Archive for July 2015

Upgrading Windows Server 2008R2 Editions With DISM

July 9, 2015 Upgrading Windows Editions No comments

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The Task

We are currently running Windows 2008 R2 Standard Servers and we want to change the edition or upgrade to Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise to take advantage of being able to add over 32GB RAM to our VMs.

Please note the following:

  • You can only do upgrades. You CANNOT downgrade
  • The server you upgrade cannot be a domain controller (demote, upgrade, promote)
  • This works on Standard, Enterprise edition, both full & core installations.
  • You cannot switch form core to full or vice versa. It’s edition upgrade only, not  for switching type of install.

Supported Upgrade Paths

  • Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard> Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise -> Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Server Core> Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Server Core> Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter Server Core
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation> Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard

Using DISM

Deployment Image Servicing and Management. DISM is an extremely useful tool which lets you upgrade editions of an operating system without having to attach an iso and upgrade this way.

Instructions

  • Log into your server
  • Open a Command Prompt
  • Type the following to find current edition for your server

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  • Type the following to get the target editions for your server

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  • Type the following to upgrade the edition of your operating system. You will need your license key. If you don’t know it then if you have an edition of the O/S on another server you want to upgrade to, you can use a small piece of software called Jellybean Keyfinder which can detect keys. A very useful piece of software.
  • Note I have blanked out our key

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  • Please reboot and it will go through a short process of upgrading.
  • Check the Edition of Windows when you are back in the system.

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Link for DISM

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744380%28WS.10%29.aspx

Link for Jellybean Keyfinder

https://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

Using SQL Server Copy Database Wizard

July 3, 2015 SQL Server No comments

SQLMigration

The Task

Move our SCOM DB from a Windows 2003 server running SQL 2005 to a Windows 2008 R2 server running SQL 2008.

The Plan

SQL Server has a copy Database functionality. The Copy Database Wizard provides a convenient way to transfer, move or copy, one or more databases and their objects from an SQL Server 2000 or SQL Server 2005 instance to an instance of SQL Server 2005 or higher.

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You can use the Copy Database Wizard to perform the following tasks:

  • Transfer a database when the database is still available to users by using the SQL Server Management Objects (SMO) method.
  • Transfer a database by the faster detach-and-attach method with the database unavailable during the transfer.
  • Transfer databases between different instances of SQL Server 2005.
  • Upgrade databases from SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005.

Requirements

  • The destination server must be running SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 or a later version. The computer on which the Copy Database Wizard runs may be the source or destination server, or a separate computer. This computer must also be running SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 or a later version to use all the features of the wizard.
  • To use the Copy Database Wizard, you must be a member of the sysadmin fixed server role on the source and destination servers. To transfer databases by using the detach-and-attach method, you must have file system access to the file-system share that contains the source database files

Considerations

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Instructions

  • Open SQL Server Management Studio.
  • In Object Explorer, expand Databases, right-click a database, point to Tasks, and then click Copy Database.

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  • Click Next

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  • Select the Database you want and choose the authentication

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  • Select a destination server. You may need to browse for other servers. E.g I want to copy a database from my server dacvsq001 to dacvsql002

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  • If you get an error saying “Index was outside the bounds of the array” you may need to install a higher version of SQL Management Studio on the source server
  • You can select to transfer while the DB is offline or online

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  • Next select the database you want to copy or move

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  • Here you can change the name of the database and also select the location of the database and logs to copy or move

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  • Next you can select additional objects to copy

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  • Specify a file share containing the source database files

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  •  Configure the package

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  • Run immediately or schedule the job

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  • Check the details you have configured and click Finish

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