I needed to move a SharePoint 2007 front end from a Windows 2003 32-bit to a Windows 2008 64-bit server while leaving the databases on the existing SQL 2005 server. The contents of this article appear many different places and appear to be the Microsoft accepted method for accomplishing the change: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd622865.aspx. If you want to move everything, that’s the way to go. Since I just wanted to move the SharePoint server itself, and I wanted a way to fall back in case there were compatibility issues, I created a staged approach. It consisted of the following major steps:

1. Build up the new Windows 2008 x64 server, install MOSS 2007 SP1 on it, and create a test site.
2. Install all applications and components that are on the original server onto the new server.
3. Plan downtime and migrate one Site Collection.
4. Test the Site Collection, and then record the exact steps that worked best.
5. Migrate the other Site Collections and decommission the 2003 server.

Since there were many steps and tricks, I wanted to share the full process. These are the assumptions about the SharePoint environment for the purposes of the directions: MOSS 2007; Windows 2003 front-end that also hosts the Central Administration Site; backend SQL 2005 server; needed to do a staged migration to ensure smooth transition for production sites; Maintained same SQL 2005 server on back end, but it would have been the same process with a new server.

1. Document your existing installation. Record such items as:

• third-party web parts
• specialized DLLs – make sure there is a version compiled for 64-bit OS
• templates (stsadm -o enumtemplates)
• packages (stsadm -o enumsolutions)
• presence of static paths
• which web applications are linked to which databases

2. Prepare the Windows 2003 server:
Make sure it is at least upgraded to MOSS SP1. If possible, update it to the latest cumulative update. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263467.aspx
The Sharepoint installer account will need to be a local administrator on the SQL server, and you will need to log into the SharePoint server as that account during the installation process.
3. Prepare the Windows 2008 x64 sever:
a. Use these instructions to install MOSS 2007 on the new server: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc287748.aspx
b. Add any web parts or other specialized components recorded in Step 1.
c. Configure the permissions.
d. Configure the SSP. It is theoretically possible to migrate an SSP, but I found the procedure to be more trouble than comparing the two side-by-side and replicating the setttings.
4. Perform a test site migration:
a. Make a SQL backup of the content database.
b. Create a blank database with a new database name.
c. Restore the backup into the new database.
d. Create a web application on the new server, and specify the new database name during the creation process.
e. Check the site collection administrators to make sure you are there.
f. If required, do an IIS reset (“iisreset /noforce” at the command line).
g. If using a host header for the site (intranet.company.com), create a DNS entry pointing to the new server with a test site name (intranettest.company.com).
5. After testing of the migration is complete, perform the production migration:
a. Notify users that there will be some downtime.
b. Check that no timer jobs are running.
c. Quiesce the farm for five minutes.
d. Run the preparetomove command for your content database.
e. Make a SQL backup of the content database.
f. Restore the SQL backup over the top of the test database for the new farm.
g. In Central Administration, remove and re-add the content database to the web application.
h. IIS reset.
i. Test internal and external (if applicable) access to the site. Also do some functionality checks: alerts, search (after a full crawl), navigation (static links). Check the Windows event logs for errors.
6. Cleanup:
a. Remove the web application and IIS site from the original farm.
b. Remove the SharePoint installer account from the local administrators on the SQL server.
c. Remove the DNS entry for the testing site.
7. Back up your new environment as soon as it is in a satisfactory state.

One final note: Since I was using a fully qualified domain name for the site name, and I wanted to check functionality of the site from the local server, I ran into the Loopback Check security feature, in which Windows 2008 blocks requests coming from the local machine to prevent reflection attacks. This resulted in a 401 error. As explained here, do not simply set disableloopbackcheck = 1 to get around this. Instead, browse the site from another machine, or use Method 1 from this Microsoft article, in which you specify the host names that should be allowed locally.

Posted by Amber Pham on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 11:04 am.