server transmogrification: how I played the shell game and won
a play in five acts
cast of characters:
The Sysop (MSCE Extraordinaire)
The Sysop’s PC (Dell Optiplex 745, Vista Workstation)
The Sysop’s Home PC (Homegrown goodness)
The Sysop’s Wife (Beautiful, classy, and sassy)
The New Server (Dell PowerEdge 2900)
The RAC (Dell Remote Access Controller)
The Old Server (Dell PowerEdge SC1420)
The Switch (Cisco Catalyst 3560G Managed switch)
The Terminal Server (Old Windows2000 DC)
The Backup (external 80GB USB hard drive)
The Old Install CD (Small Business Server media)
The Floppy (Floppy disk with RAID drivers)
The Temporary O/S (Windows XP Volume License and key)
The New Install CD (SBS 2003 R2 Upgrade)
The Transition CD’s (SBS 2003 Transition Pack CD 1 &2)
The New CAL’s (3 SBS 2003 CAL Transition Packs)
The Terminal Server (Old Windows2000 DC)
Prologue:
In fair Viroqua where we lay our scene, a production environment, which utilizes four servers in three locations. The Old Server, an aging king, must be succeeded by his stalwart son – a dual processing, quad core warrior, who will lead the kingdom to ever-greater heights. The succession must happen during off-hours. The Sysop, who desires nothing more than to work his arcane magic from afar, so at to be able to kick back and enjoy the comforts of his abode rather than the fluorescent oppression of the office, must complete the succession in secret so that the citizens of the kingdom never know that the Old King was deposed and the New King has been seated on the throne, for all know that the people are a superstitious lot and if they know that succession is to occur, their panic may cause the kingdom to crumble. Thusly do we begin as the Sysop develops the spells necessary to make the change remotely, legally, and seamlessly…
ACT I – Thursday’s Preparations
Act I, Scene I, The RAC sings:
Thursday Morning, The Sysop’s Office
Enter Stage Right: The New Server, The Old Server, The Switch, The Backup, The Sysop PC
The New Server was setup and tested to be sure that all hardware was working, during which time the BIOS is set to boot first to CD, then to RIAD, then to floppy. The RAC is setup to use a static IP. The RAID is configured as RAID5 with a hot spare because The Sysop is never too careful. Console access is obtained from The Sysop PC via browser. The Sysop giggles maniacally, then sets up a dedicated port on The Switch for The Older Server, The New Server, and The RAC.
Act I, Scene II, The Sysop PC creates Images:
Later Thursday, The Sysop’s Office
Enter stage right, The New Install CD and The Transition CD; enter stage left, The Sysop PC and The Backup
The Sysop PC makes ISO images of the The New Install CD and The Transition CD 1&2 and the Dell Drive CD using free ISO recorder software. These images are placed on The Backup, along with free ISO mounting software and text file with keys for upgrades. The ADPREP folder is copied from The Transition CD2 to The Old Server. From the console of The Old Server ADPREP /ForestPrep is run successfully, receiving the following information:
Opened Connection to The Old Server
SSPI Bind succeeded
Current Schema Version is 30
Upgrading schema to version 31
Connecting to "The Old Server"
Logging in as current user using SSPI
Importing directory from file "C:\WINDOWS\system32\sch31.ldf”
Loading entries.............................................
............................................................
139 entries modified successfully.
The command has completed successfully
Adprep successfully updated the forest-wide information…
A little giddy, The Sysop begins to giggle.
Act I, Scene III, The Temporary O/S and The Backup make ready for the assault
Even Later Thursday, The Sysop’s Office
Light come up on an already occupied stage, The New Server and The RAC wait patiently. The Temporary O/S and The Floppy enter whistling.
The New Server is loaded with The Temporary O/S with the help of The Floppy, during which The New Server takes on a temporary name. After the final reboot, the system’s firewall is turned off and The Old Install CD is placed in the drive.
Enter The Backup, Stage Left, The Floppy exits, stage right
The Backup is connected to The New Server. Both lie in wait.
ACT II – Friday’s Backup
Act II, Scene I, The Backup makes good, The Floppy gets updated
Friday, day’s end, The Sysop’s Office
Enter The OId Server, Stage Left
Via Remote Desktop, The Drive Mapping is created on The Older Server, mapping to The Backup on The New Server utilizing the NET USE command and the administrative share name for the backup. The Sysop logs on to the third-party spam service utilized by The Sysop’s company, mumbling about their lousy customer service and how much he hates them overall and how he’s looking forward to dropping their crap services when their contract is up, and sets the system to spool all incoming messages durint the down-time.
The Sysop then runs an ASR backup on The Old Server, using The Floppy as the destination for the ASR files and The Mapped Drive as the Destination. After the backup is begun, The Floppy, now pregnant with RAID and ASR files exits.
Exit The Sysop and The Floppy stage left.
The Sysop verifies the backup is running properly and giggle maniacally again.
Act II, Scene II, The Stage is set for revolution
Later, The Sysop’s Office
As the lights come up The Floppy enter stage right; The New Server, disguised as a workstation sits and waits.
The clickety clack of data backing up The Backup fills the air as The Sysop places The Floppy in The New Server and heads for home.
Exit, The Sysop, Stage right
ACT III – Saturday’s Uprising
Act III, Scene I: Hallowed be thy remote
Saturday Morning, The Sysop’s Home
As the lights come up, The Sysop can be seen logging on to the network viaThe Terminal Server in the Production Environment. He piggybacks over to The Sysop PC via Remote Desktop.
Beer in hand, The Sysop logs on and verifies that the ASR Backup has completed on The Old Server. The Switch is logged onto and the port for The Old Server and The New Server are disabled for the time being. He then uses The RAC on The New Server to reboot the system, being sure to “Press Any Key to Boot to CD,” “Press F6 to load a Third Party RAID Driver,” and “Press F2 to begin ASR process.” With The Floppy in the drive, The New Server gets a healthy dose of RAID Drivers and ASR configuration. When asked for the location of the backup files, The Backup, which has patiently bided its time, springs to the forefront, fat with data. The restore begins in earnest. The Sysop giggles maniacally.
Act III, Scene II: The driver dance
Later Saturday Morning, The Sysop’s Home
Softly humming “The Safety Dance” The Sysop enters stage right and sits at the Sysop’s Home PC.
The restore process has ended and The New Server has rebooted, looking suspiciously like The Old Server. The Sysop mounts the driver CD and installs various and sundry drivers, ignoring the remark that the hardware has changed significantly on the system and that it need to be reactivated. He thinks out loud to no one in particular – “You won’t be running the same O/S long enough to worry about not having the right license, my friend.” Then he laughs manically and goes to get another beer
Exit The Sysop stage right.
Act III, Scene III: Hold all my calls
Later Saturday, The Sysop’s Home
Re-enter The Sysop stage right.
Still working via Terminal Services, The Sysop guzzles his beer and disables The Old Server’s port on The Switch, to make sure that no other systems notice that he is going to secretly replace the server they’ve normally been drinking with a new cup of coffee. But to make sure that all remains legal, he has to deal with the old OEM license. He cracks his fingers and heads out for another beer.
ACT IV – The Old Switcheroo
Act IV, Scene I: Time for your shot
Saturday Afternoon, The Sysop’s Home
Enter The Sysop stage right, yet another beer in hand, hummin, to his surprise, an old Queenrsryche tune. Worried that he is getting too drunk, he starts up some music on The Sysop’s Home PC and returns to the task at hand, tapping his foot to The Dresden Dolls.
The New Install CD is now mounted on The New Server. Exchange 2003 has Service Pack 2 applied, and SharePoint doesn’t need it because it’s already been applied. SBS Server gets updated to R2 and is rebooted. Nervous that he may be sobering up The Sysop scurries for a beer.
Act IV, Scene II: Transitional Mogrification
Later Saturday Afternoon, The Sysop’s Home
Enter The Sysop, stage right, holding two beers. He staggers to his seat and mumbles.
“Where’s my checklist? Oh yeah yeah yeah, I got it. Transition Pack. HAH!”
The Sysop mounts The Transition Pack CD 1 and enters the key from the text file on The Backup. He starts the setup process, specifies the key and enters the admin password so that the system can reboot of its own accord. He sits and waits, clicking OK every here and there when warned that services or drivers did not load, mumbles, belches, and surfs “educational” sites on the Internet while waiting.
The Sysop falls asleep as the lights go down.
Act IV, Scene III: Transitional Dreams
Late Saturday Afternoon, The Sysop’s Home
The lights come up dimly and fog floods the stage, The Sysop sits at The Sysop’s Home PC, clicking mechanically, eyes closed. He mutters and grunts.
Above his head, visions of failed upgrades and arcane errors dance. Red glowing X’s. Angry flashing FAILED Signs. The Sysop slumbers on while the upgrade continues. At one point he raises his head and clicks OK when the server worries about bad things happening. The dream ends and The Sysop rises to go to the bathroom.
Exit The Sysop stage right.
Act IV, Scene IV: Transitional Realities
Early Saturday Evening, The Sysop’s Home
Enter The Sysop stage right, espresso in hand. Reseated and now very serious he begins the process that affects other servers in the enterprise.
The Sysop now enables the port for The New Server, now running Server 2003 Service Pack 1, on The Switch. He minimizes his RDP connection and runs REPLMON from The Terminal Server and forces Active Directory Replication between The Terminal Server and The New Server. Satisfied when it completes, he closes his Terminal Services session and vows to complete the task tomorrow.
ACT V РD̩nouement
Act V, Scene I: Satisfaction
Saturday Evening, Out on the Town
The lights come up and The Sysop can be seen having dinner with his The Sysop’s Wife , flushed with success. Soft music plays and the scene fades.
Act V, Scene II: Activate the sleeper cell
Sunday Morning, The Sysop’s House
Enter The Sysop stage right, drinking espresso and casually rubbing his head, smiling. He logs on to The Terminal Server and picks up where he left off.
Windows is successfully activated, since the system is now running a valid FPP license. The Transition CD 2 is mounted and setup continues. After warnings that his head may explode or his dog may die if the upgrade goes awry, Server2003 R2 setup is run and completed successfully. The Sysop peers at the clock wondering if it is too early to have a beer.
Exit The Sysop stage right
Act V, Scene III: Testing the services
Later Sunday Morning, The Sysop’s House
Enter The Sysop stage right, drinking a water, since it’s still pretty early.
After The Upgrade Process is complete, the spam filtering agency is contacted and the system is taken of Spooling. Test emails are sent to verify connectivity. The Sysop connects to several PC’s in the domain and logs on as an end-user to verify that Group Policy is applying and things like Folder Redirection and drive mappings are occurring. Satisfied that all is operational and working fine, The Sysop pats himself on the back and rechecks the time, which is now 12:01PM. Grinning he rises and walks out.
Exit The Sysop stage right. Moments pass and he returns, with A Beer.
Smiling to himself, The Sysop drinks his beer and logs off all of his sessions. He raises his can and whispers. “The King is dead, long live the King.” He smiles knowing that The Old Server will have new adventures in the weeks to come, being deployed as a minor Duke in a Branch Office, but that, is another story…
Curtain call.
FIN
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