High Level Migration Plan for SCCM 2007 to SCCM 2012

10 Steps to Migration fromo SCCM 2007 to SCCM 2012

The Configuration Manager 2012 migration process is usually part of a project that consists of diverse Microsoft Operations Framework phases. Be sure to plan your migration project and walk through the Envision, Plan, and Design phases. A well-planned and well-designed Configuration Manager environment, based on the results of the envisioning phase, is a must for a successful migration process.

The Configuration Manager migration process consists of ten global technical steps:

1. Prepare your migration.

2. Test your migration scenario.

3. Configure the migration feature.

4. Configure distribution point sharing.

5. Create migration jobs and migrate the objects.

6. Change the UNC paths of the packages in Configuration Manager 2012.

7. Convert the packages to applications.

8. Migrate the secondary sites and upgrade the distribution points.

9. Deploy the new Configuration Manager 2012 client.

10. Remove Configuration Manager 2007.

Let's look at each step in more detail.

1. Prepare your migration. When you plan to migrate to Configuration Manager 2012, you need to prepare your Configuration Manager 2007 environment to support the migration. You can perform the following steps to add migration support to your Configuration Manager 2007 environment:

• Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2) needs to be installed on all site servers; whether you install R2 or R3 doesn't matter.
• There is no support for users and devices in one collection, so create separate collections for users and devices. Collections that contain a reference to a collection of a different resource type are not supported.
• Be sure that your package source is always a UNC path. Local paths will not work when migrating the objects to a new Configuration Manager 2012 server.
• Use unique site codes for your Configuration Manager 2012 environment.
• Upgrade your XP branch distribution points to Windows 7.

2. Test your migration scenario. When migrating your assets from Configuration Manager 2007 to Configuration Manager 2012, it’s important to test your migration scenario first in a lab environment. Familiarize yourself with the migration steps in the lab environment before migrating your production environment.

3. Configure the migration feature. You can find the migration feature in the Administration workspace in the Configuration Manager 2012 console. To configure this feature, you need to first define a source hierarchy. This source hierarchy is usually the highest primary site server in the Configuration Manager 2007 hierarchy. After the source hierarchy is defined, a data-gathering process gathers all information about the source hierarchy. When this process finishes for the first time, you need to configure other sites in the hierarchy with credentials that have access to those sites. By default, the data-gathering process runs every four hours.

4. Configure distribution point sharing. Not only are all objects inventoried during the data-gathering process, so are the Configuration Manager 2007 distribution points. The eligibility of those points for sharing with Configuration Manager 2012 is also determined. You can configure distribution point sharing per site. Use this option when you have a phased migration of clients, before moving all your packages to a Configuration Manager 2012 distribution point.

5. Create migration jobs. Depending on your Configuration Manager 2007 environment, you can migrate your objects in one or more migration jobs. If your migration phase will take longer, you can remigrate the changed objects in Configuration Manager. Be aware that the longer you are in the migration phase, the longer you need to maintain two Configuration Manager environments.

6. Change the UNC paths of the packages in Configuration Manager 2012.When the source of your just-migrated packages is still on the Configuration Manager 2007 site server, you might want to move them over to the new Configuration Manager 2012 server or servers. You can do so by using the Coretech Package Source Changer. This tool can change the UNC path of the package source and copy the files and folder structure to the new package source share on the Configuration Manager 2012 server. By changing the package source at the Configuration Manager 2012 packages, you leave the original source at the Configuration Manager 2007 site intact.

7. Convert the packages to applications. After changing the UNC paths and moving the content to the new Configuration Manager site server, you can convert the classic packages to the new application model. The Package Conversion Manager add-on will help you in the conversion process.

8. Migrate secondary sites and distribution points. You cannot migrate secondary sites to Configuration Manager 2012, so take your time to investigate whether a distribution point can replace your old secondary sites. Most roles, such as PXE support and bandwidth throttling, are now also available when implementing distribution points only.

9. Deploy the new Configuration Manager 2012 client. After preparing and testing the new Configuration Manager 2012 environment, you’re ready to deploy the new Configuration Manager clients to your devices. The deployment of these clients can be done in several ways. The best option is to deploy the Configuration Manager 2012 clients with your old Configuration Manager 2007 environment. This way, you have a managed way of deploying the new clients.

10. Remove Configuration Manager 2007. To remove Configuration Manager 2007, you first need to stop the data-gathering process and clean up the migration data from the Configuration Manager 2012 database. After doing so, you can remove Configuration Manager 2007 by uninstalling the site servers.

Migrating to Configuration Manager 2012

This article has given you an overview of the Configuration Manager 2007–to–Configuration Manager 2012 migration approach. You can now identify the steps that need to be taken when migrating your Configuration Manager 2007 environment to the current version. 

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