Month: June 2008

Microsoft do have a way to migrate Companyweb

So after studying what Microsoft has to offer about migrating Companyweb on SBS you’ll find:

 

Steps performed on source server

Steps performed on destination server

 

Interesting, it seems that the Microsoft procedure actually creates a second Sharepoint v3 site on the new SBS 2008 server. Quoting from the final results of the document:

 

You now have a working Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Web site that is named OldCompanyWeb and that contains the structure and documents of your old Windows SBS 2003 CompanyWeb Web site. This is a good time to review the contents of your Windows SBS 2003 CompanyWeb Web site and to reorganize or archive items, if appropriate. You can open the new Windows SBS 2008 internal Web site and the Windows SBS 2003 OldCompanyWeb site side-by-side.

 

If you open document libraries and use the Explorer view, you can copy and paste documents and folders from one site to the other.

 

I must admit that if I had a really big Companyweb site I wouldn’t want to be recreating it. It is fine to say “just copy the documents” but what about all the other information like lists, calendars, tasks and so on? I can see this being a pain even for a small site.

 

Now, I will admit I haven’t verified that my method doesn’t break anything and it may well do that (I think it may have issues with inbound faxes and maybe the database relocation wizard) but I will check those out as well as the suggest migration method from Microsoft.

 

On the other hand I can understand why Microsoft recommends doing it this way because who knows what customizations have been done to people’s companyweb? Who knows if these will even migrate correctly? At least with a second Sharepoint v3 site if something “breaks” then you still have an original SBS2008 companyweb to fall back on.

 

So I can understand Microsoft’s logic but if you have a big/complex SBS 2003 companyweb site and you want to take the Microsoft option then basically be prepared to recreate the site on SBS 2008 from what I see.

Video 46 posted

So after all the recent dramas of getting SBS 2008 working I decided to celebrate with a new You Tube video. This video is a first look at the new Small Business Server from Microsoft. I quickly run through what’s the same, what’s new and then examine the new SBS management console.

 

Hopefully over time I’ll be posting more videos about SBS 2008 including all the good old things that I have covered in previous videos on SBS 2003 such as creating users and computers. You’ll find the latest video here:

The weather starting getting rough…

The tiny ship was tossed. If not for the courage of the fearless crew, virtual SBS would be lost.

 

So, continuing on with what appears to be my never ending quest to get a virtual SBS 2008 machine working I had finally gotten a 64 bit guest environment working via Windows Server 2008 64 bit and Hyper-V. Phew. During the last episode I had just started installing SBS 2008.

 

Everything was looking good until the installation tells me I don’t have a network card. I check the Windows configuration manager and I do have a network card but the driver won’t start. Now if I had read John’s comment to my previous post I would have been aware that I needed to set up the virtual machine for SBS with a legacy network card. Unfortunately I didn’t do that, I did however find a work around. I mounted the virtual machine additions CD image, updated all the other missing drivers from that CD image, deleted and re-installed the network card from device manager and got it working. I’ll have to remember that legacy card option for the next virtual SBS 2008 server I run up. Thanks for the heads up John.

 

Finally after many trials and tribulations I have SBS 2008 standard installed. Here’s a few initial observations:

 

1. During the installation there aren’t a lot of options. Most of the configuration seems to come after you get SBS running. In that way you just have to let SBS 2008 install the default way. Now it is my understanding that you can provide an answer file to change these default options but it certainly seems “dumbed down”.

 

2. The connect to the Internet wizard is much more router and DHCP aware which is a good thing. The connection to the Internet is now simply connecting to the Internet. Email and remote access is in a different wizard.

 

3. The layout of the SBS console if very different but so far I like it. It is well organized and pretty logical I think. It is going to remove a lot of confusion for “non-IT” types. It is also interesting that it is moving further and further away from the technical to simply point and click. Again, “dumbing down” in my books.

 

I still have a lot more to play with, especially when it comes to Sharepoint on SBS 2008 and I’ll be posting my findings and thoughts in upcoming entries. Now that I have SBS 2008 running what can I do with it? I wonder ….

Just sit right back…

and you’ll hear a tale. A tale of a fateful trip. That started from this tropic port aboard this 64 bit ship..” as the classic TV theme goes. Well almost.

 

So to recap, I have been trying to install SBS 2008 into a virtual environment. Problem is because SBS 2008 is only 64 bit I need something that supports a 64 bit guest operating system. However, I firstly need to purchase hardware that supports 64 bit and then install a 64 bit host operating system.

 

Hardware purchase, tick.

64 bit host operating system, tick.

64 bit virtual environment software, tick.

 

My initial choice for 64 bit virtual environment was Microsoft Virtual PC 2007. Which I discovered doesn’t support host 64 bit operating systems. Strike one. Next option VM Ware Server. I install the current version (1.06). Problem is it doesn’t have signed drivers and Vista 64 bit wants signed drivers. Long story short the current version of VM Ware server doesn’t run on Vista 64 bit. Strike two. So now I try VM Ware server 2.0 Beta 2. Program installs but I can’t actually log onto the VM Server. What the …? I google here, I google there, turns out you have to enable the administrator account, (disabled by default under Vista), assign it a password and use that to log in. Ok, ok so I’m in. Now I create a VM machine and boot it but I can’t connect to the VM console. I get a message about being unable to connect because a secure connection can’t be established. I google here, I google there, turns out this a problem on Vista 64 bit. Damm! I try IE and Firefox to connect still no good. I google here, I google there but finally decide it’s a lost cause. Strike three.

 

Next option, Virtual box from Sun. Turns out that doesn’t support guest 64 bit operating systems either. . I know I can make this work, I ain’t beat yet.

 

Thinking, thinking….ok let’s try Windows 2008 and Hyper V as the virtual environment. This means an installation of Windows 2008 server 64 bit to remove the base Vista 64 bit I started with on my hardware. Luckily, I created a small system partition and had my data on another partition so all I needed to do was reformat and reinstall on the small system partition while my data remained intact. Hey, I’m not just a pretty face you know! Now my 64 bit machine doesn’t have a mouse, keyboard and monitor since I was using remote desktop. So I stretch my existing keyboard, mouse and monitor across, boot to the Windows 2008 Server 64 bit system DVD and install Windows Server 2008.

 

Ok, Windows Server 2008 is up, I enable remote desktop, remove the keyboard, mouse and monitor and access it remotely again. I add the role for Hyper V and reboot. Bugger, Hyper V console won’t load. Next stop Microsoft Update. Patching, patching, patching …. reboot, still no joy. Bugger x 2. So I search Microsoft.com and find that there is an update (not a critical or recommended update mind you for Hyper V on 64 bit Windows 2008 which I install and finally the Hyper V console is working. Phew. I go in and create a new virtual machine and start it up but am greeted by an error saying that the machine can’t start because Hyper V isn’t running. What the …?

 

So I’m googling and I’m googling and learn that you have to turn on the virtualization stuff in your PC’s BIOS since it is disabled by default in most cases. So I move the keyboard, mouse and monitor BACK to the 64 bit machine, reboot go into the BIOS and enable the virtualization stuff. I reboot the machine, move the keyboard, mouse and monitor BACK AGAIN to my original desktop and connect remotely.

 

That’s all for this entries exciting tale. Stay tuned to the next entry for … Just kidding, I couldn’t do that to anyone who has read this far. Bottom line is I now have it working and am in the process of installing a guest SBS 2008 system on a Hyper V virtual machine on a Windows 2008 64 bit host operating system. I’m sure this story is far from over so do stay tuned!

Not as easy as that

So, as John points out in a comment to my last post, I have discovered that Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 doesn’t support guest 64 bit operating systems even if it is running on a 64 bit system. Bugger! Ok, so I’ve learnt something today.

 

It seems that Sun has something called Virtual Box which appears to support 64 bit guest operating systems and seems to be all the rage with the Linux crowd. I think perhaps I’ll try VM Server which is also free and appears to be more supported at least in the Windows world.

 

So now I gotta get VM Server running on 64 bit Vista (which I must say runs really well so far) and then get SBS 2008 running on VM Server.

 

Hey, I’ve got plenty of time, I’ve only just completed the download of the second SBS 2008 ISO DVD. You do need something to do during these long downloads don’t you? Maybe like get a life as my mother would say!

A brave new world

I now have a new machine onto which I will be launching into the 64 bit world. The first step is to install Windows Vista Business x64 as the base operating system. Why? You well ask. Well, the plan is to run multiple Virtual PC’s and initially I think that I should start with the latest and greatest client operating system and see where that leads me. Now sure, I could have installed Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 but I’m really interested to see whether Windows Vista 64 bit is any better than normal Vista or XP. Besides, in my experience the only way to learn is to try it yourself, although I know that I’m bound to waste a heap of time going through the process.

 

Hopefully I won’t have too much trouble at least getting the base operating system running. After doing all the updates, the next step will be the installation of the 64 bit version of Microsoft Virtual PC 2007. Then I’ll be interested to see whether any of my existing Virtual PC images work or whether I have to create “dedicated” 64 bit versions from scratch (a real pain if that is the case). Then I’ll be installing SBS 2008 to give it a run through.

 

Hopefully along the way I’ll be able to give you a run down of my experiences in the 64 bit world and whether it does in fact make things run “better”. Time will tell.

 

Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye. Cheerio, here I go on my way….

Hey, what about SharePoint migration in SBS 2008?

There’s a whole heap of information now coming out about SBS 2008 (since it has gone RC0). There is also information about migrating to SBS 2008 (see here). Now call me bias but what about Sharepoint migration?

 

SBS 2003 comes with Sharepoint v2 by default and I suspect that most customers using Sharepoint are using this version. Now you can also install Sharepoint V3 on a SBS 2003 server but when you migrate to SBS 2008 how is this data going to be migrated? A migration from an installation in Sharepoint v3 on SBS 2003 is going to be easier since SBS 2008 comes with Sharepoint V3 but what about from the good ol’ Sharepoint V2? You can’t simply back Sharepoint V2 data up and restore it to Sharepoint V3!

 

I don’t think people have stopped to consider that Sharepoint migration from SBS 2003 may be a little more difficult that they think. If people are using Sharepoint V2 on SBS 2003 big time then they are going to want their data migrated, no question. Now, I’ll admit I haven’t run up SBS 2008 yet (soon, real soon) so I can’t fully comment on how Sharepoint V3 works on SBS 2008 but I’ll bet a few bucks that any migration from Sharepoint V2 hasn’t been given a lot of thought.

 

Luckily I know somewhere that is already giving in depth consideration to the problem and will soon have something available to assist with Sharepoint migrations. Look up in the sky. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s the Saturn Alliance Windows Sharepoint Operations Guide to the rescue:

 

http://wssops.saturnalliance.com.au

 

So stay tuned to this blog ladies and gentlemen for further updates on Sharepoint migration in SBS 2008.

100,000 views and climbing

I am very proud to announce that my videos on YouTube have now surpassed a total of 100,000 views! Truly amazing I must say as I never thought they would even get past 10,000, but hey I’m happy to be wrong again.

 

I’m currently working on a new video that will hopefully go up over the weekend. I’m planning to do some SBS2008 videos but I need a 64 bit operating system somewhere so I can run SBS 2008. I’m just scouting for a suitable piece of hardware now that can be dedicated to this. So hopefully in the near future I can start uploading some videos of SBS2008 as well.

 

Until then I’d like to take this opportunity to thanks all those people who have viewed my online videos, provided feedback and subscribed. It is because of people like you that I’ve been able to achieve this level and I will do my best to keep them coming. Don’t forget to contact me if you have any feedback or requests for content.

 

Next milestone = 1,000,000 views!