How to Upgrade System Center Essentials 2010

Applies To: System Center Essentials 2010

Upgrading from Essentials 2007 to Essentials 2010

The information in this section applies to upgrading from Essentials 2007 with SP1 or Essentials 2007 with SP1 with Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 2008.

Important

Upgrading from Essentials 2007 to System Center Essentials 2010 is only supported for computers that have Essentials 2007 with SP1 installed. Before starting the upgrade process, ensure that Essentials 2007 with SP1 is installed.

Upgrading from Essentials 2007 to System Center Essentials 2010 is a multi-step process. The procedures in this section are listed in the order in which they must be completed. These procedures must be completed locally for the component that is being upgraded.

Order of Operations

  1. Prepare for Upgrading to Essentials 2010

  2. Upgrade the Essentials 2007 Management Server to Essentials 2010

  3. Upgrade a Manually Installed Essentials 2007 Agent to Essentials 2010

Review the Pre-Upgrade Environment

To help ensure a smoother upgrade experience, take a moment to review the following issues with management packs that might affect the upgrade. If needed, make changes to your computing environment.

If you imported the Windows Vista management pack (Microsoft.Windows.Client.Vista.mp) that was included with Essentials 2007, you must delete it before upgrading to Essentials 2010, and import the Windows Vista Client management pack included with Essentials 2010. If you attempt to import the old Windows Vista management pack after upgrading to Essentials 2010, you receive an error message that the management pack is not valid.

Tip

In Essentials 2010, management packs are managed from the Administration workspace. For more information about management packs, see "How to Work with Management Packs in Essentials" in the System Center Essentials 2010 Operations Guide (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=180739).

If you are upgrading from Essentials 2007 to Essentials 2010 and did not import the System Center Essentials 2007 Network Device Monitoring Library management pack as described in article 960569 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=181070), and if the version of the currently imported Network Device Monitoring Library management pack (Microsoft.SystemCenter.NetworkDevice.Monitoring.Library.mp and also Microsoft.SystemCenter.Essentials.2007.mp) is 6.0.1185.0, you have to delete it before upgrading to Essentials 2010 and import the Network Device Monitoring Library management pack included with Essentials 2010.

Important

If you are installing Essentials Reporting or Virtualization features during your upgrade from Essentials 2007 to Essentials 2010, these features might fail to install even though Essentials 2010 is installed. If they fail, Setup notifies you of the installation failure and provides a link to the log. These features might appear accessible in the console even though they do not work correctly. There is currently no workaround for this issue other than to remove Essentials 2010, reinstall Essentials 2007 SP1, and restore your database and certificate data from the backups that you created prior to upgrading.

Prepare for Upgrading to Essentials 2010

Prepare for upgrading to Essentials 2010 by completing the following procedures first. These procedures include removing agents from stand-alone Essentials 2007 consoles, backing up the databases, disabling subscriptions, and removing agents that are in pending management.

To back up all Essentials 2007 databases

  1. On the Essentials 2007 management server or on the remote instance of SQL Server 2005, if you have a distributed installation, back up the Essentials 2007 database (OperationsManager).

    Note

    For more information about backing up and restoring in Essentials 2007, see "Backup and Restore of System Center Essentials" in the System Center Essentials 2007 Operations Guide (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=184912).

  2. For reporting, back up the reporting data warehouse (OperationsManagerDW).

    Note

    For more information about backing up and restoring the Operations Manager database, see "Backup and Restore of System Center Essentials" in the System Center Essentials 2007 Operations Guide (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=184912).

  3. For software and upgrade distribution, back up the Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) database SUSDB. If an existing WSUS installation was upgraded as part of Essentials 2007 Setup, this database might exist on a different instance of SQL Server 2005 than the one Essentials 2007 uses.

  4. If you are upgrading with VMM, back up the VMM database (VirtualManagerDB).

To back up certificates

  1. To back up the WSUS code-signing certificate, on the taskbar, click Start, and then click Run.

  2. In the Run dialog box, type mmc, and then click OK.

  3. In the Console1 pane, click File, and then click Add or Remove Snap-ins.

  4. In the Add or Remove Snap-ins dialog box, click Certificates, and then click Add.

  5. In the Certificates snap-in dialog box, select Computer account, and then click Next.

  6. In the Select Computer dialog box, make sure that Local computer: (the computer this console is running on) is selected, and then click Finish.

  7. In the Add or Remove Snap-ins dialog box, click Close.

  8. Expand Certificates (Local Computer), expand WSUS, and then click Certificates.

  9. Right-click WSUS Publishers Self-signed, point to All Tasks, and click Export.

  10. Complete the Certificate Export Wizard, choosing the option to export the private key, and then save the exported file to a safe location.

  11. To back up the Certificates folder, locate the System Center Essentials 2007 installation folder (usually C:\Program Files\System Center Essentials 2007) and copy the Certificates folder to a safe location.

To disable subscriptions

  1. Log on to the computer with an account that is a member of the Administrators group on the Essentials 2007 management server.

  2. In the Essentials 2007 console, click Administration.

    Note

    If you are connecting by using a remote Essentials 2007 console, the Connect To Server dialog box appears. In the Server name box, type the name of the Essentials 2007 management server.

  3. In the Administration pane, expand Administration, expand Notifications, and then click Subscriptions.

  4. In the Subscriptions pane, right-click each subscription, and then click Disable.

    Note

    You cannot select multiple subscriptions to delete when you disable subscriptions.

To remove agents that are pending management

  1. Log on to the computer with an account that is a member of the Administrators group on the Essentials 2007 management server.

  2. In the Administration pane, expand Device Management, and then click Pending Management.

  3. Right-click each agent, and then click Approve or Reject.

Install SQL Server 2008 with SP1 if you are not running SQL Server Express Edition

Important

If you are running Essentials 2007 with SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, the process for upgrading Essentials 2007 to Essentials 2010 automatically installs a separate SQL Server 2008 Express Edition.

If you are running Essentials 2007 with SQL Server 2005, upgrading to Essentials 2010 requires SQL Server 2008 with SP1. Do not manually upgrade your installation of SQL Server 2005 to SQL Server 2008 with SP1. Manually upgrading SQL Server 2005 is not supported. If you are running Essentials 2007 with SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition or SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition, you must install a separate instance of SQL Server 2008 (Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition) with SP1 on the same server as the instance of SQL Server 2005 used by Essentials 2007.

This section provides helpful information about installing SQL Server 2008 with SP1 Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition.

  • For the reporting component in Essentials 2010 to work correctly, ensure that you select, at minimum, the Database Engine Service and the Reporting Services on the Feature Selection page of the SQL Server 2008 with SP1 installation wizard.

  • If the SQL Server 2008 with SP1 installation process detects certificates, the Reporting component is installed by using Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS); however, if there are problems with a certificate, Essentials 2010 installation fails. For troubleshooting information, look for “SecureConnectionLevel” in the section "Reporting Server URL" in Troubleshooting Your Initial Essentials Setup and Configuration.

  • During the SQL Server 2008 with SP1 installation, on the Database Engine Configuration page, in the SQL Server Administrator section, ensure that you grant administrative credentials to the user who will run Essentials 2010 Setup.

  • If the service account for SQL Server 2005 is different from the service account for SQL Server 2008 with SP1, ensure that the service account for SQL Server 2008 with SP1 has the appropriate access permissions to the SQL Server 2005 backup location.

If you want to migrate your WSUS database from Windows Internal Database to a SQL Server database

If you want the WSUS database to run on a SQL Server database, before you start the upgrade process, migrate the WSUS database from Windows Internal Database to the Essentials 2007 instance of SQL Server 2005 by using the instructions in Migrating from Windows Internal Database to SQL Server 2005 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=185255).

Note

If the WSUS database is on an instance of SQL Server 2008, you cannot move it to the Essentials 2007 instance of SQL Server 2005.

Upgrade the Essentials 2007 Management Server to Essentials 2010

The procedure to upgrade the Essentials management server from Essentials 2007 with SP1 to Essentials 2010 is performed locally on the management server. The procedure is the same for Essentials 2007 with SP1 management servers and for Essentials 2007 with SP1 and VMM 2008 servers installed on the same server. The result of the upgrade procedure in both cases is an Essentials 2010 management server.

Important

Close all remote Essentials 2007 consoles before proceeding with the upgrade.

To upgrade the Essentials management server

  1. Log on to the computer hosting the Essentials 2007 management server with an account that is a member of the local Administrators group on the computer.

  2. Insert the Essentials 2010 installation media. Open SetupSCE.exe.

  3. Click Install and complete the wizard.

    Note

    The prerequisite checker in Essentials 2010 Setup ensures that the server meets the necessary system requirements. Essentials 2010 installs SQL Server 2008 Express or prompts you to specify another instance of SQL Server 2008 if it is not already present. SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services (SSRS) must be installed on the Essentials management server if it is not already present.

    For more information about completing the System Center Essentials 2010 Setup Wizard, see How to Install System Center Essentials 2010 on a Single Server.

  4. Back up the database encryption key by using the Secure Storage Backup Wizard before proceeding. This wizard is located in the Essentials 2010 program folder (Program Files\System Center Essentials\SecureStorageBackup.exe).

  5. After the upgrade completes, start the Essentials 2010 console and ensure that it connects successfully.

  6. In the Essentials 2010 console, click Administration.

  7. In the Administration pane, expand the Pending Management view.

  8. Approve any pending agent actions (for any computer that is not hosting a remote Essentials 2010 console) to upgrade those agents.

Upgrade a Manually Installed Essentials 2007 Agent to Essentials 2010

If the Essentials 2007 agents were installed manually, you must uninstall and then reinstall them on the local computer. For more information about installing agents on workgroup-joint computers, see How to Install Agents on Workgroup-Joined Computers in Essentials.

To upgrade a manually installed agent to Essentials 2010 

  1. Log on to the computer whose agent you want to upgrade with an account that is a member of the local Administrators group on the computer.

  2. In Control Panel, click Uninstall a Program. Select System Center Operations Manager 2007 Agent and click Uninstall.

  3. After the agent is uninstalled, insert the Essentials 2010 installation media and double-click SetupSCE.exe.

  4. Click Install Essentials agent and complete the wizard.

    Note

    For more information about installing agents manually, see How to Install Agents on Workgroup-Joined Computers in Essentials.

After the agent installation is completed, start the Essentials 2010 console and approve the agent in pending management using the instructions that follow.

To approve a manually installed agent on the Essentials management server

  1. In the Essentials console, click the Administration button, and then click Settings.

  2. In the Settings pane, under Type: Server, right-click Security, and then click Properties.

  3. In the Server Settings – Security dialog box, select Review new manual agent installations in pending management view. You can also select to approve new manually installed agents automatically if you want Essentials to begin managing the computer without manual intervention.

    Note

    By default, Essentials is configured to Reject new manual agent installation, which means that Essentials does not manage these computers and devices until the new manual agent installation has been approved. Click the Administration button, expand the Device Management node, and then click Pending Management to view computers and devices that have had agents manually installed on them but have not yet been approved for management by Essentials.

Moving from Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 Workgroup Edition (WGE)

If you are managing virtual machines using Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 2008 R2 Workgroup Edition (WGE), you can move to Essentials 2010 and manage both physical and virtual computers from the Essentials 2010 console.

Moving from Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 WGE to Essentials 2010

  1. Install Essentials 2010 with the Virtualization management feature.

  2. Remove all virtual machine hosts from management by VMM 2008 R2 WGE.

  3. Add the virtual machine hosts to management by Essentials 2010 by using the Designate a Host wizard.

  4. Add the VMM 2008 R2 WGE library share to Essentials 2010 by using the Windows PowerShell instructions that follow.

  5. Uninstall VMM 2008 R2 WGE (optional).

To add an existing library share to the library using Windows PowerShell

  1. Log on to the computer running the Essentials 2010 management server with an account that has access to the shared library folder you want to add to the library.

    Note

    To complete the procedure, you need the name of the VMM server <servername>and the path of the shared library folder (<sharePath>) that you want to add to the library.

  2. Click Start, click Programs, click System Center, click Microsoft System Center, click Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2, and then click Windows PowerShell – Virtual Machine Manager.

  3. At the command prompt, type the following Windows PowerShell script.

    Get-VmmServer <servername>
    Add-LibraryShare –SharePath <sharePath>
    

    For example:

    Get-VmmServer  scetest101d
    Add-LibraryShare –SharePath \\scetest101d\mylibrary
    
  4. The library share is added to the library. To view, in the Essentials 2010 console, click Computers, expand Computer Groups, and then click All Virtual Machines.

  5. In the Tasks pane, under All Virtual Machines, click View Library Folder.

  6. If you do not see the new library share listed, on the dialog box toolbar, click View, and then click Refresh.

Upgrading from Essentials 2010 Release Candidate to Essentials 2010

To upgrade to System Center Essentials 2010 from the Essentials 2010 Release Candidate, you must already have the Release Candidate version of the Essentials 2010 installed on your computer. When you run Setup and click Install, Essentials 2010 displays a message advising you that a previous version was found and prompts you to upgrade or exit Setup. The procedures in this section are listed in the order in which they must be completed and must be completed locally for the component that is being upgraded.

Warning

During the upgrade, Essentials 2010 does not back up the databases. Ensure that you back up the databases before you start the upgrade process. For more information on backing up the databases, see System Center Essentials 2010 Operations Guide (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=180739).

Order of Operations

  1. Upgrade the Essentials 2010 Release Candidate Management Server to Essentials 2010.

  2. Upgrade a Manually Installed Essentials 2010 Release Candidate Agent to Essentials 2010.

To upgrade the Essentials 2010 Release Candidate management server to Essentials 2010 

  1. Log on to the computer hosting the Essentials 2010 management server with an account that is a member of the local Administrators group on the computer.

  2. Insert the Essentials 2010 installation media. Open SetupSCE.exe.

  3. Click Install and complete the wizard.

After the upgrade completes, start the Essentials 2010 console and ensure that it connects successfully.

Note

Upgrading a remote console is not supported. To install a remote console, uninstall the RC version of the remote console, and then install the Essentials 2010 version of the remote console.

To upgrade a manually installed agent to Essentials 2010 

  1. Log on to the computer whose agent you want to upgrade with an account that is a member of the local Administrators group on the computer.

  2. In Control Panel, click Uninstall a Program. Select System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Agent and click Uninstall.

  3. After the agent is uninstalled, insert the Essentials 2010 installation media and double-click SetupSCE.exe.

  4. Click Install Essentials agent and complete the wizard.

    Note

    For more information about installing agents manually, see How to Install Agents on Workgroup-Joined Computers in Essentials.

After the agent installation completes, start the Essentials 2010 console and approve the agent in pending management using the instructions that follow.

To approve a manually installed agent on the Essentials management server

  1. In the Essentials console, click the Administration button, and then click Settings.

  2. In the Settings pane, under Type: Server, right-click Security, and then click Properties.

  3. In the Server Settings – Security dialog box, select Review new manual agent installations in pending management view. You can also select to approve new manually installed agents automatically if you want Essentials to begin managing the computer without manual intervention.

    Note

    By default, Essentials is configured to Reject new manual agent installation, which means that Essentials does not manage these computers and devices until the new manual agent installation has been approved. Click the Administration button, expand the Device Management node, and then click Pending Management to view computers and devices that have had agents manually installed on them but have not yet been approved for management by Essentials.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter problems during the upgrade process, review the set of issues and workarounds in this section.

Issue: The Essentials 2010 upgrade process does not accept local administrative credentials.

Workaround: If Essentials 2007 was installed using local administrative credentials, you must change the action account Run As account to a domain account with administrative credentials on managed computers and on the management server.

To change the action account Run As account

  1. Open the Essentials console, and click Administration.

  2. Click Security, and then click Run As Accounts.

  3. Right-click the Run As account used as the action account by the upgrade process, and then click Properties.

  4. Click the Credentials tab, and then provide the credentials of the domain account you want to use.

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Issue: Domain-based Group Policy objects were not deleted during the process of uninstalling the Essentials 2007 management server, which resulted in a conflict of domain-based policies when you run the Configure Essentials wizard. The wizard displays a message that domain-based Group Policy is not available and informs you of existing policies created by another Essentials management server.

Workaround: If the conflicting policies were created by the previous installation of Essentials 2007, you must delete the System Center Essentials All Computers Group Policy object and the System Center Essentials Managed Computers Group Policy object by using the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC). You must also delete the System Center Essentials Managed Computers security group using the Active Directory Users and Computers Microsoft Management Console (MMC). Then you can complete the configuration through the Configure Essentials wizard. For more information about Essentials 2010 and Group Policy, see Local Policy vs. Group Policy in System Center Essentials 2010.

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Issue: The upgrade process fails with a message that the Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) database is not on the Essentials 2007 database instance.

Workaround: Exit the upgrade process, back up the VMM database, move the VMM database to the Essentials 2007 instance of SQL Server 2005, and then try the upgrade again.

Note

If the VMM database that you want to move is on an instance of SQL Server 2008, you cannot move it to the Essentials 2007 instance of SQL Server 2005.

To move the VMM database

  1. Back up the VMM database.

  2. Uninstall VMM with the Retain Data option.

    Important

    Do not use the command-line uninstall process. Uninstalling from the command line does not retain the VMM databases.

  3. On the Essentials 2007 instance of SQL Server2005, import the VMM database.

  4. Reinstall VMM and point it to the Essentials 2007 instance of SQL Server 2005, using the imported VMM database.

  5. Check the status of the VMM hosts. If any VMM host displays a status of Access Denied, right-click the host, and then click Reassociate.

  6. For information about how to integrate Essentials 2007 with VMM and the imported VMM database, see Configuring System Center Essentials 2007 Integration with Virtual Machine Manager 2008 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=185522).

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Issue: After upgrading to Essentials 2010 from the OEM edition of Essentials 2007 SP1 with Virtual Machine Manager 2008, the VMM agent is not upgraded automatically on a host computer.

Workaround: Right-click the host computer and select Update Host to update the VMM agent. You can also click Update Host in the Tasks pane.

After the Upgrade

  • Changes were made to monitoring rules between Essentials 2007 and Essentials 2010 that might generate error messages for rules that no longer exist. If you receive an error that a MonitoringRule object type was not found, click Close to resolve the issue.

  • The upgrade process grants the Network Service account access to the SQL Server databases used by Essentials 2010 if the Network Service account cannot access the existing SQL Server installation used for the Essentials 2010 database and WSUS is using Windows Internal Database.

  • If you upgraded WSUS to Essentials 2010, and the WSUS database used Windows Internal Database, Essentials 2010 grants the Network Service account access to the databases used by Essentials 2010 and moves the database as part of its process to consolidate databases.

  • During the upgrade process, the databases are backed up and consolidated within Essentials 2010. After the upgrade process, you might notice that the databases have moved. Essentials 2010 consolidates the databases; however, Essentials 2010 does not delete the original databases. You can optionally delete the original databases after confirming that the databases are working correctly in Essentials 2010.

Installing Essentials 2010 in the Same Domain as Essentials 2007

We do not recommend installing System Center Essentials 2010 in a domain that currently has Essentials 2007 installed.  If you do install the Evaluation Edition of Essentials 2010 in the same domain, be aware of the following issues:

  • Essentials 2010 and Essentials 2007 cannot both use domain-based Group Policy at the same time. If Essentials 2007 is already using domain-based Group Policy settings, you cannot use domain-based Group Policy settings in Essentials 2010. Instead, you must use local Group Policy settings. If Essentials 2007 is using local Group Policy settings, you can use domain-based Group Policy or local Group Policy settings in Essentials 2010. Essentials 2010 and Essentials 2007 cannot use Scheduled Discovery or Computer Discovery at the same time. We recommend that you disable Scheduled Discovery in Essentials 2007 before you install Essentials 2010 in the same domain to prevent Essentials 2007 from trying to manage computers that Essentials 2010 manages.

  • We recommend that you do not enable Computer Discovery in Essentials 2010, if Essentials 2007 is being used in the same domain, to prevent Essentials 2010 from trying to manage computers that Essentials 2007 manages already. In this situation, you should use the Computer and Device Management Wizard in each product to specify which computers should be managed by each instance of Essentials.

Essentials 2010 cannot manage computers that Essentials 2007 manages. If you want to use Essentials 2010 to manage a computer that Essentials 2007 currently manages, stop managing the computer that uses Essentials 2007 by removing the Essentials agent so that it can be discovered by Essentials 2010 or so that you can install the Essentials 2010 agent on the computer.

See Also

Other Resources

Install System Center Essentials 2010