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Migrating A File Server To New Hardware

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Migrating A File Server To New Hardware
Last Updated: 04 Nov 2003
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*** PLEASE NOTE: Link(s), If Provided, May Be Wrapped ***


If you're lucky, you will occasionally get new, improved
hardware for your file servers, and find yourself faced
with the prospect of copying Files and Shares over to the
new equipment -- with permissions intact.

Although some have successfully using cloning software
migrate a server to new hardware, this is not something
that I advise. Especially not for mission critical boxes.

My recommendation is to build a new box, and then migrate
things like shares and files over.  It takes a bit more
time this way, but you will experience a whole lot less
grief, and get a chance to eliminate any junk which was
accumulated along the way.


Here's an outline of what needs to be scripted for a
successful migration:

• Duplicate the shares from Old system to New using FOR and RMTSHARE
• Update the share permissions using PERMCOPY
• Copy the files, with permissions intact, using ROBOCOPY (v1.95 or higher)


Here are some instructions for copying shares for the
old machine to the new one:

• http://www.sans.org/infosecFAQ/win/NTFS.htmhttp://www.jsiinc.com/SUBA/TIP0000/rh0075.htmhttp://www.winnetmag.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=19877http://www.winnetmag.com/windowsnt20002003faq/Article/ArticleID/15161/windowsnt20002003faq_15161.htmlhttp://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=266083http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=125996http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=141589http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=265704


MIGRATING DHCP

• http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/proddocs/deployguide/dnsbc_dhc_dkfg.asphttp://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/proddocs/deployguide/dnsbc_dhc_qkdj.asphttp://lists.isb.sdnpk.org/pipermail/comp-list/2002-August/001157.htmlhttp://www.win2000mag.net/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=25550http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=130642


MIGRATING PRINT QUEUES

• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=214795http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=255187http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=266058


MIGRATING EXCHANGE SERVERS

• http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq_appxa.htm


RESTORING BACKUP TO NEW HARDWARE

If you feel you must restore your old config to new
hardware, here are some instructions for doing so:

• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=249694


SCRIPTING SAMPLES

Here's a script to copy all the shares (and permissions)
from one server to another:

*** Requires NT4 or higher PLUS Server ResKit ***
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 SET @OLD=\\oldserver
 SET @NEW=\\newserver
 FOR /F "SKIP=4 TOKENS=1-2" %%V IN ('RMTSHARE %@OLD%') DO (
   RMTSHARE %@NEW%\%%V=%%W
   PERMCOPY %@OLD% %%V %@NEW% %%V
 )
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(NOTE: It won't handle share names containing a space.)


PERSONAL NOTES

• I really disagree with using cloning software for
  this purpose.  Unless, of course, you just enjoy
  troubleshooting weird problems, ever so often.

• The basics of this migration method will work for
  many scenarios besides File Servers or DCs.


RELATED SCRIPTS (ALSO IN THIS ARCHIVE)

• http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/Scripts/?File=AcctInfo.BAThttp://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/Scripts/?File=CopyShares.BAThttp://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/Scripts/?File=DupPerms-A.BAThttp://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/Scripts/?File=DupPerms-B.BAThttp://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/Scripts/?File=HomeDirs-A.BAThttp://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/Scripts/?File=HomeDirs-B.BAThttp://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/Scripts/?File=HomePerms.BAThttp://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/Scripts/?File=SwapShares.BAT