CODEWITHSUNDEEP
sharepoint-2010
joHn
joHn

Reputation: 43

Migrating SharePoint from one machine to another machine

I had a SharePoint server, now i want to move this from one machine to another machine.

This is what i did for the migration.

I have just installed sharepoint server in my new machine and i have removed the Sharepoint_config and wss_content databased from the new server. and i have restored both the databases from the old server. Then i tried to run the Central Admin and i got Unable to connect to content database error.

Is replacing the DB is wrong. is there any other way to migrate SP server from one machine to another. I have tried my taking Farm backup and restore i had many problem with that. so i feel replacing DB would be better for me. any suggestions please?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 25227

Answers (2)

Egor
Egor

Reputation: 21

I guess this question is too old and my answer will not help topicstarter... However, I was looking to refresh my own knowledge on this topic and I feel it will be useful to share it here.

This solution is not good for every SharePoint deployments, of course, it's just a general idea. And I don't think it suits production environments well... but if you are brave and foolish as myself, you can do it there as well, with some additional precautions like backups and so on.

Here are prerequisites:

  1. SharePoint was initially installed in Farm mode (not in Single Server mode)
  2. Both old and new servers are in the same domain
  3. You know Farm Passphrase used for initial installation
  4. Old server is still intact and accessible from the new server

Steps to do

Skip steps 2-6 if you don't want to move databases to new location

  1. Install SharePoint on the new server and join to existing farm. See https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc261752.aspx for details on joining procedure.
  2. Ensure that the SharePoint is read-only. You can just shut down MS SQL DBEngine service if it's ok for your users.
  3. Install MSSQL Server on the new server or other location you want. Remember, that it's not a good idea to keep SharePoint and MSSQL on the same server if it's not a demo/dev environment
  4. Move all SharePoint databases to the new MSSQL Server. You can simply copy all DB files and attach it to the new SQL, or go full backup and restore way.

  5. Important: Create an SQL client alias on the new server with cliconfg tool. See blogs.msdn.com/b/priyo/archive/2013/09/13/sql-alias-for-sharepoint.aspx for details.

    • Use your old SQL instance name as alias name. E.g. if your old server had SQL installed alongside with SharePoint on SharePoint.mydomain.com, alias name should be "SharePoint.mydomain.com"
    • Set Server name for alias to the new SQL location. Something like "NewServer.mydomain.com"
    • Ensure that you specify correct port number for SQL connection or configure network for default dynamic port. It is not necessary only if you have local SQL server on the same machine.

  6. Create identical SQL client alias on the old server (this is needed to correctly remove old server from farm)

  7. Remove old server from the farm. See this technet article for details
  8. Update DNS settings or whatever you use to point users to the new server.

That's it. Hope it will help someone

Upvotes: 2

Jony
Jony

Reputation: 271

Move SharePoint between servers is a huge effort. Data in databases are very depends on the SharePoint install and its environments. So, I suggest just re-install the SharePoint on the new server, and then restore site collection backups to the new install.

  1. Install SharePoint Server on the new server machine
  2. Backup site collections from the old server, follow this guide: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263441(v=office.12).aspx
  3. Create Web Applications on the new server
  4. Restore site collections from the prev. backups, follow this guide: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262087(v=office.12).aspx

Be aware, if you have farm level customize solutions (developed by Visual Studio) or css files deployed in the LAYOUT folder, don't forget to re-deploy them on the new server.

Upvotes: 3

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