SBS2000 to 2003 Upgrades – a checklist for success

Ok – my preference for installations of SBS2003 is to do a totally fresh installation. However there are times when this is not possible due to budget contraints or time limitations. I’ve had two such customer scenarios this week that needed to have the inplace done, one for budget reasons, and the other for time constraints. So we’ve used the inplace upgrade method. Before using the in place upgrade method I’d considered a few things.

1. Did I install SBS2000 on this system? I look at this as I want to ensure that it’s a system that I’ve controlled for it’s life. If I didn’t install it then there may be a heap of underlying issues just waiting to bite me.
2. Is the hardware capable to run SBS2003 for the next 2-3 years. In the case of the systems I’ve done this week, both were for 5 user sites, one was a 2.4Ghz system with 1GB RAM which was fine, the other was an 800Mhz system with 1GB RAM which was at the very low end of what I wanted. I advised the 800Mhz customer of this and he was fine – wants to replace the server next financial year anyway.

So here’s the process I followed in these upgrades this week. Both of them had RAID 1 using software mirroring, so we disconnected the mirrored drive before we commenced as our utlimate backup plan, and then later once it was done and we knew the upgrade was 100% we reconnected it and reconfigured the mirror.

Preflight Check these can all be done prior to the day of the upgrade to minimise the downtime
Check workstations if any Win95 or Win ME then upgrade can not proceedCheck SBS2000 Service Pack levels must have SBS 2000 SP1 installedMinimum 2GB Free on C: DriveEnsure ISA SP1 is installed (v3.0.1200.50 if no SP, v3.0.1200.166 SP1)Install hotfix for ISA for W2003 Server (ISAHF255.exe KB331062)Download and unpack the latest supportpaq from HP for the serverClean up drives, delete files not needed and empty recycle binDefrag drives (if time permits do this remotely)Verify backups are good
Rollout ProcessEnsure the Internet NIC is disconnectedDisconnect the mirrored hard drive (if it s a dual drive mirrored system)Remove any UPS cables to the serverRemove Exchange IMRemove Admin toolsRemove AV softwareRemove Scanmail for ExchangeRemove Trend Client from the serverRemove OfficeScan Corporate Edition from the serverRebootNote any specific config options that need to be reinstated later
a. Exchange forward all mail to specific hostCHKDSK /f on all hard drivesSave and clear event logsReboot serverCheck event logs note / decide on action about ANY errorsInsert SBS2003 CD1 and commence setupDuring the W2003 installation portion of setup, if it asks you for drivers for the HP/Compaq server, insert the SmartStart CD as it has the drivers the system needs.Phase 2 of the SBS SetupReboot and complete the To Do listDo not do step 6 of the to do list Import Files as we don t use this optionDetune ISA securityRemove the authenticate all users from the outbound web listenerWindows Update & rebootReview loginscripts to ensure that they are correct and do not have any additional characters in themTest one workstation on LAN verify access to email, files etcInstall ISA FP1, ISA FP1 URLSCAN (isafp1ur.exe), ISA SP2Install Trend AV & configureInstall GZIP Hotfix, E2003SP1 and Post SP1 SBS HotfixModify hardware firewall to add additional ports and protocols443,444,4125Shutdown and configure the mirror the original hard drive
Workstation rollouts Assign applications to all workstations from the SBS console wizardsRemove old AV & rollout the new AVAdd users to be able to logon remotely via RWW on the desktop computers
Verify all AV clients are seen in the AV console