Small Business Server 2003 R2 Standard, Migration to Small Business Server 2011 Essentials

I have never done a live migration, SHOCK HORROR!

I have always taken the easier road (some would argue) of doing a clean install, and rejoining the client machines afterwards. It was a conversation with Jeff Middleton of SBSMigration.com that really got me thinking of migration as a viable option for installing a new server into a network. Let me just clarify that for a moment, of course migration has always been viable, but for me, on the small(ish) networks i have supported, a migration always posed far more headaches than a clean install did. At least, that is my point of view.

So, i decided i would do a migration to SBS Essentials, as i plan to to install a few of these boxes as they become available and also document the procedure and the things i do wrong ;o)

So, step one, my current server, SBS 2003 Standard R2, Single NIC configuration, nothing special about it, and more or less out of the box install – so ill need to bring it up to current patch levels and make any configuration changes recommended from the 7/8 years SBS 2003 has been around (is it really that long?) experience tells us are wise!

So i am downloading the SBS BPA from here choosing the 2003 version of course. You may need to adjust your IE security settings, or better yet download to a client PC and copy across.

So, go ahead and install this, then load it up.

I always attempt to download any updates available, as new rules are released and quite often can pick up something previously missed.

Once this has completed, click on Select options for a new scan, a bit of a left over i think from other BPA’s as there is only one option, which is the name of the report. I am calling mine, SBS Essentials Migration Scan.

You should now sit back for a few minutes whilst your server is scanned, and you see your report.

So as you can see on my report i have 21 items that are recommended (warnings) to be resolved, and luckily no critical ones.

I am going to go through each one in turn and it’s resolution and then move onto the next stage of my migration.

But for now it is late, and i seem to have been struck by the Flu that has taken out most of the HSBS MVP’s that made the trip to Summit last week, so i am off to bed.