What to do if SBS 2003 is not fully transitioned?

moloyt — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:54:46 GMT

In my previous post about the Transition Pack, we talked about the Transition Pack and the changes it makes to the SBS 2003 after a successful installation.

The best way to tell whether the transition pack installation was successful or not is to look for the differences as stated in my previous post which have the snapshots of the key changes being made to SBS 2003.

There are times the Transition Pack installation may silently fail, and the SBS 2003 is not fully transitioned. In such scenario, you may need to reapply the Transition Pack and this is how you do it.

Best practices to follow for installing the Transition Pack:

1.) Uninstall SP2 for Windows Server 2003

(unless you have the SP2 Transition Pack)

2.) Uninstall IE 7.0

(http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2007/01/29/activation-loop-after-completing-the-sbs-transition-pack.aspx)

3.) Delete the registry key "Small Business" under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914990)

4.) Create an answer file with the name AnswerFile.sbs and copy it to the C:\Program Files\Microsoft Windows Small Business Server\Setup folder.

Here is how the answer file should look:

[UserData]
ProductKey=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX (place your Transition Pack serial number here)
[Unattended]
NTUpgrade=YES

5.) Run the Transition Pack setup from the Command Prompt

<CDRom Drive>:\>I386\Winnt32.exe /unattend:"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Windows Small Business Server\Setup\AnswerFile.sbs"

6.) After the setup is complete, look for those key changes again specifically the Product ID (PID)

Regards,

Moloy

SBS 2003 Transition Pack

moloyt — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:19:00 GMT

Today, I'll be talking about Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2003 Transition Pack which allows you to smoothly migrate to full blown version of windows server products.

As your business grows, you may feel the need for change and at the same time want to protect and preserve what you already possess. By installing the SBS 2003 transition pack; you can upgrade your SBS 2003 to a full blown Windows Server 2003 Std. edition, with std. version of server applications like Exchange, ISA and SQL.

Things you can achieve after installing the transition pack

You can achieve the following task after installing the SBS 2003 transition pack, which otherwise is not possible in SBS 2003 because of product design limitation.

- Transfer the Flexible Single Master Operations (FSMO) roles to another domain controller

- Establish two-way trust relationship with another Domain

- Add child domains to the existing AD forest

- Move server applications to another server (for e.g. You can move Exchange Server 2003 to another server for better performance)

- Enable Terminal Server in Application Sharing mode

- Remove the 75 users/device limit

- Increase the max number of processors supported from two to four

Note:

After you have migrated your server by installing the SBS 2003 Transition Pack, you will still be able to use the Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2003 tools; however, they will no longer be supported and you will not be able to reinstall or remove the tools. Additionally, you will no longer be able to run Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Setup to modify (add, remove, re-install) the server applications.

After you migrate to Windows Server 2003 R2, Standard Edition, you must reinstall your existing Windows Server 2003 service packs. In addition, you should record the current built-in Administrator account password for reference because the Directory Services Restore Mode password will no longer be synchronized with the built-in Administrator account password.

Checklist before installing the Transition Pack

Make sure you have ordered for the fulfillment media for the standard versions of applications (This media is required if you want to move applications to a new server and will also help for system recovery) before you install the SBS 2003 transition pack.

Additional information could be found on this link

http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServerSolutions/SBS/en/library/63b005d3-1a45-4a76-b592-9b7a71878a501033.mspx?mfr=true

What happens after you apply the transition pack

The following snapshots would help you understand the difference between SBS 2003 and Windows Server 2003 (the way SBS 2003 looks after a successful installation of Transition Pack).

Before the Transition Pack	After the Transition Pack

This is the first difference you would notice after a successful installation of SBS 2003 Transition Pack.	The SBS 2003 logon screen is replaced by the Windows Server 2003 logon screen.

WINVER clearly shows the difference between SBS 2003 and Windows Server 2003 Std.	Though the build number, service pack details are still the same.

The product ID (PID) for SBS 2003 is changed to a Windows Server 2003 PID. The SBS 2003 PID starts with 74995.	The Windows Server 2003 PID typically starts with 69712.

If you double-click the Licensing icon in control panel, this is how it looks before the transition pack. You use the Server Management console to install licenses on SBS 2003.	After a successful transition, you should be able to add additional licenses for std. line of server products like Windows, Exchange from Control Panel.

Terminal Server in Application Sharing mode is unavailable in SBS 2003. You cannot have more than 2 concurrent connections to the server.	After the transition pack, you have the option of running Terminal Server in Application Sharing mode.

The option to "Manage your server" is not there on SBS 2003.	After a successful transition from SBS 2003 to Windows Server 2003, you get an option to "Manage your server" under Administrative Tools.

Issues you may run into after or during the installation of transition pack

Scenario 1:

If you running Veritas Backup Exec program on the server, the Transition Pack installation may fail silently

Resolution: Look for the registry key Small Business (under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\). If the key exists, delete it after taking a backup of it.

For more info: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914990

Scenario 2:

Server stuck in an activation look after installing SBS 2003 Transition Pack. This issue typically occurs if you running IE 7.0

Resolution: Boot the server in Safe Mode. Uninstall IE 7.0 by executing the following command from the Run dialog box

%systemdrive%\Windows\IE7\spuninst\spuninst.exe

For more info: http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2007/01/29/activation-loop-after-completing-the-sbs-transition-pack.aspx

Scenario 3:

Service pack mismatch problem. You may get an error stating that the installed version of the product is newer than the current installation.

Resolution: You want to make sure that the service pack matches before starting up the process. If you running Windows Server 2003 SP2, uninstall it before installing the transition pack. Additionally, make sure that you are using the SBS 2003 with SP1 Transition Pack media.

For more info: http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2006/01/12/417350.aspx; http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932600

Kinds of Transition Pack

Like SBS 2003, transition pack comes in 2 variants, SBS 2003 Transition Pack and SBS 2003 R2 Transition Pack.

The SBS 2003 Transition Pack includes 1 disc which allows you to convert SBS 2003 to a full blown std. version of Windows Server 2003

The SBS 2003 R2 Transition Pack includes 2 discs. The first disc is the same as above which allows you to convert SBS 2003 to a full blown std. version of Windows Server 2003. The second disc is the Windows Server 2003 R2 disc and has features like DFS-R.

Don't forget to read my second post on Transition Pack.

What to do if SBS 2003 is not fully transitioned?

http://blogs.technet.com/moloyt/archive/2008/10/16/what-to-do-if-sbs-2003-is-not-fully-transitioned.aspx

Additional Resource

http://download.microsoft.com/download/C/C/E/CCE84C91-AB7C-4AB2-B246-48A7E4155E54/SBS2003.R2.MarketingMaterials.Customer.TransitionPack.Lo_Res.pdf

http://synopus.no/downloades/MS%20SBS%202003%20Transition%20Pack.pdf

http://sbspod.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=62455

http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServerSolutions/SBS/en/library/63b005d3-1a45-4a76-b592-9b7a71878a501033.mspx?mfr=true

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=bbcf7319-4947-4fd2-a2ea-145588765e68&displaylang=en

Regards,

Moloy Tandon

Moloy Tandon's Blog - Ask Me : Transition Pack

What to do if SBS 2003 is not fully transitioned?

SBS 2003 Transition Pack

What to do if SBS 2003 is not fully transitioned?