Chris Hernandez's Blog

Migrating Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) from Standalone to Farm Install

Introduction 

Installing Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) in Standalone is useful to be able to quickly deploy MOSS on a single server computer. A Standalone configuration is best suited for a small number of web sites and installing with a minimal amount of administrative steps as well as being able to do evaluation or testing of the product before full deployment.

This document is targeted for IT Professionals that wish to migrate an existing MOSS Standalone installation to a MOSS Server Farm. There is no direct upgrade path available to go from Standalone to Farm, this article will describe how to migrate existing data from the Standalone installation to a new Farm installation.

For more information about installing Office SharePoint Server 2007 as Standalone: http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/bd99c3a9-0333-4c1c-9793-a145769e48e61033.mspx?mfr=true

 

There are a couple of different options for migrating from a Standalone installation to a new Farm installation:

1.       SQL Backup/Restore from the Standalone installation to the Farm and STSADM.exe commands to attach the databases

2.       Central Administration Backup/Restore from the Standalone installation to the Farm installation

This article will describe the first step which involves using SQL backup/restore and STSADM.exe commands to attach the restored database to migrate from Standalone to Farm.

For more information about using Central Admin to perform a Backup/Restore: http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/054c3d6d-a0d3-448a-864b-93db6283d7ce1033.mspx?mfr=true

 

The sequence of steps for migrating from Standalone to Farm is:

1.       Install the MOSS Farm Server and associated SQL Server

2.       Use SQL  tools to backup and restore the databases from the Standalone installation to the SQL Server associated with the Farm

3.       Use the STSADM.exe commands to attach the restored databases to the new Farm installation

 

Complete Farm Installation and SQL Server

 

Complete the Farm installation and SQL Server installation either via the Setup UI or the command-line installation including running the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard to create the Central Administration site.

For more information about installing Office SharePoint Server 2007 as Server Farm: http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/776589ed-aba4-47eb-8c4d-86905ac11a511033.mspx?mfr=true

At this point the Central Administration site will have been created but no other sites should be added.

 

Migrating Data from the Standalone Installation

 

When you install MOSS in Standalone, as part of the installation steps Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition is installed. Since Farm installation will use SQL Server we will need to migrate the existing data from the Standalone install to the SQL Server that will be associated with the new Farm Installation using either:

1.       SQL Server Management Studio Express (on the Standalone installation)

2.       SQL Server Management Studio (on the SQL Server that will be associated with the Farm installation)

This article will describe the method to use SQL Server Management Studio Express to migrate the SQL data and the method to migrate using SQL Server will be similar.

 

SQL Server Management Studio Express is installed by running the setup program for either SQL Server Express with Advanced Services or SQL Server Express Toolkit.

To download SQL Server Management Studio Express: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/express/bb410791.aspx

For more information about managing SQL Server Express: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/2005/mgsqlexpwssmse.mspx

 

These are the sequence of steps to migrate data:

1.       Set the Standalone databases to be read-only so that no additional data can be added

a.       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.

b.      In the left pane, click Options.

c.       In the right pane, under Other options, under State, next to Database Read-Only, click the down arrow, and then select True.

2.       Use SQL Server Management Studio to connect to the Standalone server (note that the SQL Express instance name will be set by default to be OfficeServers) and perform a backup of these databases:

a.       Shared Services DB

b.      Shared Services Search DB

c.       Shared Services Content DB

d.      WSS Content DB

e.      Any additional content databases associated with new web applications created

3.       Restore these backups to the SQL Server associated with the Farm installation

 

For more information about migrating databases: http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/d0a50e40-5322-4f7a-a3a4-c4660c8796661033.mspx?mfr=true

 

STSADM.exe Command Line Tool

 

The STSADM.exe admin tool is available in the default location: c:\program files\common files\microsoft shared\web server extensions\12\bin. To see what actions are available with the tool you can run STSADM.exe –help which will output the operations that can be performed and STSADM.exe –help <operation name> to get more detailed documentation about a particular operation.

For more information about the STSADM.exe command:

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/188f006d-aa66-4784-a65b-a31822aa13f71033.mspx

More details about STSADM.exe command-line operations and parameters:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/wss/2/all/adminguide/en-us/stsk01.mspx?mfr=true

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/wss/2/all/adminguide/en-us/stsk02.mspx?mfr=true

 

STSADM.exe to Attach the Databases to the New Farm

 

The STSADM.exe admin tool will be used to attach the Standalone databases that have been restored to the Farm SQL Server so that the site content (including the Shared Services Provider) will be available on the new Farm installation.

 

Start and Configure the Required Services

 

Start the Windows SharePoint Services Search:

stsadm -o spsearch -action start -farmserviceaccount Redmond\user -farmservicepassword MyPassword

 

Start the Office SharePoint Server Search service:

stsadm -o osearch -action start -role IndexQuery -farmserviceaccount Redmond\user -farmservicepassword MyPassword -farmcontactemail user@ms.com

 

Create and Attach the Shared Services Provider Content

 

Create the web application and associate the Shared Services Content database from the Standalone installation by first creating a web application for the Shared Services Provider and specifying the content database that was restored.

 

For example:

stsadm.exe -o extendvs -url http://intranet:8080 -ownerlogin redmond\user -owneremail

 a@b.com -exclusivelyusentlm -databaseserver SQLServer -databasename SharedServices1_Content -apcreatenew -apidname SSP_Apppool -apidtype configurableid -apidlogin redmond\user -apidpwd MyPassword

 

Note that the databasename parameter is the Shared Services Content database that was restored from the Standalone installation.

 

The Standalone installation will use the default web application for the MySite host. When migrating to a Farm installation it is recommended that the MySite host resides on a separate web application than the root top-level site collection web application.

 

TODO: Note that we need a way to extract the MySite data created on the WSS_Content database and move this to a separate content database. A new web application will be created and this will serve as the MySite host.

 

To create the SSP we use the restoressp command with the sspdatabasename and searchdatabasename parameters set as the databases that were restored from the Standalone installation.

 

For example:

STSADM.EXE -o restoressp -title Migrated_SSP -url http://intranet:8080 -ssplogin redmond\user -ssppassword MyPassword -mysiteurl http://intranet/MySite -indexserver intranet -indexlocation "D:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\12.0\Data\Applications" -sspdatabaseserver intranet -sspdatabasename SharedServices1 -searchdatabaseserver intranet -searchdatabasename SharedServices1_Search

 

Again note that the sspdatabasename and searchdatabasename parameters are the databases that were restored as these will now be attached to the Shared Services Provider for the Farm installation.

 

Content Database Attach for Sites

 

Finally, we will do the same step for any other sites that were created on the Standalone installation.

 

For example to restore the top-level site collection that also contains the MySite content:

STSADM.EXE -o extendvs -url http://intranet -ownerlogin redmond\user -owneremail user@ms.com -exclusivelyusentlm -databaseserver intranet -databasename WSS_Content -apcreatenew -apidname SharePoint_80_AppPool -apidtype configurableid -apidlogin redmond\user -apidpwd MyPassword

As before the databasename parameter is the restored database from the Standalone installation that will now be attached to the top-level site.

 

 

MOSS Command-Line Installation

Introduction

This document is written to meet the requirements of information technology (IT) professionals who will be responsible for the installation of Office SharePoint Server. This document will cover the procedures and recommendations for installing MOSS via the command line. This will include describing how to install the product by running Setup.exe from the command line and passing in a Config.xml file that can be customized further based on the installation options required. As well as how to use the admin tools PSConfig.exe and STSADM.exe to perform actions via the command line such as configuration and site creation.

Before you begin deployment

This section provides information about actions that you must perform before you begin deployment.

·         Plan for security roles (Office SharePoint Server) gives an overview of the three-tier security model.

·         Plan for administrative and service accounts (Office SharePoint Server) gives detailed information.

·         Office SharePoint Server Security Account Requirements is a planning tool that lists accounts to use in various scenarios, including three flavors of least-privilege administration (domain user accounts, SQL authentication, and domain user accounts connecting to pre-created databases).

 

Overview of the deployment process

The deployment process consists of two phases: installing and configuring the server, and creating the Shared Services Provider and Site Collections.

Phase 1: Installing and configuring the server

1.       Install MOSS by running Setup.exe with the appropriate Config.xml file.

2.       Configure it and create the administration Web application by running PSConfig.exe with the appropriate options.

 

Phase2: Creating and configuring the shared services providers and site collections

 

3.       Create a Shared Services Provider by running STSADM.exe operation (for farm installation).

4.       Create a site collection by running STSADM.exe operation (for farm installation).

 

For a Standalone install only the above first two steps are required and after running psconfig.exe installation will be complete with the Standalone config. For a Farm install, additional command line options will be required when running psconfig.exe and additional steps using stsadm.exe will be needed to complete the Farm installation.

Prerequisites

1.       Windows Server 2003 SP1

2.       Configure IIS with ASP.Net enabled

3.       .NET Framework 2.0 with Web Service Extensions enabled

4.       Windows Workflow Foundations installed

5.       SQL Server 2000 SP3 or SQL Server 2005 SP1 (for Farm configuration)

 

Permissions

To perform installation the user account running setup will need to be a member of the local Administrators group and have rights on the SQL server for the following actions:

·         Creating new databases

·         Read and write permissions

This translates into the dbcreator and securityadmin SQL server roles for the user account.

For more information about the SQL Server rights required refer to this document: http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/f07768d4-ca37-447a-a056-1a67d93ef5401033.mspx?mfr=true

 

Setup.exe and Config.xml for Installation

Running setup can either be done in full UI mode by double-clicking on the setup.exe file or in silent mode by running the setup.exe via the command line and passing in a Config.xml file. Within the product DVD are contained examples of Config.xml files that can be used. The Config.xml file along with Setup.exe can be used for the controlling how Microsoft Office SharePoint Server will be installed.

 

The product DVD contains examples of Config.xml files that you can use as starting points for customizing your installation. The example files are stored under the \Files folder at the root of the DVD, in folders that correspond to different scenarios. The folders are:

•	Setup - Contains a config.xml file for use in setting up a clean installation for a single server (stand-alone, with SQL Express).
•	SetupFarm - Contains a config.xml file for use in setting up a clean installation for a server farm.
•	SetupFarmSidebySide - Contains a config.xml file for use in upgrading an existing server farm gradually.
•	SetupFarmSilent -  Contains a config.xml file for use in setting up a server farm in silent mode.
•	SetupFarmUpgrade -  Contains a config.xml file for use in upgrading an existing server farm in place.
•	SetupSilent -  Contains a config.xml file for use in setting up a clean installation for a single server (stand-alone, with SQL Express) in silent mode.
•	SetupSingleUpgrade - Contains a config.xml file for use in upgrading an existing single server (stand-alone) in place.

To see more info about the Config.xml:

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/003e5316-1018-4949-ac54-42fa12c5e51e1033.mspx

 

We will examine using the SetupSilent\Config.xml to set up a clean installation for a single standalone server in silent mode and the SetupFarmSilent\Config.xml to set up a server farm in silent mode.

To run setup in silent mode via the command line you will run:

(for a Standalone install)

setup.exe /config Files\SetupSilent\config.xml

OR

(for a Farm install)

setup.exe /config Files\SetupFarmSilent\config.xml

Here is an example of the Config.xml file:

<Configuration>

                <Package Id="sts">

                                <Setting Id="LAUNCHEDFROMSETUPSTS" Value="Yes"/>

                                <Setting Id="REBOOT" Value="ReallySuppress"/>

                                <Setting Id="SETUPTYPE" Value="CLEAN_INSTALL"/>

                </Package>

 

                <Package Id="spswfe">

                                <Setting Id="SETUPCALLED" Value="1"/>

                                <Setting Id="REBOOT" Value="ReallySuppress"/>

                                <Setting Id="OFFICESERVERPREMIUM" Value="1" />

                </Package>

 

                <Logging Type="verbose" Path="%temp%" Template="Office Server Setup(*).log"/>

                <Display Level="none" CompletionNotice="no" />

                <PIDKEY Value="Enter PID Key Here" />

                <Setting Id="SERVERROLE" Value="SINGLESERVER"/>

                <Setting Id="USINGUIINSTALLMODE" Value="0"/>

</Configuration>

 

Note that you will need to bypass the prompt for the product key by providing it in the config.xml value:

<PIDKEY Value="Enter PID Key Here" />

 

Also note the logging path for the log file to view if you encounter a failed installation:

<Logging Type="verbose" Path="%temp%" Template="Office Server Setup(*).log"/>

 

To see the complete list of options for Setup.exe:

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/7e45c7b1-de7f-4f8f-81cd-7070ce483a821033.mspx

 

PSConfig.exe for Configuration

The PSConfig.exe command line tool is used to configure the product after setup has completed. The default location of the tool: c:\program files\common files\microsoft shared\web server extensions\12\bin.

After setup has completed, you can run PSConfig to perform the configuration setup based on installation mode. If SharePoint is installed in Standalone mode then the Standalone configuration will be performed by running the setup command. If SharePoint is installed in Farm mode there are a series of PSConfig.exe commands that will need to be run to complete configuration.

 

Standalone Install:

Running PSConfig.exe with the setup command will complete installation on a Standalone install. The Standalone install will be complete with web applications and site collections for a SharePoint Server install.

PSConfig.exe  –cmd setup

The output will be displayed on the command window and when finished will result in a completed Standalone installation.

 

Farm Install:

To create a new server farm or connect to an existing server farm the following steps will need to be run in the following order:

1.       Create the ConfigDB:

PSConfig.exe -cmd configdb -create -server <Server_name> -database <Database_name>

-dbuser <DOMAIN\username> -dbpassword <password>

-user <DOMAIN\username> -password <password>

-addomain <domain_name> -adorgunit <org_unit>

-admincontentdatabase <Database_name>

Note that if you wish to connect to an existing configuration database and join the server to an existing server farm you will need to perform the ConfigDB command with the -connect parameter

Sample Output:

Performing configuration task 1 of 3

Initializing SharePoint Products and Technologies configuration...

 

Successfully initialized the SharePoint Products and Technologies configuration.

 

Performing configuration task 2 of 3

Creating the configuration database...

 

Successfully created the configuration database.

 

Performing configuration task 3 of 3

Finalizing the SharePoint Products and Technologies configuration...

 

Successfully completed the SharePoint Products and Technologies configuration.

 

Total number of configuration settings run: 3

Total number of successful configuration settings: 3

Total number of unsuccessful configuration settings: 0

Successfully stopped the configuration of SharePoint Products and Technologies.

Configuration of the SharePoint Products and Technologies has succeeded.

 

2.       Install all HelpCollections

psconfig.exe -cmd helpcollections installall

 

Sample Output:

Performing configuration task 1 of 3

Initializing SharePoint Products and Technologies configuration...

 

Successfully initialized the SharePoint Products and Technologies configuration

 

Performing configuration task 2 of 3

Installing help collections...

 

Successfully installed help collections.

 

Performing configuration task 3 of 3

Finalizing the SharePoint Products and Technologies configuration...

 

Successfully completed the SharePoint Products and Technologies configuration.

 

Total number of configuration settings run: 3

Total number of successful configuration settings: 3

Total number of unsuccessful configuration settings: 0

Successfully stopped the configuration of SharePoint Products and Technologies.

Configuration of the SharePoint Products and Technologies has succeeded.

 

3.       Perform resource security enforcement

psconfig.exe -cmd secureresources

 

Sample Output:

Performing configuration task 1 of 3

Initializing SharePoint Products and Technologies configuration...

 

Successfully initialized the SharePoint Products and Technologies configuration.

 

 

Performing configuration task 2 of 3

Securing the SharePoint resources...

 

Successfully secured resource 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office Serv

er\12.0\LoadBalancerSettings' of type 'RegKey' by granting security group 'Local

Service' 'Read' permissions .

 

Successfully secured resource 'D:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\12.0\We

bServices\Root' of type 'Directory' by granting security group 'Users' 'Read, Ex

ecute' permissions .

…

 

Successfully secured the SharePoint resources.

 

Performing configuration task 3 of 3

Finalizing the SharePoint Products and Technologies configuration...

 

Successfully completed the SharePoint Products and Technologies configuration.

 

Total number of configuration settings run: 3

Total number of successful configuration settings: 3

Total number of unsuccessful configuration settings: 0

Successfully stopped the configuration of SharePoint Products and Technologies.

Configuration of the SharePoint Products and Technologies has succeeded.

 

4.       Register the services in the server farm

psconfig.exe -cmd services -install

 

Sample Output:

Performing configuration task 1 of 3

Initializing SharePoint Products and Technologies configuration...

 

Successfully initialized the SharePoint Products and Technologies configuration.

 

Performing configuration task 2 of 3

Registering SharePoint services...

 

Successfully installed service: Excel Calculation Services.

Successfully installed service instance: Excel Calculation Services.

Successfully installed service: Forms Service.

Successfully installed service: Office SharePoint Usage Analytics Service.

Successfully installed service instance: Office SharePoint Usage Analytics Service.

Successfully installed service: Business Data Catalog.

Successfully installed service instance: Business Data Catalog.

Successfully installed service: Office SharePoint Server Diagnostics Service.

Successfully installed service: Shared Services Timer.

Successfully installed service instance: Shared Services Timer.

Successfully installed service: SSP Job Control Service.

Successfully installed service instance: SSP Job Control Service.

Successfully installed service: Session State Service.

Successfully installed service instance: Session State.

Successfully installed service: User Profile Service.

Successfully installed service: Document Conversions Launcher Service.

Successfully installed service instance: Document Conversions Launcher Service.

Successfully installed service: Document Conversions Load Balancer Service.

Successfully installed service instance: Document Conversions Load Balancer Service.

Successfully installed service: Office SharePoint Server Search Admin Web Service.

Successfully installed service instance: Office SharePoint Server Search Admin Web Service.

Successfully installed service: Office SharePoint Server Search.

Successfully installed service instance: Office SharePoint Server Search.

Successfully installed service instance: Office SharePoint Server Search.

Successfully installed service: Windows SharePoint Diagnostics Service.

Successfully installed service: Portal Service.

Successfully installed service instance: Portal Service.

Successfully installed service: Single Sign-on Service.

Successfully installed service instance: Single Sign-on Service.

Successfully installed service: Windows SharePoint Services Help Search.

Successfully installed service instance: Windows SharePoint Services Help Search

Successfully installed service instance: Windows SharePoint Services Search.

Successfully registered SharePoint services.

 

Performing configuration task 3 of 3

Finalizing the SharePoint Products and Technologies configuration...

 

Successfully completed the SharePoint Products and Technologies configuration.

 

Total number of configuration settings run: 3

Total number of successful configuration settings: 3

Total number of unsuccessful configuration settings: 0

Successfully stopped the configuration of SharePoint Products and Technologies.

Configuration of the SharePoint Products and Technologies has succeeded.

 

Note that before you can provision we will need to start and configure the Search service via the STSADM.exe command (more information about STSADM.exe later on):

 

Start the Windows SharePoint Services Search:

stsadm -o spsearch -action start -farmserviceaccount Redmond\user -farmservicepassword MyPassword