Upgrading the OS underneath IEM infrastructure

Usage and Config Platform
1

I’m looking for advice or recommendations regarding the upgrade of the IEM Server operating system. I’ve got one customer on Windows Server 2003 and one on Windows Server 2008 R2. The plan is to upgrade to Windows Server 2012. In each case the database is on a separate server.

Is upgrading the OS going to have a detrimental impact the currently installed IEM components? Is migrating to a new server a better option?

Thanks in advance

-Boyd

2

I opened a PMR about this recently and IBM had this to say:

  1. You should make sure that the version of the OS you are upgrading to is supported for your IEM version.
    Reference: IBM Endpoint Manager Server System Requirements
  2. Bitness might be a potential issue (if changing from 32 to 64-bit, a migration may be more appropriate than an inplace OS upgrade)
    Reference: IBM Endpoint Manager Server Migration
  3. Lastly, backups are always recommended (database, filesystem, registry if applicable), and it would be good to have a backout process in case the upgrade fails

We are currently testing this

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3

Well – you won’t be able to upgrade the server 2003 box to a newer OS as you are stuck with 32-bit.

I’ve seen it mentioned a couple times that setting up a DSA (disaster server architecture) can be a good way to, “Migrate” the services to a new host.

  1. Setup DSA
  2. Failover to second host (2012r2 box)
  3. Change DSA primary server
  4. Turn off 2003 box
  5. Disable DSA
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4

Those are definitely good points. I had forgotten about the 32-bit to 64-bit issue.

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5

A migration may be the more secure approach in any case.

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