Frazzle Posted October 30, 2018 Posted October 30, 2018 I look after a Primary School that has a single Server acting as a HyperV host which has a virtual file server and virtual DC that are currently on 2008 R2. I need to upgrade these to Server 2016. The File server and all its data reside in the VM. There is not enough space on the HyperV host to create a new VM and then transfer that data over and the School cannot afford to buy another server. The HyperV host has enough space to create a new DC so that should be ok but, I know it's not recommended, could I do an in-place upgrade of the 2008 R2 file server to 2016? I feel I have no other option at the moment.
Jon Posted October 30, 2018 Posted October 30, 2018 I look after a Primary School that has a single Server acting as a HyperV host which has a virtual file server and virtual DC that are currently on 2008 R2. I need to upgrade these to Server 2016. The File server and all its data reside in the VM. There is not enough space on the HyperV host to create a new VM and then transfer that data over and the School cannot afford to buy another server. The HyperV host has enough space to create a new DC so that should be ok but, I know it's not recommended, could I do an in-place upgrade of the 2008 R2 file server to 2016? I feel I have no other option at the moment. Does the File server only have one VHD connected to it or does it have 2 … one for the OS and another for the data? If it has two then just create a new VM and OS disk and connect the existing VHD that contains the data to it. 1
Chrisbf1 Posted October 30, 2018 Posted October 30, 2018 What is the hard drive situation. The fact that they are server 2008 suggests an aged server. Could you upgrade the hard drives maybe
Frazzle Posted October 30, 2018 Author Posted October 30, 2018 Does the File server only have one VHD connected to it or does it have 2 … one for the OS and another for the data? If it has two then just create a new VM and OS disk and connect the existing VHD that contains the data to it. It does have 2 drives!! I never set it up so I never really looked. So if I detach the 2nd hard drive from the 2008 R2 VM and I create a new VM for Server 2016 and attach it to that everything should work as before? It sounds logical to me. Thank you!
Jamman960 Posted October 30, 2018 Posted October 30, 2018 You could create a new file server vm then attach the vhd of the old one as a second drive rather than transferring the data - on my fileserver's I've setup the user data as a separate vhd, I'm planning to detach an re-attach then re-configure the shares when i upgrade. If you're happy with the existing 2008r2 setup I'd go with an in-place upgrade, its never been considered the best way to upgrade but it seems as though the 2012/2016 install processe are far more reliable than the previous 2003/2008 and before ones. 1
TwistedHelixis Posted October 30, 2018 Posted October 30, 2018 The server sounds like it must be old. Is it under any warranty? what will the school do if it dies? If it was me I would be insisting on a new server and using the old one as extra backup space. BTW I get all my primary schools to upgrade every 5 years, which is reasonable considering its the backbone of the network.
Frazzle Posted October 30, 2018 Author Posted October 30, 2018 The server sounds like it must be old. Is it under any warranty? what will the school do if it dies? If it was me I would be insisting on a new server and using the old one as extra backup space. BTW I get all my primary schools to upgrade every 5 years, which is reasonable considering its the backbone of the network.The HyperV host is not old. It's the VM I'm talking about.
Frazzle Posted October 30, 2018 Author Posted October 30, 2018 What is the hard drive situation. The fact that they are server 2008 suggests an aged server. Could you upgrade the hard drives maybeIt's a VM not physical.
Jon Posted October 31, 2018 Posted October 31, 2018 It does have 2 drives!! I never set it up so I never really looked. So if I detach the 2nd hard drive from the 2008 R2 VM and I create a new VM for Server 2016 and attach it to that everything should work as before? It sounds logical to me. Thank you! Good stuff … hope it all works out
mavhc Posted October 31, 2018 Posted October 31, 2018 Agreed, make sure the user data is on one vhdx, while you're waiting make sure everything's using DFS for unc paths. Install and test 2016 (or wait for 2019 now), add it as another DC, sync everything across, test DFS on new VM. Then one night swap the vhdx to the new server, reconfigure DFS. Printers/scanners might need fixing, DHCP will be slightly annoying, but the rest should be fine. Disable DHCP on 2008, enable on 2016. After a week test turn off 2008 see if everything still works. While you're there test backups work.
Jonathan_Man Posted November 8, 2018 Posted November 8, 2018 If you are looking to upgrade from Server 2008 R2 to Server 2016, you need to do it in 2 steps, first upgrade from Server 2008 R2 to Server 2012 R2 and then from 2012 R2 to 2016.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now