Upgrading Windows Server 2003 SP2 to R2

[fawkers]

Hi Fokes

 

Im trying to give some of my servers a needed upgrade to R2. According to MS you just stick disk two in the drive and go, which is all very well but everytime I do this the server claimes that there is a setup running which requieres a re-start, so i restart the machine and try again..... same problem.

 

Has anyone ever had this before? I cant find anything useful through google.

 

Thanks

 

.Adam

[ChrisH]

Something is unsuccessfully trying to install in the back ground try killing of any msiexec processes in the background before starting. Sometimes you may have to wait a minute then kill it again.

[tarquel]

And if that doesnt work for you [tho i think it should], you could try removing SP2, installing R2, then putting SP2 back on again

 

Nath.

[fawkers]

I've just tried both of the above to no joy. Below is a copy of my process table if any one can see what might be stopping the install I would be very happy. I've tried killing most of the processes but so far have no results

[altecsole]

Have you run adprep to update your schema? If not; from a cmd prompt change to the Cmpnents\R2\Adprep folder of Disc 2, and type: adprep.exe /forestprep.

[ChrisP]

err. our servers are on SP2, what am i missing out on with this R2 you speak off?

 

I thought sp2 was the latest ~ is R2 somthing different then? would SP2 rolled in any new features from R2?

 

A little light please

[altecsole]

R2 needs some changes making to the schema. Have a look here:

http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/5022eea0-54bc-422f-b98b-ddb836c8ee851033.mspx?mfr=true

[SimpleSi]

AFAIK R2 is to w2k3 as Win Me was to to Win98 - e.g pretty much the same but with a few features of the OS to come (XP).

 

Based on millennia of experience with MS, I would NEVER "upgrade" one of their OS's on a working machine to another one

 

Unless your network will crumble without the few added features of R2 - just leave it alone - wait for Longhorn and install it on a new machine

 

regards

 

Simon

[altecsole]

R2 has got some great additional features: better quota management, file screening, much improved DFS, ability to deploy printers based on group policy. We upgraded our domain to R2 without any problems.

[ChrisP]

I like the idea of file screening, can it be installed post sp2 ?

 

AND I guess it two new media's then

 

R2 32bit and R2 64bit

[altecsole]

I like the idea of file screening, can it be installed post sp2 ?

 

Yes, we're running R2 servers with SP2 installed. We installed R2 and then ran Windows Update which installed SP2. I guess you can do it the other way around.

[tarquel]

AFAIK R2 is to w2k3 as Win Me was to to Win98

 

wow!!! Comparing R2 to the equiv of Win ME... now that really is the height of blasphemy.

 

R2 is effectively a addon to Server 2003, meaning you have little choice but to install it after 2003 is already installed. It adds several useful features and didnt [as far as i recall] cause any problems on the system when I upgraded it.

 

I installed R2 sometime after Srv 2003 SP1 and before SP2, so cannot say about how happy [or not] it is when installing on top of SP2.

 

Regards

Nath.

[altecsole]

R2 is effectively a addon to Server 2003, meaning you have little choice but to install it after 2003 is already installed.

 

You don't have to go ahead with the install from the second disk. You can just cancel the prompt and leave yourself with a standard 2003 server. You can always run the R2 bit from the second disk later.

 

I'd put 2003 SP2 on a virtual machine (vmware would be my choice) and then try adding R2. If it works (which it should) you know it's a problem with your existing machine.

[fawkers]

I will try out altecsole vmware solution and report back, I need R2 to use the file replication services, we are move all the student user areas to a new server but I cant copy them, some have directory paths over 256 chars long. Tried a program called xxcopy which is ment to overcome this problem but it failes half way through and wont restart say at 'h' onwards, it re-copys everything stoping at the same point.

 

I've started a new tread about this point at: http://www.edugeek.net/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=105970#105970

[altecsole]

Try using NTBackup to backup the files and then restore them to the new location. Make sure you tick the box to retain permissions.

[ChrisP]

As I have LOADS of servers including the VM's, im wondering...

 

Is R2 somthing we have to pay for or is it FREE as in SP2?

Can we just buy the CD media and upgrade or is that too easy?

 

Thanks in advance for the help guys

[DMcCoy]

It is a seperate product. It's not free and there is no upgrade route. If you have non R2 licenses you have to buy it again!

 

Edit: Unless you had active software assurance on your existing licenses (which I have due too schools agreement)

[ChrisP]

fek, i'll wait for longhorn then...... UNLESS

 

i take it I can just get a couple of licencess to use on the servers where i want the additional features....

 

WHAT ABOUT CALS?

 

were licenced per device so I can have as many servers as I wish, does R2 require seperate CALS's than 2003 Standard?

 

TA !!

[DMcCoy]

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/howtobuy/licensing/caloverview.mspx

 

"The same Windows Server 2003 Client Access License is used to access both Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2 servers."

[Geoff]

Win2k3 and Win2k3 R2 will happily co-exist. You may need to do a schema update in AD though.

[markcuk]

i had he same problem just found this fix

 

i just deleted the following entry and it now installs

 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager

rename the PendingFileRenameOperations registry entry.

 

mark

[mrforgetful]

There's a registry key you can just delete to get rid of the Restart needed warning, can't remember where exactly though!

 

I had to do that on my Application Server as Sophos kept wanting restarts.

[Michael]

Windows Server 2003 R2 is fantastic. If you purchase Server 2003 now, you will automatically get R2.

 

Initially when R2 was released it came on a seperate disc, but now it all comes on one disc - unless you buy the Enterprise Edition.

 

My favourite feature is the Print Management tool. Setup a network (or local printer) as you would normally. Share the printer then proceed to the Print Management tool. You can then push out printers to XP Pro (doesn't work with 2000 Pro) by Group Policy on a per user or per computer level, per OU.

 

If you're looking for an easy to use guide, take a look here. Yesterday I setup three new photocopiers (which also act as network printers) and distributed to all users in 10 minutes. All the user has to do is logoff and logon again and the printers are available to use. This also works perfectly with Print Manager Plus 6 to monitor printer consumption.

 

In my opinion if you're using Windows 2000 server SP4 or Windows Server 2003 SP1/SP2, I would wait for Windows Server 2008 which will include all R2 features and probably a lot more.

[zag]

Yeh loving R2, some great features. I'm sure its available to use under your normal schools agreement for 2003 server. Its just an update.

[SYNACK]

If it is the two disk edition the second disk may not run after you have installed SP2. You can fix this however by downloading the full Windows 2k3 SP2 update http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=95AC1610-C232-4644-B828-C55EEC605D55&displaylang=en , extracting it and then performing a slipstream http://www.petri.co.il/windows_2003_sp1_slipstreaming.htm update on the files from the second disk. This will update the installer and allow it to happily run on a SP2 box.