Migrating all Pollers to 2012 and Upgrading to 12.1

I did that some time back - forgot the deactivate licenses part and had to make a call, but it all went quite well. I just backed up the database before starting just in case. But it went very well. Just built the new machine (I kept the same name and IP) Installed the software and when the configuration wizard ran I pointed it to the existing SQL. Everything worked fine, once I straightened out the licensing (and by "I" I mean the solarwinds staff)

Did you do a migration or a migration + upgrade?  I dont see any reason why it shouldnt work, but I am adding in a bit of complexity to any troubleshooting I guess by doing both changes at the same time.

Thanks

I did both at that time. I've never had an issue with a Solarwinds upgrade, but I would migrate first, make sure everything then upgrade one application at a time. It'll take some time, but I would make a fresh backup of the SQL prior to each upgrade, just in case.

When you installed the software on the 2012 server, did you install NPM first, then run the configuration wizard, then proceed with each of the modules? I'm just wondering what will happen to the module's database data when you reinstall the modules on a new server.

Also, unless I'm reading the release notes for 12.1 wrong, didn't it say any versions AFTER this one won't support 2008 R2?

I migrated my main poller, 3 additional pollers, additional web and NTA server from 2008 R2 to new server 2016 instances and upgraded to the latest version of npm/sam/ncm/nta/ipam/wpm.   Other than a few oversights on my part due to sleep deprecation, it went off without a hitch.

I have a detailed plan i wrote up prior to the upgrade I can share if anyone is so inclined.  Some of the details are specific to my environment though.

Thanks,

Ben

Could you share that plan?  I think it would be helpful.

Can't hurt to see examples of what other folks are doing. I'd like to see it as well, please.

Redact the private stuff and publish this on Thwack, looks like something others would appreciated.

I am in the process of doing this... but I did it in reverse. I upgrade everything to 12.1 and now I am migrating everything up to 2016.

three pollers (one main two, additional) One additional web server.

My doc was vary specific to my environment, so here is a more general flow.  I will come back and edit htis if i Missed anything.

Additional Work/Notes::

1. I kept server names and ips the same to minimize change.  There is process to use new names by editing SQL tables if you want to go that route however.
2. You may or may not have the same modules as I.  Upgrade Advisor is your friend.
3. I am assuming you have built your new  2016 servers
4. My SW environment is all virtual
5. I upgrade from 12.0 -> 12.1, sam 6.3 -> 6.4, so not a huge leap
6. I kept the new VMs low cpu/memory until i was ready to upgrade, so that is an extra step in my plan
7. My backout plan was to restore the DB from the backup generated in the steps below, then power back on the old VMs
8. I staged installers on the applicable servers ahead of time
9. If you use PS Remoting in any of your App Monitors, setup trusted hosts on each poller
10. In my exhaustion(i upgraded over night), i missed changing the ip of one of the pollers.  That was not great, but an easy fix
11. I did not RTFM and realized after the fact that you do not need to install VIM module if you are installing SAM

Upgrade/Migration Steps:

1. Backup SW database
2. Copy <Orion Install Dir>\Reports to new main poller
3. Copy any scripts/tools from old server you need
4. Deactivate all licenses
   1. https://<Orion Web>/ui/licensing/license-manager
5. Shutdown all Pollers/Webs/etc
6. Disable NICS on old VM and rename
7. Start copying flow database to new NTA server
   1. This step is only required if you own NTA and are migrating the db server
   2. I upgraded NTA server in parallel with NPM.  It needs to be up prior to installing NTA module
8. Migration/Upgrade Main Poller
   1. Rename/Re-ip Main poller
   2. Bump up CPU/Mem
   3. Install NPM and any hotfixes
   4. Activate NPM License
   5. Install modules and any hotfixes in the order specified by Upgrade Advisor
   6. Activate Licenses
9. Migrate/Upgrade Additional Pollers/Web
   1. Rename/Re-ip poller
   2. Bump up CPU/Mem
   3. Run Orion Scalability Engine Installer
      1. https://<Orion Web>/installer/Solarwinds-Orion-Installer.exe
   4. Install any hotfixes that are applicable
      1. https://thwack.solarwinds.com/thread/112146#365633
   5. Activate Licenses
10. Apply any customizations you use, validate functionality and drink a beer