I was reading trhough my blogroll today and noticed a very complete blog post for deploying SP2 in a large MOSS environment. It describes optimized steps for installing SP2 with lesser downtime as you would have by just installing it. Chris Givens is a SharePoint trainer. His Advanced SharePoint 2007 Operations course looks very interesting. Just a pitty that you have to go all the way to Seattle for it…. For us European trash guys, it is hard to defend that to our manager, right? 

So please, read through this post as it may help you with your upgrade of your farm if you have large databases.

This is the original content of Chris’s Post that can be found at

http://blogs.architectingconnectedsystems.com/blogs/cjg/archive/2009/05/10/How-to-upgrade-to-SharePoint-2007-SP2-_2D00_-Step-by-Step.aspx

 built this lab for the latest update to my Advanced SharePoint Operations course.  But I felt like it would benefit the entire community…so here you go!  Good luck!

Module #25: Updating The Farm Lab #01

Course:                SharePoint 2007 Operations Estimated Time to Complete:  45 minutes Objectives: ·         Upgrade to SP2 Operating Notes:   ·         You will need sharepoint2007 and svr-sp2 images ·         Assumes that you are using SQL Server 2000/2005/2008 for your database server (Not Internal DB engine) Deliverables: ·         None

Overview:         Learn the steps of preparing your farm for upgrade and then performing the upgrade.

Exercise 1 – Prep the Farm

Purpose:         There are a series of recommend steps that will speed up the upgrade of your SharePoint Farm.  Following these somewhat simple suggestions will get you through the process much faster!  Rebuilding indexes will ensure that the upgrade process will modify the database schemas and records as quick as possible.  Truncating the log files will ensure that your backup and restores will run quickly.  Detaching

Result:            A farm ready for upgrade

Task 1 – Clean up the databases (rebuild indexes)

1. Open SQL Server Management Studio
2. Connect to your sharepoint database server
3. Click “New Query”
4. Run (press Atl-X) the following command on each SharePoint database (set the dropdown for each):
   • WSS_Content*
   • SharePoint_Config*

SELECT  object_id, index_id, avg_fragmentation_in_percent, page_count FROM sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats(DB_ID(), NULL, NULL, NULL , NULL) order by avg_fragmentation_in_percent desc SET NOCOUNT ON     DECLARE @objectid int     DECLARE @indexid int     DECLARE @command varchar(8000)     DECLARE @baseCommand varchar(8000)     DECLARE @schemaname sysname     DECLARE @objectname sysname     DECLARE @indexname sysname     DECLARE @currentDdbId int     SELECT @currentDdbId = DB_ID()     PRINT CONVERT(nvarchar, GETDATE(), 126) + ': Starting' DECLARE indexesToDefrag CURSOR FOR SELECT         i.object_id,         i.index_id,         i.name FROM        sys.indexes AS i INNER JOIN         sys.objects AS o ON         i.object_id = o.object_id WHERE         i.index_id > 0 AND         o.type = 'U'     OPEN indexesToDefrag     -- Loop through the partitions.     FETCH NEXT     FROM         indexesToDefrag     INTO         @objectid,         @indexid,         @indexname     WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0     BEGIN         -- Lookup the name of the index         SELECT             @schemaname = s.name         FROM             sys.objects AS o         JOIN             sys.schemas AS s         ON             s.schema_id = o.schema_id         WHERE             o.object_id = @objectid         PRINT CONVERT(nvarchar, GETDATE(), 126) + ': ' + @schemaname + '.' + @indexname + ' is now being rebuilt.'         -- Fragmentation is bad enough that it will be more efficient to rebuild the index         SELECT @baseCommand =             ' ALTER INDEX ' +                 @indexname +             ' ON ' +                 @schemaname + '.' + object_name(@objectid) +             ' REBUILD WITH (FILLFACTOR = 80, ONLINE = '         -- Use dynamic sql so this compiles in SQL 2000         SELECT @command =             ' BEGIN TRY ' +                @baseCommand + 'ON) ' +             ' END TRY ' +             ' BEGIN CATCH ' +                -- Indices with image-like columns can't be rebuild online, so go offline                @baseCommand + 'OFF) ' +             ' END CATCH '         PRINT CONVERT(nvarchar, GETDATE(), 126) + ': Rebuilding'         EXEC (@command)         PRINT CONVERT(nvarchar, GETDATE(), 126) + ': Done'         FETCH NEXT FROM indexesToDefrag INTO @objectid, @indexid, @indexname     END     CLOSE indexesToDefrag     DEALLOCATE indexesToDefrag SELECT  object_id, index_id, avg_fragmentation_in_percent, page_count FROM sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats(DB_ID(), NULL, NULL, NULL , NULL) order by avg_fragmentation_in_percent desc GO

 

Task 2 – Check disk space on web and database servers

1. On each web front end, open Explorer to “My Computer”, record your disk space.  Make sure you have at least 300MB free for install of files
2. On each database server, open Explorer to “My Computer”, record your disk space.  Make sure that you have enough space to make a copy of your largest content database.
   • Example:  if you have three databases of size 10GB, 20GB and 30 GB.  Make sure you have at least 30GB of free space on your DB server.

Task 3 – Backup the databases (truncate and backup)

1. Create a folder called “D:\Backups”, ensure that you have enough disk space to save all your backups to this location (add the size of each database to determine how much you will need)
2. Run the following commands TWICE for each database (this will shrink, backup and truncate your database and log files):
   • WSS_Content*
   • WSS_Search*
   • SharePoint_Config
   • SharedServices*

use WSS_Content dbcc shrinkfile ('WSS_Content') dbcc shrinkfile ('WSS_Content_log') go backup database WSS_Content to disk = 'D:\backups\wss_content.bak' go backup log WSS_Content to disk = 'D:\backups\wss_content.bak' go dbcc shrinkfile ('WSS_Content') dbcc shrinkfile ('WSS_Content_log') go

Task 3 – Evaluate Database Size

1. If you designed your farm wrong, it is possible that you have a single web application with a single content database that contains all your content.  This type of setup normally means you have a database that is going to get large very quickly and backup and restore operations, as well as future upgrades could take a considerable amount of time.  It is suggested that you create more content databases and partition your site collections across multiple databases.
2. You have two options to do this:
   • Create another content database in the web application
   • Create another web application with a new content database
3. Create a new site collection in your port 100 site
   • Open “Central Administration”
   • Click “Application management”
   • Click “Create Site collection”, ensure that you are on port 100 web application
   • For Title, type “SC2”
   • For URL, select “/sites/”, and type “SC2”
   • For owner, type “administrator”
   • Click “Ok”
4. You will now have two site collections in your content database, you can use the following commands to backup a site collection, delete it and restore to a different web application (and hence a new content database):

stsadm -o backup -url http://sharepoint2007:100/sites/Sc2 -filename c:\backup.dat –overwrite stsadm –o deletesite -url http://sharepoint2007:100/sites/Sc2 stsadm -o restore -url http://sharepoint2007:777/sites/sc2 -filename c:\backup.dat

1. You can continue this process to load balance your site collections across multiple content databases and in essence distribute your database sizes so that upgrading will not be so painful.
   • NOTE: you can only use a url once in a web application

Task 4 – Detach the content databases

1. Open the “Central Administration” site
2. Click “Application Management”
3. For each web application in your web application list (EXCEPT central administration), do the following steps. NOTE: Click “Web Application List” to see them all:

1.  
   • Click “Content Databases”

1.  
   • You will see a list of content databases for the web application
   • Click the database name

1.  
   • Click the “Remove content database” check box
   • Click “Ok”
   • Click “Ok”

1.  
   • Click “Ok”
   • You should now see that the web application has no content databases:

1. Again, do this for every web application EXCEPT the Central administration web application!
   • NOTE: you may have several content databases…this may be a tedious task so you should likely follow step 5
2. You can also create a command line utility to do this:
   • Open Visual Studio
   • Click “File->New Project”
   • Select “Console Application”
   • For name, type “ContentDetachAttachScript”
   • Copy the following into the program.cs file:

using System; using System.IO; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Text; using Microsoft.SharePoint; using Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration; namespace ConsoleApplication1 {     class Program     {         static void Main(string[] args)         {             TextWriter tw = File.CreateText("C:/detachall.bat");             TextWriter tw2 = File.CreateText("C:/attachall.bat");             SPFarm farm = SPFarm.Local;             SPAlternateUrlCollectionManager mgr = farm.AlternateUrlCollections;                                                          foreach (SPAlternateUrlCollection altColl in mgr )             {                 foreach (SPAlternateUrl url in altColl)                 {                     if (url.UrlZone == SPUrlZone.Default)                     {                         try                         {                             SPSite site = new SPSite(url.IncomingUrl);                               SPWeb root = site.RootWeb;                             if (root.WebTemplate != "CENTRALADMIN")                             {                                 //get the web application for the site collection                                 SPWebApplication webApp = site.WebApplication;                                 foreach (SPContentDatabase cd in webApp.ContentDatabases)                                 {                                     tw.WriteLine("stsadm -o deletecontentdb -url " + url.IncomingUrl + " -databasename " + cd.Name + " -databaseserver " + cd.Server);                                     tw2.WriteLine("stsadm -o addcontentdb -url " + url.IncomingUrl + " -databasename " + cd.Name + " -databaseserver " + cd.Server);                                     //Console.WriteLine("Content Database [" + cd.Name + "] was detached");                                     //cd.Delete();                                 }                             }                         }                         catch (Exception ex)                         {                             Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);                         }                                            }                 }             }             tw.Close();             tw2.Close();             Console.WriteLine("Press enter to close");             Console.ReadLine();         }     } }

1.  
   • Compile the program, press F6
   • Copy the executable to your SharePoint Farm
   • Run the executable
   • Open the C:\detachall.bat file , this file will contain all the stsadm commands that will detach all your content databases
   • Open the C:\attachall.bat file, this contains all the stsadm commands to reattach your databases (NOTE: you should attach one at a time in the later steps).

Task 5 – Backup important files

1. If running in a virtual environment, backup your front end webservers main image file.  After doing this, you may skip the rest of these steps and head straight for upgrade!!!
2. Web.config files for all web applications (located in WSS directory of wwwroot)
3. Core Site definitions that were modified  ( located in 12 hive template/sitetemplates directory)
4. Any customizations including:
   • Changes made to core.css
   • Changes made to javascript files
   • Pretty much anything you changed in the 12 hive…

Task 6 – Upgrade the servers (WSS)

1. Stop IIS
   • Open a command prompt, run “iisreset /stop”
2. Run “d:\lab files\25_Lab01\ wssv3sp2-kb953338-x86-fullfile-en-us.exe”
3. Click “Click here to accept…” check box
4. Click “Continue”
5. The service pack should start…:

1. When the WSS update finishes, the Configuration Wizard will start:

1. Click “Next”

1. Click “Yes”

1. Click “Next”

1. Click “Ok” at the information popup, the farm will start to configure itself.  This includes:
   • Updating DLLs (gac)
   • Creating/Updating registry keys
   • Creating/Updating 12 hive information
   • Updating web.config files
   • Installing new features
2. The install should finish:

1. Repeat the above steps for the svr-sp2 image

Task 7 – Upgrade the servers (MOSS)

1. Stop IIS
   • Open a command prompt, run “iisreset /stop”
2. Run “d:\lab files\25_Lab01\ officeserver2007sp2-kb953334-x86-fullfile-en-us.exe”

1. Click “Click here to accept…” check box
2. Click “Continue”
3. The service pack should start…:

1. When the MOSS update finishes, the Configuration Wizard will start:

1. Click “Next”

1. Click “Yes”

1. Click “Next”

1. Click “Ok” at the information popup, the farm will start to configure itself.  This includes:
   • Updating DLLs (gac)
   • Creating/Updating registry keys
   • Creating/Updating 12 hive information
   • Updating web.config files
   • Installing new features
2. The install should finish:

1. Repeat the above steps for the svr-sp2 image

Task 8 – Reattach the content databases

1. Open the C:\attachall.bat file, run the attach command for each content database that you detached
2. SharePoint will upgrade the database as it attaches it.

Task 9 – Verify Install

1.       Open the upgrade.log file (in 12 hive LOGS directory)

o    Look for “Finished upgrading SPFarm Name=<Name of Configuration Database>”

o    Look for “In-place upgrade session finishes. Root object = SPFarm=<Name of Configuration Database>, recursive = True. 0 errors and 0 warnings encountered.”

2.       If the above entries DO NOT exist, look for all instances of

o    “fail”

o    “error”

3.       Check version number on:

o    Owssvr.dll (in 12 hive isapi directory) should be “12.0.6421.1000”

 

 

o    Registry “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\12.0”

 

o    Central administration

4.       Check version of the sharepoint databases:

o    Run the following sql command on each database:

select * from versions order by timestamp desc

 

o    You should get “12.0.0.6421”

 

5.       On Central Administration, click “Operations”

o    Click “Servers In Farm”

o    The version for the farm and servers should be “12.0.0.6421”

 

Task 10 – Check for SharePoint 2010 readiness

1.       Run the following command:

stsadm –o preupgradecheck

 

2.       Review the PreUpgradeCheck-*.htm file in the 12 hive logs directory (it should open in a browser window

3.       You should watch out for the following items:

o    The above command should be run on all Web Front end servers to ensure they are identical

o    You should review the Site Definition information for any non “Internal” site definitions, these will need to have an upgrade definition file.  Your developers will need to build this file for SP 2010

o    If you have language packs installed, you will need to install the latest version when SP 2010 comes out

o    Look for any referenced and missing features.  Either install them or delete the references to them

o    Depending on the type of upgrade to SP 2010 you do, you many need to plan for URL changes in your sites

o    Review the Lists that have more than the recommends number of items.  These could slow the migration process to SP 2010.  Consider removing the list or deleting items to shrink the list size

o    Review any Custom Field types that have been added to your Farm.  CAML is not used in SP2010 and each of them will need to be re-developed with XSLT in mind.

o    If you are running on 32 bit OS and Server 2003, you will need to start planning for migration to a 64bit server 2008 environment to run SP 2010