Upgrade Windows Server 2008 R2 to Windows Server 2012 R2
I have a Forest Root Domain Controller (FRDC) that I've been upgrading all long from Window 2000 Server, to Windows Server 2003 and which it was now running Windows Server 2008 R2. I had this VM of mine running in VMware Workstation, and I guess it was not time to upgrade it to Widows 2012 R2. This article relates to the process I follow to perform such upgrade, it wasn't as straight forward as the previous upgrades I did in the past
So, let's dive in
- Upgrade the schema
- Upgrade the Operating System
- Install the Windows 2012 R2 Ultra320 SCSI 2000 Series LSI Adapter driver
- Post upgrade
- Remove Virtual Machine snapshot
First of all, take a snapshot of your VM, just in case we need to roll back! Then, insert the Windows 2012 R2 Server on the FRDC, then open a cmd prompt and execute the following:
D:\support\adprep\adprep /forestprep
D:\support\adprep\adprep /domainprep
Once you have upgrade the schema for both the Forest and Domain, we can then proceed with the upgrade
2. Upgrade the Operating System
For the upgrade wizard, I selected "Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard (Server with GUI)", which is what my Server 2008 R2 was running, and obviously choose the option to "Upgrade"
The Compatibility wizard will run, and most likely you'll be presented with this error message: "Install updated drivers for the following devices. If you already have an updated device driver, click Load driver and follow the steps. Storage controllers: LSI Adapter, Ultra320 SCSI 2000 series, w/1020/1030 "
This is a very well-know issue that happens when you do this sort of upgrade from Windows Server 2008 R2 to Windows Server 2012 R2 running in a virtual environment, specifically running with VMware being the hypervisor. To solve this issue, we jump to the next section
2.1 Install the Windows 2012 R2 Ultra320 SCSI 2000 Series LSI Adapter driver
Download the Windows 2012 R2 Ultra320 SCSI 2000 Series LSI Adapter driver in this link, where I have upload such driver to keep it for the record, just in case it got missing from the Broadcom official website
Copy the driver into the C:\Temp of your Windows 2008 R2 Server, and extract it
Now, when you start the Windows Server 2012 R2 installation wizard, choose the option to load the driver and browse for the folder C:\Temp\Windows 2012 R2 Ultra320 SCSI 2000 Series LSI Adapter driver\lsimpt_scsi_srv08_x64
You will notice for sure, the misbehaving of the mouse, just reinstall the VMware Tools to fix it, though make sure you take a note of the IP address of the Server before doing that! You will need to put it back once the VMware Tools are back in place
Check as well the status of your Active Directory, and restart the DNS server just to ensure all your goodies are up and running. Once you ensure that Active Directory is up and running okay, you can proceed to raise both the Forest and Domain Functional Levels as follows:
Raise Forest & Domain Functional Levels
Open Active Directory Domains and Trusts >> Right-click your domain and verify both the Forest and the Domain Functional levels, in my screenshot below they are set to Windows Server 2008 R2
To raise the Forest Functional Levels, right-click the actual node of Active Directory Domains and Trusts, and choose "Raise Forest Functional Level"
Then select Windows Server 2012 R2 as the new Functional Level
Once you have done that, right-click on your domain name and raise the Functional Level of the actual domain, so that it is also Windows Server 2012 R2
4. Remove Virtual Machine snapshot
Finally, don't forget to give a final shot of "delete" to the snapshot we initially created before starting this upgrade
Hope you article helps you!
London, May 2024
References
- https://docs.broadcom.com/docs/12349638
- https://www.windows-active-directory.com/forest-functional-level.html