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Update 2018-04-05 : See our new guide that covers this topic and gives all up-to-date scenario

With the latest version of SCCM 1511, many admins will be tempted to move to latest operating system and SQL versions. Considering Windows Server 2008 R2 and SQL 2008 R2 are already on extended support and the way SCCM 1511 is designed for future upgrades, it can be good time to do a SCCM 1511 migration with the latest OS and SQL.

As of now, all system roles of SCCM 1511 are supported on Windows Server 2008 R2, but if you are planning to use Windows 10 Servicing, you must use WSUS 4.0 from Windows Server 2012 and up.

If you’re planning this scenario, you have 2 choices :

  1. Install a new server with SQL and use backup/restore function before upgrading to 1511. In that case, we recommend doing it in the following steps :
    • Backup/restore on the new OS (The new machine must have the same host name)
    • Upgrade to 1511 on the new machine
    • In-place SQL Upgrade (if necessary)
  2. Install a new server and perform a side-by-side migration between the 2 SCCM hierarchy

This post will cover the second option, describing SCCM 1511 Migration pre-requisites and tasks. The advantage of this method over the other one (backup/restore) is that it provide minimum down-time. You can do your migration at your desired pace and switch your clients when you’re ready. The disadvantage is that it requires a bit more operational tasks and planning.

If you’re looking to do an in-place upgrade, please see our SCCM 1511 upgrade guide instead.

SCCM 1511 Migration Pre-requisites

  • Install your new server or virtual machine with desired SQL version as you would do for a new SCCM installation. You can refer to our  Part 1 and Part 2 of our SCCM 1511 complete installation guide for this
  • Perform a new SCCM 1511 Installation on this new server with a new site code
  • SCCM must be at least 2007 SP2 and above in order to create a migration task
  • Software Update Point must be configured on destination hierarchy (1511) prior to migrating any Software Update configurations
For more details about pre-requisite, consult the Technet article.

Setup Source Hierarchy

To transfer data between your SCCM 1511 and SCCM 2012 sites, you must first connect them together.

  • On your SCCM 1511, go to Administration/ Migration/ Source Hierarchy
  • Select Specify Source Hierarchy on the top ribbon

sccm 1511 migration

  • Enter the top-level site server FDQN of the source environment (SCCM 2012 server)
  • Select the account to use to connect to the top-level site server
    • We use and account that is SCCM Full Admin on both side. As specified in the wizard, no such rights are required
  • Depending on your environment, Enabling Distribution point sharing might be useful
    • This should be pretty important in large, distributed environment

sccm 1511 migration

  • Click OK, Data Gathering process starts

sccm 1511 migration

Your 2 sites are now connected!

For more details about source hierarchy, read the following Technet article.

Data Gathering

The Data Gathering process will verify items that can be migrated from the source.

No objects are migrated yet ! Data gathering is configured to 4 hours by default.

It can be modified in the properties of the source hierarchy.

9999 (5)(1)

Migration jobs

To migrate objects from our SCCM 2012 site, we need to create a migration job.

When migrating content from a 2012 hierarchy, all objects should be compatible.

Before migrating, we suggest that you read these details about what objects can or can’t be migrated.

  • In SCCM 1511, go to Administration/ Migration/ Migration Jobs
  • Select Create Migration Job

sccm 1511 migration

  • On the General tab, provide a name and select Object Migration in the Job Type dropbox, click Next
    • Object modified after migration can be useful to monitor object modified after the job as ran

sccm 1511 migration

  • On the Select Objects tab, select objects that you want to migrate, click Next

sccm 1511 migration

  • On the Content Ownership tab, all migrated objects will be owned by the new site, click Next
sccm 1511 migration
  • On the Site Code Replacement tab, replace site code for collections if needed, click Next

sccm 1511 migration

  • On the Security Scope tab, specify the security scope to apply to the migrated objects, click Next
    • If you used it a lot in SCCM 2012, multiple migration might be a good idea to assign the security scope back
    • Assigning security scopes can also be done after the migration

sccm 1511 migration

  • On the Settings tab, specify the Schedule, Conflict resolution action and Organizational folder structure, click Next 

sccm 1511 migration

  • On the Summary tab, review your option, click Next

sccm 1511 migration

  • On the Completion tab, click Close

sccm 1511 migration

  • You can see the migration job status in the console, go to Administration / Migration / Migration Jobs (Details can be found in the Summary tab in the bottom)

sccm 1511 migration

  • The Objects in the job tab will shows each object included in the job

sccm 1511 migration

Once you run the job, you will see objects appearing within the new SCCM.

You can run the job at any time by right-clicking the job and selecting Start.

sccm 1511 migration

For more details about Migration jobs, read the following Technet Article

Content Distribution

Once objects are migrated, you can now migrate Distribution Points. Activating Enable distribution-point sharing for this source site in the Source Site properties will allows previous version Distribution Point to show up in SCCM 1511 and to be used by client as content source when packages are migrated.

sccm 1511 migration

You can see the status of Shared Distribution Point in the console under Administration / Migration / Source Hierarchy and by selecting the Shared Distribution Point tab at the bottom.

sccm 1511 migration

Eligible for Reassignment

When looking at your Shared Distribution Point tab, you’ll notice an Eligible for reassignment column. Yes value means that the Distribution Point is ready to be reassign to your SCCM 1511 hierarchy.

For a System Center 2012 Configuration Manager distribution point to be eligible for reassignment, it must meet the following criteria:

  • A shared distribution point must be installed on a computer other than the site server
  • A shared distribution point cannot be co-located with any additional site system roles

sccm 1511 migration

If you look at a package that has been migrated, you will see that they are already distributed.

sccm 1511 migration

How to Reassign a Distribution Point

The Reassign wizard is pretty much like a new Distribution Point installation.

  • Under Administration / Migration / Source Hierarchy select the Shared distribution Points tab at the bottom
  • Select your  Distribution Point, Right click it and select Reassign Distribution point

sccm 1511 migration

  • On the General tab, select the new Site code, click Next

sccm 1511 migration

  • On the Distribution Point tab, specify the desired options, click Next

For rights needed to reassign a Distribution point here, see the Technet Article

sccm 1511 migration

  • On the Drive Settings tab, you cannot configured your drives, it will use what is already in place, click Next

sccm 1511 migration

  • On the Pull Distribution Point tab, you can be enable you DP to be a Pull DP if needed, click Next

sccm 1511 migration

  • On the PXE Settings tab, you can’t configured anything, this is normal, click Next

sccm 1511 migration

  • On the Content validation tab, you can’t configured anything, this is normal, click Next

sccm 1511 migration

  • On the Boundary Groups tab, assign your Boundary groups to your Distribution Point, click Next

sccm 1511 migration

  • On the Content Conversion tab, you’ll see a list of packages on the Distribution Point, click Next

sccm 1511 migration

  • On the Summary tab, review your options and click Next

sccm 1511 migration

  • On the Completion tab, click Close

SCCM 1511 Migration

  • Confirm that your Distribution Point is now part of your SCCM 1511 site

SCCM 1511 Migration

  •  Confirm that the Distribution Point as been removed from the 2012 R2 SP1 site

SCCM 1511 Migration

For more details about Content Migration, read the following Technet article.

Clients

Once all objects are migrated, you need to reassign your client in the new SCCM 1511 site.

Many options can be used :

  • Reassign client site with a script to migrate to the new hierarchy
  • Use auto-upgrade when client are assigned to the new hierarchy
  • Use client push to reassign clients and upgrade at the same time
    • This will change the assigned site code automatically

In the end, upgrading the clients uses the same process as any previous Service Pack release.

Please refer to our SCCM R2 SP1 upgrade post for client upgrade using auto-upgrade or client push.

For more details about Client Migration, read the following Technet article

SCCM 1511 Post Migration Tasks

When all objects are migrated, the migration can be completed with these general steps :

  • Validate that all clients, data, Distribution Points are migrated and no longer require the source hierarchy
  • Stop gathering data from the source site
  • Clean up migration data
  • Decommission the source hierarchy

Stop gathering data

Before you stop gathering data, the following must be completed :

  • Distribute content to at least one DP in the new hierarchy
  • Reassign Distribution Point

To stop gathering data :

  • In the SCCM Console, go to Administration / Migration / Source Hierarchy

SCCM 1511 Migration

Clean Up Migration Data

This step is optional.

To clean up migration data :

  • In the SCCM Console, go to Administration / Migration / Source Hierarchy

SCCM 1511 Migration

  • Select the source hierarchy

SCCM 1511 Migration

  • Confirm by clicking Yes
SCCM 1511 Migration

For more details about post migration tasks, read the following Technet article

Logs

All migrations tasks refer to the same log : Migmctrl.log

It can be founded in your SCCM installation directory Microsoft Configuration Manager\Logs\

sccm 1511 migration

For more details about Monitoring migration, read the following Technet article

That’s it, you’ve completed your SCCM 2012 to SCCM 1511 Migration. Don’t forget to upgrade to 1602 after your migration (if needed). Feel free to ask your question or leave your comments using the comments section !

Comments (134)

CRISAN ANDREI VASILE

04.01.2020 AT 03:18 AM
Hello I have followed your tutorial on migration but i migrated from SCCM 1810 with sql 2012 and windows server 2012 r2 to SCCM 1910 windows server 2019 and sql 2019 i have migrated everything with success even the DP except one the one on the old site server and this leaves me with the actual site server with no content distributed on it. How can i get all the content and deployments on my new site server DP. Thank you

Gibson

02.28.2019 AT 03:53 AM
Hello, thanks for this this nice guide. Can we apply this on ConfigMgr Current Branch (both old and new server) as well or is there any updated guidelines? Thanks Gibson

Jonathan Lefebvre

02.28.2019 AT 07:35 AM
Hi Gibson, this is still valid 🙂 thanks Jonathan

Sarav

11.11.2019 AT 10:21 PM
Query about overlapping boundaries SCCM Hi Jonathan , I read your blogs and it’s very helpful. I am reaching out to you as I hope you have give me a good advice. I couldn’t find info about my specific query. We are having SCCM 2012, a stand-alone primary site server. It’s configured with active directory site as boundary type with default-first-site-name and it’s attached to a single boundary group with site assignment. The problem is now my company have asked to install a another standalone primary site server (CB 1902) as fresh installation, eventually migrate all the clients from 2012 to 1902. The new version will be in a better hardware as well. I have read site code has to be unique which I have done. The problem with the boundary, how can I configure a non-overlapping boundary and it’s group; as the entire active directory site is configured as boundary in the 2012 CM. Can you guide what needs to be done to run both SCCM with the same domain with out having overlapping boundaries and group. My thought was to configure new boundaries using IP range in the new SCCM 1902 and map them to a single boundary group with site assignment. Can you guide me on this ? thx sarav

Vin

12.07.2018 AT 01:31 PM
Hello Jonathan! When I try to gather information for the migration, I receive this error: ERROR: [Worker]: Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.SoftwareLibrary.ObjectSerialization.LibraryException: Couldn't find the specified instance SMS_SCI_SysResUse.FileType=2 Do you have any idea of what it is and how to fix it? Thank you for your post. Great one.

Vin

12.07.2018 AT 01:25 PM
Hi Jonathan! When I try to migrate shared DP, gathering information gives me an error: ERROR: [Worker]: Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.SoftwareLibrary.ObjectSerialization.LibraryException: Couldn't find the specified instance SMS_SCI_SysResUse.FileType=2. Do you have any idea of what it is and how to fix it? Thanks in advance for your posting

AMDC

12.06.2018 AT 07:55 AM
Hi Jonathan, Thanks for taking the time to put this together. It’s very well done. I have a question around shared DPs please. When sharing a distribution point between a 2012 R2 source site and an1806 destination site, which client package resides on the shared DP.? The current 2012 R2 client? When the DP is reassigned does the client package get automatically pushed at that point? Plan to test just looking for a quick answer to begin. Thank you for your work and your help.

Jonathan Lefebvre

12.06.2018 AT 08:54 AM
Hi AMDC, if I remember correctly, it will be both as the DP respond to request from both hierarchy. On top of that, they do not have the same ID because the site code is not the same. I've seen issues with Client Upgrade package while the DP is shared. Once reassigned, and after an SCCM upgrade(update rollup or major build) the issue was fixed. Thanks for the great comment 🙂 Jonathan

Vin

11.08.2018 AT 11:14 AM
Hi Jonathan! Do you have any suggestion for post-migration jobs? For how long we can still use the old SCCM Infra and how to clean up once migration is completed? Thank you for the detailed article. Good job. Vin

Jonathan Lefebvre

11.08.2018 AT 12:10 PM
Hi Vin, try to move away from the old infra as quickly as possible. Maintaining 2 SCCM infra is time-consuming and is likely to lead to all kinds of error. Jonathan

Vin

11.08.2018 AT 11:12 AM
Hi Jonathan! Do you have any suggestion for post-migration jobs? For how long we can still use the old SCCM Infra and how to clean up once migration is completed? Thank you for the detailed article. Vin

cbarrera23

11.07.2018 AT 12:00 PM
Hello, great post. I am following your guide and It is well written. Question: When I run a migration job, on the Content Ownership tab both source and destination appear blank for me. Is that a sql? or configuration issue? I was able to specify source hierarchy and gather the data.

Jonathan Lefebvre

11.08.2018 AT 12:16 PM
Hi Cbarrera, I would presume that you are hitting some kind of display bug if it works. I've never seen this. Feel free to open a support case, but as you said, it's working, so I wouldn't mind too much about this I think. Thanks for the great comment 🙂 Jonathan

ittoolkit

10.16.2018 AT 09:16 AM
Can i follow the same Step2 for Migration from SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 to SCCM 1802 Baseline media?

Jonathan Lefebvre

10.16.2018 AT 10:47 AM
Hi ITToolkit, yes you can! thanks Jonathan

ittoolkit01

10.17.2018 AT 10:17 AM
Thank you Jonathan, Nice work!

Ricky

07.03.2018 AT 06:56 AM
We have 2 SCCM environments in 2 AD forests with two way trust in place and we are planning to move all clients and objects from forest 2 to forest 1. Forest 1 already has objects and clients. Can I assume that guide will still be applicable and migration will add new objects without interacting with existing objects? Anything that we should be careful of in this scenario?

SS

05.08.2018 AT 04:26 AM
Hi i have ran a side by side migration, from SCCM 2012 to 1710, everything has gone well, apart from when trying to migrate some items using the Migration wizard, the status of the migration job is at "Available to Migrate" how do i get this item to actually migrate successfully instead of just showing available to migrate? All of the pre reqs for this item have migrated successfully and these are all skipped, when running the job again.

Jonathan Lefebvre

05.08.2018 AT 08:08 AM
Hi SS, can you give a bit more detail? what kind of object is causing issue? thanks Jonathan

Mario Borja

03.06.2018 AT 03:52 PM
Hello, where can I find more information on post migration steps specifically decommissioning of source hierarchy and removal off old SCCM site servers?

munzi

01.08.2018 AT 09:15 PM
Thank you for your time on this it’s greatly appreciated I’m very new at this and I was tasked with doing a side by side migration , I understand most of it but I’m hung on at the end when I migrate the boundaries , when I migrate do I just uncheck site assignment in the 2012 and enable on the current branch then do a automatic client upgrade to reassign and upgrade the clients? I’d like to test on a small scale before I push out. Can I just create a small collection and push the client to it to make sure everything connects ok? Was wondering best practice Thank you again and sorry for all the questions

munzi

01.05.2018 AT 03:00 PM
Hi Guys After the migration is complete and you want to test just a small group with upgrading the client do the machines with the 2012 client still communicate with the current branch until they are upgraded?

Jonathan Lefebvre

01.08.2018 AT 11:05 AM
Hi Munzi, clients needed to be reassigned to the new Site. Once this is done, you can upgrade the client in small batch without issue. Jonathan

Baretto James

12.11.2017 AT 12:01 PM
The steps were detailed, no problem with your article dude. It was dope you put a lot of work in it. But I personally prefer using GS Richcopy 360 to do file server migrations. It has helped me a lot in the past and now also. Maybe you should also use it and probably write an article on it too.

JACK REACHER

11.30.2017 AT 08:11 AM
Great guide, one question. If I have a 2012 server and have already run the schema update for this, do you need run the schema update for the 1511 installation as well? Does it include additional changes? If it does will this affect my current 2012 installation until you migrate from it?

Jonathan Lefebvre

01.08.2018 AT 09:47 AM
Hi Jack, No need to run the Schema update again. It hasn't changed. Jonathan

Adam M

11.29.2017 AT 11:24 AM
hi im quite new to installing and migrating SCCM so im learning along the way and have i have a couple of questions about this guide. can i use this guide to migrate our current 1610 install of sccm running on server 2012 to.. install 1702 on server 2012R2 ? our SQL server 2008R2SP2 is also unsupported for 1702. I have been working with our DB admin to move/copy the DB to a new supported SQL version. is this the best guide for what i need or is there another guide i should use? thanks

John Merritt

10.27.2017 AT 02:10 AM
Great guide, one question. If I have a 2012 server and have already run the schema update for this, do you need run the schema update for the 1511 installation as well? Does it include additional changes? If it does will this affect my current 2012 installation until you migrate from it?

Jonathan Lefebvre

10.27.2017 AT 10:00 AM
Hi John, no need for a schema extension. That hasn't changed 🙂 Jonathan

Sudarsen S

10.24.2017 AT 05:15 AM
Hi, We currently are running ConfigMgr CB 1606 on a Windows Server 2008 R2. Planning is in-progress for a Backup/Restore to Windows Server 2016 OS and we have been informed by Microsoft that changing the Primary Site Server name (FQDN) is not supported. After reading this blog, I wanted to know if giving a new Primary Site Server name to the Windows Server 2016 VM is possible while performing the migration jobs. What are the steps involved? We have 1 Primary Server with co-located SQL 2012 & 4 PXE Enabled DPs & 1 SUP.

Jonathan Lefebvre

10.25.2017 AT 08:32 AM
Hi Sudarsen, Yes migration allow you for a new server name. It's actually mandatory, as the old SCCM will be up and running, at the same time as the new SCCM server. Therefore, a new name is required. Jonathan

Carson

10.12.2017 AT 03:58 PM
Hi all, and Jonathan Lefebvre, For option 1, can the restore be on a different OS? I am moving from server 2012 to server 2012 r2. i am keeping the same name and IP. Cheers Carson

Carson

10.12.2017 AT 04:00 PM
Re-reading, and I'm thinking the answer is "duh, yes, it says it in the intro"