Of all the three upgrade techniques, my favorite is database migration. Database migration can be defined as “Requires the server administrator to install the new version on a separate farm or separate hardware, and then manually migrate the databases into the new environment.”
Database Migration enables moving to new farm or new hardware while SharePoint Portal Server 2003 environment is available and is untouched by upgrade. Microsoft says that database migration is a “Complex process that requires many manual steps and a higher risk of error. Requires additional manual steps to retain original URLs for sites. Search scopes must be re-created and search settings must be reapplied. Requires new server farm, and twice the amount of SQL Server storage space”. My advise is don’t be afraid and do try.
These steps are done for upgrade from WSS2.0/SharePoint 2003 to WSS3.0/MOSS 2007 in a single form environment. For different architecture, you may need some more steps. The steps are under:
· Get ready your MOSS 2007 environment.
· Run PreScan on SharePoint Portal Server 2003.
· Set the content database of SharePoint Portal Server 2003 as read only.
· Take back up of content database of SharePoint Portal Server 2003.
· Restore back up on SQL Server attached with MOSS 2007.
· Create web application in MOSS 2007.
· Remove content database of the newly created web application in MOSS 2007.
· Attach restore database with the newly created web application in MOSS 2007.
And that’s itJ.
I am not going into the details of creating MOSS 2007 environment. We will start from the second step:
Run PreScan on SharePoint Portal Server 2003:
The first step is to run PreScan.exe. For details kindly visit the following blog:
http://farhanfaiz.wordpress.com/2008/05/15/sharepoint-upgrade-prescanexe/
Set the content database of SharePoint Portal Server 2003 as read only:
The content database of SharePoint Portal Server 2003 ends with 1_SITE like Abc1_SITE.
The steps for setting database as read only are:
For SQL Server 2000
1. In Microsoft® SQL Server™ Enterprise Manager, right-click the name of the database that you want to set to read-only, and then click Properties.
2. In the Properties dialog box, click the Options tab.
3. Under Access, select the Read-only check box, and then click OK.
For Server 2005
1. In Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio, right-click the name of the database that you want to set to read-only, and then click Properties.
2. In the left pane, click Options.
3. In the right pane, under Other options, under State, next to Database Read-Only, click the down arrow, and then select True.
Take back up of content database of SharePoint Portal Server 2003:
For details kindly visit the following blog:
http://farhanfaiz.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/sharepoint-2003moss-2007-take-back-up-of-content-database-in-sql-server-2000-and-sql-server-2005/
Let the name of the back be “Portal_Site.bak”. Wait after this. The time of database backup depends upon the system power and database size.
Restore back up on SQL Server attached with MOSS 2007:
The first step in restoring database is to create a database in SQL Server 2005. Let the newly created database name is “Portal_Site_Restore”.
1. Expand Database “Portal_Site_Restore”, right-click the database you want to restore, point to Tasks, point to Restore, and then click Database. The Restore Database dialog box appears.
2. On the General page, the name of the restoring database appears in the To database list box.
3. In the To a point in time text box (if using SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition), retain the default (Most recent possible).
4. To specify the source and location of the backup sets to restore, click From device, and then specify the database backup path (in our case, it is “Portal_Site.bak”) in the list box.
5. In the Select the backup sets to restore grid, select the backup path.
6. From the options tab, select “overwrite existing database”.
7. Specify the paths for .ldf and .mdf in the options tab.
8. Click OK to start the restore process.
Wait after this. The time of restoring database depends upon the system power and database size.
Create web application in MOSS 2007
In the SharePoint Central Administration, move to “Application Management” and click on “Create or extend Web application” under “SharePoint Web Application Management”.
Again click on “Create Web application”. Set the settings according to your own needs (do check the name of the web application and content database. Let the name of the web application be “http://servername:1234” and the name of the content database be “WSS_Content_1234”) and click OK. Don’t create any site collection.
Remove content database of the newly created web application in MOSS 2007
We can do that using Central Administrator or stsadm utility. I will like to do that using stsadm. Central Administration is easy. You will be able to learn that if you know how to do it using stsadm.
The command for removing content database using stsadm is ‘deletecontentdb’. The description is as under:
stsadm.exe -o deletecontentdb
-url <URL name>
-databasename <database name>
[-databaseserver] <database server name>
|
Parameter name
|
Value
|
Required?
|
Description
|
|
url
|
A valid URL, such as http://serverame:1234
|
Yes
|
Specifies the Web application from which the content database will be detached.
|
|
databasename
|
A valid database name, such as “WSS_Content_1234”
|
Yes
|
Specifies the name of content database to be detached.
|
|
databaseserver
|
A valid database server, such as “SQLServer1″
|
No
|
Database server name to be detached.
|
A typical command will be like:
stsadm.exe -o deletecontentdb -url http://servername:1234 -databasename WSS_Content_1234
Attach restore database with the newly created web application in MOSS 2007
We can do that using Central Administrator or stsadm utility. I will like to do that using stsadm. Central Administration is easy. You will be able to learn that if you know how to do it using stsadm.
The command for removing content database using stsadm is ‘addcontentdb’. The description is as under:
stsadm.exe -o addcontentdb
-url <URL name>
-databasename <database name>
[-databaseserver <database server name>]
[-databaseuser <database username>]
[-databasepassword <database password>]
[-sitewarning <site warning count>]
[-sitemax <site max count>]
|
Parameter name
|
Value
|
Required?
|
Description
|
|
url
|
A valid URL
|
Yes
|
URL of
the Web
application
to which
the content
database is
being
added.
|
|
databasename
|
A valid
database name
|
Yes
|
Database
name.
|
|
databaseserver
|
A valid
database
server name
|
No
|
Database
server
name. The
default
server
is used
if a
value
not
provided.
|
|
databaseuser
|
A valid user
name in the
form “domain\login”
|
No
|
Account
used for
SQL authentication. Must be
used in
conjunction
with the
database
password parameter.
|
|
databasepassword
|
A valid
SQL
password
|
No
|
The database
password parameter should only
be used
where Windows authentication is not
implemented.
|
|
sitewarning
|
A valid
integer
number,
such as
10
|
No
|
Integer number
of site
collections allowed in
the content
database
prior to
generating
a warning
event in the
Windows event log.
|
|
sitemax
|
A valid
integer
number,
such as
10
|
No
|
Specifies
the maximum
number of site collections allowed in
the content
database.
|
A typical command will be like:
stsadm.exe -o addeletecontentdb -url http://servername:1234 –databasename Portal_Site_Restore
Wait after this command. The time of adding content database depends upon the system power and database size.
http://office.microsoft.com/download/afile.aspx?AssetID=AM101638521033
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263422.aspx
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262449.aspx
