Side by side migration from LANDESK Management Suite 9.5 SP2 to 9.6

• • DESCRIPTION
  • PROCESS OVERVIEW
  • WARNINGS
  • I. Backup your 9.5 Core Server
  • II. Backup your 9.5 database
  • III. Backup Critical Core Server Files
  • IV. Backup Other Needed Files and Information
  • V. Prepare your new Microsoft Windows 2012 Server
  • VI. Install your Microsoft SQL Server 2012
  • VII. Create, configure your 9.6 database and restore your 9.5 one
  • VIII. Install LANDesk Management Suite 9.6
  • IX. Import your certificates
  • X. Migrate your clients by deploying a new 9.6 agent
  • Additional Considerations
  • Creating a Core DNS Redirect

DESCRIPTION

A side by side migration consists in having both your LANDesk Management Suite 9.5 Core Server and your future 9.6 Core Server running at the same time.

You can either use a new clean database or use your 9.5 database and have it upgraded to 9.6.

I will cover here the second choice: migration from a 9.5 database.

    ATTENTION:Please note that this article covers a basic side by side migration, which means that if you have other LANDESK products like a CSA, then you will first have to think or ask about how to migrate it as well.

Environment tested:

• LANDesk Management Suite 9.5 SP2 to LANDesk Management Suite 9.6        [30.07.2014]

PROCESS OVERVIEW

1. Backup your 9.5 Core Server (This is not covered in this article, you may want to have an image of your Core server copied on a media/server)
2. Backup your 9.5 database
3. Backup Critical Core Server Files
4. Backup Other Needed Files and Information
5. Prepare your new Microsoft Windows 2012 Server for your future 9.6 Core server (Installation and configuration of the server are not covered in this article as it depends on the infrastructure you manage)
6. Install your Microsoft SQL Server 2012
7. Create and configure your database
8. Restore your 9.5 database
9. Install LANDesk Management Suite 9.6
10. Import your certificates
11. Migrate your clients by deploying a new 9.6 agent
12. Additional Considerations
    1. Core Server DNS Redirect
       

WARNINGS

This article is not supposed to get you through the issues you may fix, but to give you a good starter guide if you want to do a side by side migration.

If you actually encounter any error, please contact us through the support portal or our community web site.If you have any customized settings, queries or files, please be aware that you should take screenshots of these configurations, and save the files that may not be saved by our CoreDataMigration tool.

I. Backup your 9.5 Core Server

You should have a snapshot / image of your Core Server in order to be able to roll back.

II. Backup your 9.5 database

    VIDEO:Backup your LANDesk Management Suite 9.5

From your 9.5 Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio, go to Databases, Tasks, Back Upand check where this backup goes to copy it to your future 9.6 Core Server.

In this case, it goes to:

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10_50.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\Backup\

    Remember to copy this ".bak" file as it is your future 9.6 database.

III. Backup Critical Core Server Files

    VIDEO:Core Data Migration LDMS 9.5

LANDESK has created a tool to backup critical files to a share. This tool is called CoreDataMigration.exe.

Newer versions of CoreDataMigration.exe may backup files that were not backed-up in previous versions.

One of the Management Suite 9.6 installation files is an updated CoreDataMigration.exe and it may be better to use the Management Suite 9.6 version instead of the version that is currently on the Core Server.

The new Management Suite 9.6 version of CoreDataMigration.exe can be found in the Management Suite 9.6 installation media under the:

    \LANDESK\PF\LD\MS\_non

If Management Suite 9.6 was downloaded, extract LANDESKSoftware.exe to access this file, situated in the Resourcesfolder:

Once you have copied the folder Resources on your 9.5 Core server, create a folder named CoreBackup, in this example:

    C:\CoreBackup\

Then open a Command Prompt (CMD) and browse to the folder where you extracted the Resources folder, in this example:

    cdC:\Resources extracted from 9.6\

And type the following command (in this example):

    CoreDataMigration.exe GATHER C:\CoreBackup\

It may be necessary in some situations to use a local backup directory to work around NTFS and share permissions.

You will be able to find in your CoreBackup folder the critical files you will need for your migration (your scripts, certificates, ldlogon folder with your application packages, etc.), if you want to use them in your new 9.6 environment, you can copy/paste them from this folder to your future Core Server once the full installation is done.

IV. Backup Other Needed Files and Information

    Some files will not be automatically saved, you must be careful in order to be sure you will have a backup of everything:

• Distribution Package installation files, if stored on a package share created on the Core Server

• The Patch directory, if it is stored on the Core Server

• \ldlogon\ldappl3.template, if modifications have been made to it

• \ldlogon\AgentWatcher\*.ini files

V. Prepare your new Microsoft Windows 2012 Server

In order to be sure that your Windows Server installation is going to match your infrastructure needs, please check the following articles:

• LANDESK Management Suite 9.6 Architecture - Overview

• Supported Platforms and Compatibility Matrix for LANDESK Management Suite

Ensure that your server has the latest updates.

    Then do not forget that the following items are NOT SUPPORTED for the Core Server installation:

• A Primary Domain Controller (PDC), Backup Domain Controller (BDC), or an Active Directory

• A Domain Controller

• A server that has been upgraded from a previous version of windows

• Servers running other third-party applications as their primary server function such as a SharePoint server

VI. Install your Microsoft SQL Server 2012

    VIDEO:Install SQL Server 2012 for a Side by side migration of LMDS 9.5 to 9.6

The installation and configuration of Microsoft SQL Server 2012 is described in this document:

• Best Known Methods for installing Microsoft SQL Server 2012 for LDMS

You may also find these links useful:

• SQL Tuning and Performance

• Reindexing LANDesk Databases

VII. Create, configure your 9.6 database and restore your 9.5 one

    VIDEO:Database creation, configuration and restore for Side by side migration 9.5 to 9.6

    An important point here is not to install LANDesk Management Suite 9.6 before you restore your 9.5 database as the installation process has to convert your 9.5 database into a 9.6 one.

First you will need to create a new database, so right click on Databases,New Database and put these settings:

Then create your database administrator by going into Security, right click Logins,New Login:

Now you need to restore your 9.5 Database into this new database we just created, to do so, right click your new database, Tasks, Restore, Database

• In the General tab, check Device and indicate the path of your 9.5 database backup file (*.bak) we made in the previous steps, after that double-check that the Destination Database is the one you created earlier

• In the Files tab, check the Relocate all files to folder option

• In the Options tab, check the Overwrite the existing database (WITH REPLACE) option

Then validate and you are now ready to install LANDesk Management Suite 9.6Here is a good article as well about this Backup / Restore process:

• Backup and Restore Database: How to move the LANDesk database to another server

VIII. Install LANDesk Management Suite 9.6

    VIDEO: Install LANDesk Management Suite 9.6 for Side by side Migration from 9.5

First, download our 9.6 Core Server installation package from this page:

• LANDesk Management Suite / Security Suite 9.6 Download

Then extract the files on your server and the installation will begin.

    For this installation, you will only have to be careful with the following settings:

• How should LANDESK configure your database: Upgrade an existing 9.5 database

• Database information: Enter your Server name, Database name we created earlier, User we created earlier as well and its Password

Here are the articles you may find useful as well for this process:

• Best Known Methods for Installing LANDESK Management Suite 9.6

IX. Import your certificates

    VIDEO:Import LDMS 9.5 certificates to your 9.6 Server for a side by side migration

In order to use some features on your new LANDesk Management Suite 9.6 server with your 9.5 clients, you will need to have a certificate they already trust.

The files you will need have normally been saved during our CoreDataMigration done earlier.

You will find these files in the CoreBackup folder you created, in:

    C:\CoreBackup\landesk\Shared Files\keys\

You must copy the following files:

• *.key
• *.crt
• *.0

Copy them into your new keys folder on your 9.6 server, it may look like this:

    C:\Program Files\LANDesk\Shared Files\Keys

You also have to copy the *.0 file to your 9.6 ldlogon folder, which should be there:

    C:\Program Files\LANDesk\ManagementSuite\ldlogon

Once this is done, your LANDesk Management Suite Server 9.6 will be able to directly remote your clients, with the highest security features enabled.

Here is an article that might be interesting:

• Moving a Core server to another Domain/Forest - Scenario

X. Migrate your clients by deploying a new 9.6 agent

After having done all of this, you should have your infrastructure looking like this:

What we want now is to have our clients directly reporting to our 9.6 Server. In order to do that properly, you will have to create new agents (similar to your previous settings if you want) and deploy them gradually with pilot groups / computers.

    Keep in mind that once you have deployed an agent to your client, it may not be manageable anymore by your 9.5 server.

Once all of your infrastructure has been "moved" to your LANDesk Management Suite 9.6 Server, you can shut down your 9.5, which will look like this:

    You must be aware as well that a side by side migration can be pretty long and complex as you will have to manage both your 9.5 and 9.6 server until you are sure of your new settings.

Additional Considerations

Creating a Core DNS Redirect

Some administrators after following this document may encounter some issues where existing agents/agent functions are attempting to communicate with the old core rather than the new, despite the old core having already been removed from production. To avoid such issues, it is recommended as a best practice that administrators after performing a side-by-side migration setup a DNS redirect that will take all traffic intended for the previous core name/fqdn and route it to the new core. This can help to avoid complications and ensure that agent functions remain functional through the migration.