This is Part 7 (and the last) in a series of migrating SharePoint from SBS 2003 to SBS 2011.

 

Previous posts are:

 

Introduction – Overview

Part 1 – Caveats and Considerations

Part 2 – Preparation steps on v2

Part 3 – Upgrading v2 database to WSS v3

Part 4 – Attaching upgraded database to WSS v3

Part 5 – Check WSSv3 for migration to Foundation 2010

Part 6 – Move database to SBS 2011

Part 7 – Post migration steps and considerations

 

In this part we’ll cover some post migration steps and considerations. After the last post you should have a SharePoint site on you SBS 2011 that looks something like it did on SBS 2003. The next step is to import the Fax Centre library.

 

The first step is to import the file you save in Step 6 into the List template library. To do this go into Site Settings then into the List templates under Galleries.

 

 

Uploading the file into the library allows us to create a new library based on this template that also includes the data (which is why we selected to save list content when we created the template).

 

To re-create the Fax Center Select Site actions again and then More Options. In the list here you should see Fax Center. Select that template, Set the name of the library also to Fax Center, press OK and you’re done.

 

 

You can see Fax Center here under the Tracking heading in the bottom right.

 

I’d go back into the List templates and delete the Fax Center template as it is unlikely you are ever going to need it again.

 

So now in theory you’re all done? Yes but here’s some additional things you should consider or configure in my opinion.

 

– You may need to configure a new site administrator if you have migrated from a different domain. You can do that simply by once again going into Site Settings and selecting Site Collection administrators from under the Users and Permissions heading.

 

 

– You may also need to add the SBS 2011 SharePoint security groups into the appropriate groups in SharePoint to permit you users access. You can do this by going into site settings and selecting People and groups from under the Users and Permissions section. Then click on the hyperlink Groups.

 

You’ll a list of all the SharePoint groups, click into each and ensure the following AD groups appear the listed SharePoint groups:

 

Companyweb visitors = \windows sbs sharepoint_visitorsgroup

Companyweb members = \windows sbs sharepoint_membersgroup

Companyweb owners = \windows sbs sharepoint_ownersgroup

 

– Not all of us live in Seattle so you probably need to check the regional settings and time zone of your site. You can do this by going into Site Settings then selecting Regional settings under the Site Administration section.

 

 

– If you have set complex SharePoint securities these may need to be re-established.

 

– Configure a scheduled command line backup. Using the STSADM or equivalent Powershell operation (see step 6) that runs everyday to create a single data file of your SharePoint site. As I have said before it is much easier in a DR situation to recreate a clean SharePoint environment and then restore the data into it. It also make it easier to bring up a replacement SharePoint server in case of extended downtime.

 

– Configure a scheduled command line export. Using the STSADM or equivalent Powershell operation (see step 6) that runs everyday and creates an export file of your SharePoint site. In contrast to a backup an export allows you to extract and merge the information present to another SharePoint site. You need to consider the size of your SharePoint site when doing backups and export but of you want maximum flexibility I’d do both.

 

– SQL Server memory trimming. Generally all SQL versions install on SharePoint are done so in a standard configuration. This means they have effectively no limit set on the maximum amount of RAM they can utilize. This can mean they end up hogging a large portion solely for their own purposes even if they don’t use it. I’d recommend you go in and trim the amount of RAM each SQL instances uses to something reasonable for that application. SharePoint really shouldn’t need more than 1GB but that is dependent on the size of your SharePoint site.

 

– Set SharePoint farm password. As I have detailed before in this post, on SBS 2011 the SharePoint farm password is set to a random value. This means that in the case of a DR and you needing to repair the SBS 2011 SharePoint installation you are potentially going to need to know the SharePoint farm password to connect to the existing installation. If you don’t then it is an uninstall/reinstall of SharePoint Foundation on SBs 2011, which not something you want to do if it can be avoided. Thus, use the Powershell commands in the post to set the password to something you KNOW.

 

– SQL instance is now \Sharepoint. If you need to look at the SQL databases in the management studio you will need to connect to \Sharepoint. The reason for this is the SQL version on SBS is now SQL Server 2008 Express R2 not SQL Embedded Edition 2005.

 

– Content size limited to 10GB by default. Since SharePoint on SBS 2011 is using SQL Express 2008 R2 the maximum database size supported by this version by default is 10GB. If the information in SharePoint is growing beyond this then the best option is to migrate SharePoint to a full version of SQL Server that has no database size limitation.

 

– Configure BLOB storage. If you have a SharePoint site that has lots of documents then it is probably a good idea to consider BLOB storage. This basically moves binary large objects (i.e. files) out of SQL but still controlled by SQL. To this you basically need to install and configure a free addon for SQL Server. Once complete then large binary objects will reside outside the SQL database allowing your SQL database to contain more than the ‘default’ 10GB. the recommendation is that you shouldn’t exceed 16-20GB using this method but information on what is required to enable is can be found here. It is my understanding that only AFTER you configure BLOB storage will files end up outside your SQL database, so perhaps you want to that before any migration. I really don’t know enough BLOB storage yet to give any hard and fast recommendations.

 

– Configuring PDF document actions. As detailed in this previous post, when you click on a PDF file saved in SharePoint Foundation 2010 you are only going to get the option to save not to open. if you want the browser to open PDF documents directly then you’ll need to follow the instructions in the post to enable this.

 

It seems this post is becoming pretty long so let me summarize what else you need to look at and cover it in more detail in future posts. You should also:

 

– Set the recycle bin handling

– Ensure indexing and search is operational

– Run a full index of all your content

– Add/Remove and restricted file types

– Configure analysis reporting

– Configure diagnostic reporting

 

Phew, far more here than I thought at first eh? I’ll keep posting information but do it independently of this series.

 

Of course, all of this information is found in my SharePoint Guide (www.wssops.com), updated monthly and in full detail for subscribers.