Migrating SolarWinds to new server

I just went through this..  My best advice is to make sure that using the exact same install version of the different Solarwinds modules on the new server. I had messed yup slightly with my NCM and NTA modules. With NCM, I had a slightly different version installed on new server which caused some headaches but was able get support to help me through it. Then with NTA I decided to the 4.x upgrade all with the moved but I bugged it up and "Lost" my historical data ( It was still there but I didn't want restore my database and start the process again.)

So, I would recommend holding off and any version changes until your new hardware is stable and working correctly.  Also don't forget to copy any custom Reports, NCM Archived Backups, NCM Templates, and Web Components (I.E. custom multiple gauge)

Other than that it was pretty simple and I also had great help from Solarwinds support (Even late on Friday afternoon )

Good Luck! Ken

As with kenosmith3, I just went through this process myself.  Due to a couple of software issues with the version of SAM we had, I decided to go with latest and greatest releases.  The only issue I ran into was NCM.  I found that with not being on the latest NCM prior to the upgrade, I had issues when it came time for NCM to consolidate the data into one database.  The solution for this was to uninstall NCM and install the previous version I was running, then upgrade it.  NTA went fairly smooth for me going from 3.11 to 4.0.3.  We actually set up a completely new environment with SQL and all, so I started by restoring a backup of the database to the new SQL server, installing the latest of everything except NTA, getting all devices changed to the new polling server, removing the old polling server, then upgrading NTA.  Once this was done is when I found out about the NCM issue and ended up uninstalling NCM, purging the install folder, installing the previous version, then upgrading.   I wouldn't necessarily say you have to start with the same version as your current server, I didn't, but I WOULD when it comes to NCM in order to make sure that upgrade goes smoothly. 

Also, as kenosmith3 states, don't forget the Reports, NCM Config Archive, Templates from the install directory, and any custom logos you added for the SolarWinds website from the inetpub folder.  Just make sure you have the new environment ready, and for NTA, if you are not already on v4, make sure you have a separate NTA database server available.  You do not want to put that on either the SolarWinds or SQL server unless you want a mess of performance issues.

-Matt

All good advice, thanks. mharvey, it sounds like you may have experienced something very similar to what I ran into with NCM at v7.2.2 on my current server. When I tried to upgrade in place to version 7.3.2, I encountered DB configuration errors that have still not been solved. Hence, my idea of restoring the "pre-upgrade" SQL database, then installing the latest versions of all software on the NEW app server. But, if I understand what both of you have said, I might still run into issues with NCM?

Yeah.  You'd have to start with v7.2.2 on the new server then upgrade to 7.3.  If you tried the other way, going to 7.3.1 first, then uninstall to go back to 7.2.2, you have to remove the NCM directory out of the Program Files (x86)\Solarwinds\Orion directory first otherwise you'll run into issues.

So, in summary, it looks like it should work to install the latest versions of NPM, SAM, NTA and IPAM on the new server. Then, initially install NCM v7.2.2, then upgrade it to v7.3.2. Sound feasible?

I would say yes.

I know where most of this stuff is, but would you mind listing the file path locations of all of this "essential" content? Thanks much.

Most everything would be in \Program Files(x86)\SolarWinds\Orion and \Program Files(x86)\SolarWinds\Orion\NCM.  If you did a custom logo on your website it would be in \Inetpub\SolarWinds\NetPerfMon\images.