[sims] Sims FMS Migration

[Iain.Faulkner]

Morning all,

 

We've recently taken over our network and are working our way through finding the various quirks and what not.

 

We've discovered that FMS is running many years out of date (approximately 6) and are currently trying to get it upgraded. We've found out that the FMS database is running on something called SQL Anywhere 5.5 (this version was released in 1995) and is completely separate from the SIMS database which is running on Microsoft SQL Server 2008R2.

 

In the summer, we're moving to a fully virtualised environment and would like to get the FMS database and the SQL database running together (as I believe Capita suggest it should be). Having spoken to Capita, they say what we want to do is no longer supported and the only support they can offer is to come and do the migration for us at a cost of £1150.

 

Apparently, many years ago, Capita had a tool that would allow you to extract the database from SQL Anywhere and then import it into MS SQL Server....does anybody have this tool?

 

Any advice anyone can provide would be gratefully received.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Iain

[Rawns]

Wow! 6 years?! That's shocking!!!

 

SQL Anywhere was well before my time, but I assume if you did manage to get hold of the migration tool, You'll actually have to migrate it across to a SQL2005 instance first, and then run all the previous upgrades to get it up to a version that will allow you to migrate it to a SQL2008 instance, and then upgrade it to the Spring 2013 release!!! And there is no guarantee that the upgrades will go smoothly either!

 

Would it not be easier to cut your losses and start a brand new Spring 2013 FMS database and leave the old SQL Anywhere 5.5 copy accessible for historical purposes?

[pete]

As I recall, how well that migration went depended greatly on what shape your FMS database was in. I seem to recall a fair amount of swearing. I'm going to assume (given 6 years of neglect) that yours is probably fubar.

 

I'd pay Capita to do the work and forward the bill to the company/organisation previously responsible for maintaining FMS. Then chase them in small claims court if they refuse to pay - they're negligent.

 

You'll also need to consider how many years of records you want to transfer from SQLAnywhere > to MSSQL for audit purposes.

[Iain.Faulkner]

Thanks Guys,

@pete Sadly the company responsible for the upgrades was a combination of our former Network Manager and the business manager. Apparently the Business Manager refused to let the network manager do the upgrades as the newer versions of FMS were "buggy", so she'd been told by a nearby school.

 

What makes this whole thing even more fun, is that we cannot do the upgrades through Solus either, so we've been sent a pack of 15 disks from Capita with which to do the upgrades from...and it was doing these upgrades (on a test environment thankfully) where we hit the snag with SQL Anywhere as at some point in the past Capita must have stopped supporting it and therefore the upgrades don't work with it.

@Rawns - not a bad idea, might well consider this as an option.

[Rawns]

What makes this whole thing even more fun, is that we cannot do the upgrades through Solus either, so we've been sent a pack of 15 disks from Capita with which to do the upgrades from...and it was doing these upgrades (on a test environment thankfully) where we hit the snag with SQL Anywhere as at some point in the past Capita must have stopped supporting it and therefore the upgrades don't work with it.

 

It sounds like that's the point where FMS should have been migrated across to SQL2005. I also think from that point on once on SQL2005, SOLUS2 could be used to upgrade the FMS database up to the last release that was supported before the SQL2008 migration.

[vikpaw]

Check with your LA, you may find some nice bod there who has the relevant files / migration tools available. You might have to pay but not as much.

Some LAs can be very accomodating and helpful

[Iain.Faulkner]

Ok, we're a bit further along with this.

 

Getting our hands on the migration tool is not an option, we've exhausted all avenues and the only option we have is to pay Capita to do the move to SQL Server for us. Thankfully the business manager has acknowledged this and has made the money available to us.

 

Unfortunately, with all other various project work we have going on this summer, the only time Capita are able to do this for us is the middle of July. This means that we need to get Capita in to do the upgrade and move to SQL 2008/2012, and then in the summer we need to move the FMS (and Sims.net) database over to our new Sims server on the new domain.

 

Does anyone have the Capita documentation on how to move FMs/SIMS databases from one server to another? I've checked supportnet but haven't managed to find anything as yet.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Iain

[vikpaw]

There are a couple of docs in solution search on supportnet but it's not working again at the mo'.

Quite a few threads on here too, but can't find them as 'net slow for me.

Don't worry too much about transfer, it's fairly straight forward, once you're up to date.

Just ask them for installable ISOs for both SIMS and FMS ready for the move later.