able to have both systems running simultaniously.
The old drive containg the profiles will be accessible on the new system, but I assume just copying the profiles folder won't do me any good as all users will be created from scratch on the new server.
My current plan is to make a copy of the profiles locally on every users computer and then copy it to the new server once it is up, but I was hoping for a quicker solution.
Any suggestions?
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I wouldn't say that it is not a "good solution" because you aren't upgrading from an eariler version of SBS. Your upgrade situation is unique... and therfore SBSMigration.com's process would be a good fit.
I've never had your exact scenario. I have upgraded drives before, but not at the same time as an OS upgrade. So, my suggestion #1 above, is exactly that. I've used Acronis True Image Server and like the product a lot. It worked terrifically. But it's expensive... so that could be an issue.
I've performed a few swing migrations... and those always work. I don't know what you mean about days of fine tuning the config later... if you follow their process precisely, you won't have problems. And if you do, they provide support. If it were me, that's the way I'd go.
Jeff
TechSoEasy
I've never had your exact scenario. I have upgraded drives before, but not at the same time as an OS upgrade. So, my suggestion #1 above, is exactly that. I've used Acronis True Image Server and like the product a lot. It worked terrifically. But it's expensive... so that could be an issue.
I've performed a few swing migrations... and those always work. I don't know what you mean about days of fine tuning the config later... if you follow their process precisely, you won't have problems. And if you do, they provide support. If it were me, that's the way I'd go.
Jeff
TechSoEasy
ASKER
Ok thanks :)
I'll be starting this job Thursday night and will give the swing migration a try. I'll post back the results when the job is done, and award the points.
Rayner
I'll be starting this job Thursday night and will give the swing migration a try. I'll post back the results when the job is done, and award the points.
Rayner
The concept of the swing migration is that you don't have to do this at night. You will experience NO down time... you can work at your own pace without any time constraints making you work all night.
Jeff
TechSoEasy
Jeff
TechSoEasy
ASKER
I've been thinking some more about this and since swing migration will include the upgrade I initially didn't want (but will do), I will go for the in-place upgrade.
I'll mirror/clone the hard drive before upgrading due to limited space and the possibility to go back to square one if anything fails.
Please let me know if this is a bad idea for some reason :)
Rayner
I'll mirror/clone the hard drive before upgrading due to limited space and the possibility to go back to square one if anything fails.
Please let me know if this is a bad idea for some reason :)
Rayner
You will need, I believe, 4GB of free space on your drive before performing the upgrade. Also, my link above was wrong, and I have since corrected it. Please do be sure to read http://sbsurl.com/migrate before doing this.
Jeff
TechSoEasy
Jeff
TechSoEasy
ASKER
I've cloned the drive and put the old one aside for backup. I've also been able to free about 6GB on the system drive, so I should be ready to go.
Problem is, like you saw in my other post, I'm stuck with an OEM version of SBS. Trying to figure out a workaround, but I might have to put the job on hold for another weekend.
I read the document you referred to and I see that doing a migration like that I could actually use the OEM version to get around the problem. Still, that would leave my customer with an invalid license, and me with a lot more work that I won't be able to charge. I can do the job, but I want my customer to have the correct license :)
Rayner
Problem is, like you saw in my other post, I'm stuck with an OEM version of SBS. Trying to figure out a workaround, but I might have to put the job on hold for another weekend.
I read the document you referred to and I see that doing a migration like that I could actually use the OEM version to get around the problem. Still, that would leave my customer with an invalid license, and me with a lot more work that I won't be able to charge. I can do the job, but I want my customer to have the correct license :)
Rayner
Hmm... I wonder why I didin't think of it that way... basically the reverse of what I had suggested for #1, and a much better idea!
And I agree about waiting to install with the correct media... not the best answer, but certainly better in the long run.
Jeff
TechSoEasy
And I agree about waiting to install with the correct media... not the best answer, but certainly better in the long run.
Jeff
TechSoEasy
ASKER
I called off the job and placed the server back in service. Ordered the correct version and will try again in a week or two.
Calling it off left me with a couple of hours to spare, so I couldn't resist doing a test with the MSDN media and changing the product key the "un-official" way. For anyone considering doing the same; Don't bother!!!
The server did not like getting the OEM product key.
Will award the points and close the issue as your suggestion is the best way to go. Personally I always prefer a clean installasion when it comes to servers, but in this case the clone-and-in-place upgrade is obviously the right call :)
Thanks,
Rayner
Calling it off left me with a couple of hours to spare, so I couldn't resist doing a test with the MSDN media and changing the product key the "un-official" way. For anyone considering doing the same; Don't bother!!!
The server did not like getting the OEM product key.
Will award the points and close the issue as your suggestion is the best way to go. Personally I always prefer a clean installasion when it comes to servers, but in this case the clone-and-in-place upgrade is obviously the right call :)
Thanks,
Rayner
ASKER
I've considered the swing migration which I have used when upgrading NT4 domains to AD, but when I got my SBS Specialst degree I was told that this wasn't a good solution unless I was upgrading from an earlier SBS version.
I was told that to keep all functionality users should be created using the SBS tools and that a migration from a standard version would only give lots of extra config.
Have you tried the swing migration in this, or a similar scanario?
I'd love to go this way as it would be only half the job, but I don't want to run into a problem with days of fine-tuning the config later :)
Can you confirm that this is the way to go?