Migrating Group Chat

Microsoft Lync Server 2010, Group Chat communications software is an extension of the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 infrastructure. Depending on your topology, you can migrate Lync Server 2010, Group Chat to a single server or multiple servers. For details about available topologies and the technical and software requirements for migrating Group Chat Server, see Planning for Group Chat Server in the Planning documentation. If your organization requires compliance support, you can install a Compliance service on a separate computer after you have completed installing and configuring the servers that are running Group Chat Server. For details, see Deploying Compliance Support in the Deployment documentation. At a minimum, each topology requires a server running Lync Server 2010 and a server that has Microsoft SQL Server 2008 database software installed on it.

Migration Method

To migrate from an earlier version of Group Chat Server, use either of the following two methods:

• Swap upgrade (recommended upgrade path). Keep your existing server on standby, and bring up a separate Group Chat Server.
• In-place upgrade. Choose this method if you do not have the hardware required to bring up a separate Lync Server 2010, Group Chat. Uninstall Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2  Group Chat and then install Lync Server 2010, Group Chat on the same computer. With this option, you must first delete the existing trusted service entry (TSE) to enable replication. Expect some downtime while replication occurs, before installing Lync Server 2010, Group Chat on the same computer.

Before You Start Migration

Lync Server 2010, Group Chat does not support coexistence with Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat against a single Microsoft Lync 2010 Group Chat database.

The following steps must be done well in advance of migration to allow time for replication:

• Create a trusted application pool on the Lync Server instance where you will be installing Lync 2010 Group Chat.
• Create a Host Authorization Entry on the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Enterprise pool for the Lync Server 2010, Group Chat FQDN by selecting Throttle as Server and Treat as Authenticated.

Migration Process

Use the following steps to migrate from Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Server to Lync Server 2010, Group Chat.

1. Stop the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Channel and Lookup Services.

2. Back up the existing Group Chat database.

3. Update the Group Chat database to reference the Lync Server pool. Change the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 server to a Lync Server 2010 pool by using the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Group Chat Configuration Tool. Do not restart the services.
   If the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat server has already been uninstalled, run a Microsoft SQL Server query to change the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 pool in tblConfig, in the pool row that has the highest configuration sequence ID. See the following sample SQL Server query to change the Lync Server pool. The configuration sequence ID is the highest value for a pool in tblConfig.

   UPDATE [gcdatabase].[dbo].[tblConfig]
      SET [configContent] = <configuration label="pool">
     <pool>
       <serveredition>PE</serveredition>
       <serverlogin>
         <type>AUTH_MA7_OCS_MTLS</type>
         <port>0</port>
         <server>server.domain.com</server>
       </serverlogin>
   where configLabel = 'pool' and configSeqID = 11
   

4. If you perform an in-place upgrade, uninstall Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat. Choose the option to keep the database.

5. Run ServerSetup.exe, and follow the instructions for the Lync Server 2010, Group Chat install. For details see Deploying Group Chat Server in the Deployment documentation.
   If Step 5 fails, do one of the following:

   • If you performed a swap upgrade, restore the database from the backup, and start the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat service.
   • If you performed an in-place upgrade, follow the steps for installing Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat server against an already patched database.

6. If you use the compliance feature:

   1. Verify that Compliance Server has processed all messages. In other words, ensure that no new output files have been created within the last compliance interval.
   2. Stop the Lync Server 2010, Group Chat services.
   3. Uninstall the Compliance Server.
   4. Install the Lync Server 2010 Compliance Server.
   5. Start the Lync Server 2010, Group Chat services.