We have upgraded our SharePoint server from Windows Server 2003 32bit to Windows 2008 64bit. This, on the face of it seemed like a reasonably effortless task, requiring some planning, but principly, install new server, install SharePoint, move SharePoint using a backup and a restore, and then re-deploy the Application Templates.
All was going well. Windows installed and configured, SharePoint installed as per Microsoft guide for migration. The backup had gone perfectly. Now for the restore. The tension was killing me. All should have been fireworks and working, but…..no.
In a good way, the restore will not let you overwrite any exisitng databases, or SSP’s. But also, every time that it goes wrong, you have to go and remove everything that it did successfully manage to restore. So annoying.
Anyway, after a lot of frustrating restores, entering in usernames, passwords, SQL server names and paths, it works, and our Intranet is back.
What a stupid system though. Needs a lot of refinement. Don’t let the seamless backup procedure fool you into thinking that a restore is going to be that easy!
