Aug 27
Upgrade to System Center Essentials 2010
Eric Inch
I enjoy learning, using and helping others through technology. This is my fourth year with C/D/H after many years of consulting for numerous small and mid-sized companies. I enjoy challenging projects and continual improvement in all areas. Most recently, I have been working to help grow the unified communications and virtualization practices at C/D/H.
When I’m not working, I enjoy spending time with my family. My girls keep me extremely busy but are always the highlight of my day.
For a more in-depth bio and a list of my areas of expertise, please visit http://www.cdh.com.
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For anyone planning an upgrade from System Center Essentials (SCE) 2007 to 2010, here is some information on the process.
Pre-installation tasks
Remove previous management packs, especially Essentials 2007 and Network Device Management. This won’t be much of a concern because the SCE 2010 configuration wizard will connect to the library and allow you to select the management packs for your environment. Also, like any upgrade or migration, you should create a backup of all of the databases currently in use in SCE 2007. These databases include OperationsManager, OperationsManagerDW, and SUSDB.
You should backup certificates currently in use too.
From the certificates MMC for the local computer, go to the certificates folder under WSUS and export the certificate WSUS Publishers Self-signed. You should also backup the directory C:\Program Files\System Center Essentials\Certificates to a remote network share.
The final pre-installation consists of disabling any subscriptions currently configured and cleaning out any computers in pending management. Both of these tasks are done in the Administration section of SCE.
SQL 2008 SP1 installation
After completion of all pre-installation tasks, you are ready to install SQL Server 2008 in a new instance. I named my new instance ESSENTIALS since it seemed like something Microsoft would do. The process is basically the same as a new SQL installation, but, in a new instance, you are creating a named instance during installation.
And it’s important to note: if you are running Essentials 2007 with SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, the upgrade process from Essentials 2007 to 2010 will automatically install a separate SQL Server 2008 Express Edition.
Upgrade SCE Management Server
After starting setup from the installation media, select Install on the initial screen. This will allow you to upgrade the existing SCE 2007 installation to SCE 2010.
The installation wizard will detect the existing Essentials 2007 Management server install and allow the upgrade. After selecting the check box for, “Yes, upgrade my System Center Essentials 2007 installation to Essentials 2010”, you can select Next.
On the registration page, enter the name and organization and the product key for the installation. The product key may be included if the installation media is from MSDN or volume licensing. Select Next to continue to the license agreement screen.
Make sure to read the license agreement and then select the check box that states, “I have read, understood, and agree with the terms of the license agreement”, and select Next.
The installation wizard will perform a prerequisite check of the hardware and software.
If you get warning message from the prerequisite check, you can remediate and perform the check again or take the warning under advisement and proceed.
The installation wizard will query SQL Server for any available instances for SCE 2010. Assuming you don’t have multiple SQL Server 2008 instances on your machine, you will have the existing SQL 2005 instance, as well as the new SQL 2008, listed. The SQL Server 2005 instance is not supported and will be unavailable to select.
Select the SQL Server 2008 instance for the upgraded databases and select Next.
It will validate the Reporting Server URL on the next screen. If your installation fails on the reporting services, it is likely the result of the following (from TechNet):
Check the SCE_ReportingMSI.log file for the following message: The operation you are attempting requires an encrypted channel (HTTPS).
If you see this message, edit the rsreportserver.config file (usually located in %Program Files%\Microsoft SQL Server\MSRS10.<instancename>\Reporting Services\ReportServer\) as follows:
- Search for the line that reads <Add Key=”SecureConnectionLevel” Value=”2“>.
- Change it to <Add Key=”SecureConnectionLevel” Value=”0“> and save the file.
- Restart Essentials 2010 Setup.
Enter the management account that will have administrative privileges on all managed computers. This account will be used for deploying or updating agents.
On the installation confirmation screen, select Install to upgrade your SCE 2007 installation to SCE 2010.
After the Essentials Server has been upgraded, you can go in and enable the previously disabled subscription and upgrade all of the SCE agents to the latest version.