WHITEPAPER. Migrating to SharePoint A White Paper by: Swapnil Bhagwat June, 2013

Transcription

1 WHITEPAPER Migrating to SharePoint 2013 A White Paper by: Swapnil Bhagwat June,

2 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION... 3 SCOPE... 3 SHAREPOINT 2013 REQUIREMENTS... 4 MODES OF MIGRATION... 5 In-Place upgrade... 6 Database Attach & Upgrade... 6 MIGRATION FROM SHAREPOINT 2001 TO SHAREPOINT MIGRATING FROM SHAREPOINT 2003 TO SHAREPOINT MIGRATING FROM MOSS 2007 TO SHAREPOINT Business Reasons for migration Upgrade approaches Quick check list for upgrade preparations MIGRATING FROM SP 2010 TO SP Testing content DB before attach UPGRADE / MIGRATION OF CUSTOM SERVER SIDE SOLUTIONS 14 THIRD PARTY MIGRATION Advantages of third party products Challenges using third party products CONCLUSION ABOUT THE AUTHOR ABOUT DATAMATICS

3 Introduction SharePoint has come a long way since its first release in year At that point of time, it was more of a document management and content management tool. Even then, MOSS 2007 was a big hit with true enterprise capabilities. Since then, it has evolved in two major versions; SharePoint 2010 and the latest one, SharePoint SharePoint 2013 RTM was released to the market in Oct There have been many customers wanting to migrate to this new platform to leverage new offerings like enterprise social collaboration, mobility, and FAST server search. This white paper provides an overview of various options available for migration to SharePoint 2013 server. Scope This white paper is majorly technical and aims to provide conceptual understanding of possible options available for migration to SharePoint This paper does not cover the differences between earlier versions of SharePoint and latest one comprehensively. As such, any plans to upgrade custom solutions to SharePoint 2013 would require separate study. 3

4 SharePoint 2013 Requirements The requirements for setup of SharePoint 2013 vary according to the expected area of use. Hardware configurations vary depending on various parameters like data load, user load, processing load etc. It is recommended to use Microsoft capacity planning formula to come up with the correct setup requirement. The Datamatics SharePoint consulting team can help in creating capacity plans with maximum ROI. It is crucial to carry out capacity planning before any migration. It helps building new application healthy from beginning. Hardware bit Cores - 24 GB RAM Database - MS SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 64 bit edition or - MS SQL Server 2012 Operating System - Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 64 bit edition or - Windows Server 2012 Note: - SharePoint 2013 does not work on 32 bit hardware, so 64 bit hardware is a must - Sufficient storage space is required, since upgrades and migration involves multiple backup and restore activities - Downtime is at minimum if migration is done on separate firm hardware. However, it may not be suitable for all organizations to have spare hardware for achieving this - Old users of SharePoint (2003/ 2007) running on Windows Server 2003 should plan for sufficient licenses of newer version of Windows server 4

5 Modes of Migration A crucial goal and the foremost idea behind upgrading to SharePoint 2013 are consolidating various versions of legacy SharePoint into a single enterprise farm that can serve the organization centrally. This business decision can lead to two significant advantages. Firstly, it can bring down the IT cost and secondly; allow organizations to perform a CAPEX to OPEX paradigm shift; provided organization data-centers are in cloud. A foremost reason for any migration is bringing in efficiency in terms of operations, maintenance, cost. SharePoint Portal Server 2001 SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Execute Prepare MOSS 2007 Plan SharePoint Server 2010 Consolidating SharePoint environments is never a run-of-themill job. However, proper planning, thorough analysis and an experienced team can overcome the associated challenges. It has been observed that more than half of SharePoint applications are still running on MOSS % of applications still available use SharePoint 2001 or SharePoint Migration from MOSS 2007 to SharePoint 2013 will be discussed in more depth as compared to migration from other versions as it would address the pain areas of a larger number of users. 5

6 Modes of Migration Any migration from older versions of SharePoint to SharePoint 2013 would have two major tracks to adapt to. In-Place upgrade Microsoft Provide two ways to migrate 1. In-place upgrade 2. Database attach and upgrade From any version of SharePoint to SharePoint 2013, last step would always be 'Database attach and upgrade' This approach requires out-of-the-box tools available for upgrading SharePoint to newer version provided by Microsoft. However, In-place upgrade track has been completely ruled out from the latest version i.e.; SharePoint 2013 server. One can only use the Database Attach and Upgrade method to migrate from SharePoint 2010 to SharePoint However, this method is not applicable for versions prior to SharePoint Database Attach & Upgrade The diagram below provides the process for the second method of upgrade Pre upgrade - Inventory of server side customization - clean up environment New SP 2013 env - Set up new SP 2013 farm with prerequisite software - do not configure service applications under upgradation - Configure general farm settings (quota templates, mobile accounts, blocked file types etc.) Back & store DB Service application Dbs Create web apps - Backdrop all content & service database in read only mode - Export encryption key for the user profile service application - Restore backup copy of database and change mode to read-write - start instances of service application (search service using powershell only) - Upgrade each service application separately using powershell commands - Create & configure web applications - Deploy server side customization (features, custom master pages etc) - Using Powershell test all custom components are available Mount databases - Attch content database to web application - Mount using powershell command - Use database containing root site collection first (applies for Mysite Host too) Post upgrade checks - Verify web applications are working as expected - Perform Visual upgrades for Site collections (all at-once or on-demand) - Migrate user accounts to claims authentication if required - After completing verification of all upgrade, configure search topology and start full crawl 6

7 It can be seen from above visualization that it is very long process to upgrade from SP 2001 to SP It is imperative to understand business objectives behind this migration. If new installation of SP 2013 is to adapt to new enterprise social, mobility, business connectivity and BI features then it is advised to build a complete new SP 2013 farm and then migrating data instead of undertaking an upgrade of SharePoint itself. Several factors ensure that migration from SP 2001 to SP 2013 is It is advisable to build better than upgrade. These are: SP 2013 from scratch - Upgrade is a effort-intensive multistep process to enable it to adapt to - The downtime is longer the new enterprise s - Possibility of error at any step in between leading to restarting social, mobility, the entire process business connectivity - Building multiple temporary farms is a costly affair and BI features - Scarcity of skilled engineers who can understand all versions and can troubleshoot issues faced during upgrade There are two options available for migration of data to newer platform. These options have been detailed later in this paper and apply to all migration versions. 7

8 Migration from SharePoint 2001 to SharePoint 2013 Caution: Your SharePoint upgrade team needs to be well versed on all predecessor versions of SP 2013 Within the decade from the first launch of SharePoint server 2001, its technology has drastically changed its architectural and hardware requirements. It would therefore be a very long path to migrate from 2001 to 2013 since it would include multiple upgrade processes in between. It is impossible to make in-place upgrade for this scenario because SharePoint 2013 does not support this. The only option available for upgrade is by using 'database attach & upgrade'. It would be a multi-stage upgrade that can be detailed in diagram below. Backup content databases of SP 2001 server Create temporary farm for SP 2003 server Attach & Upgarade DBs to SP 2003 server Verify that upgrade to SP 2003 is successful Create temporary farm for MOSS 2007 Attach & Upgarade DBs to MOSS 2007 Verify that upgrade to MOSS 2007 is successful Create temporary farm for SP 2010 Upgrade DB to MS SQL server 2008 R@ SP bit Attach & upgrade DB to SP 2010 Use steps from earlier sections to move SP 2010 to SP

9 Migrating from SharePoint 2003 to SharePoint 2013 Migrating from SP 2003 to SP 2013 is similar to the upgrade and migration options detailed in the previous section. The additional option available during an upgrade from SP 2003 can be seen as below. Most of the activities carried out during upgrade of either of SP 2003 versions SPS 2003 server or WSS 2.0 would be common SP 2003 SPS 2003 WSS 2.0 Upgrade 'Database attach & Upgrade' steps as mentioned in SP 2001 SharePoint 2013 farm with database upgrade SP 2003 had been launched in two versions: SPS 2003 server, which was a commercial product and provided deep portal capabilities and WSS 2.0, which was a free version available with Windows Server 2003 licenses. SPS 2003 had a core engine of team sites and collaboration built on WSS 2.0. This meant that most of the activities carried out during upgrade would be common. Following are the features provided as additional on top of WSS 2.0 to make it commercial enterprise product: - Multiple portal applications under one farm - News and topics - My Site, with personal views and with public views - Information that can be targeted to specific audiences - Index functionality and search functionality across file shares, across Web servers, across Microsoft Exchange Public Folders, across Lotus Notes, and across Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 sites - Alerts that notify when changes are made to relevant information, documents, or programs 9

10 - Single sign-on functionality for enterprise application integration - Integration with Microsoft BizTalk Server As mentioned in the section detailing migration from SP 2001 to SP 2013, migrating from a decade old version of application takes lots of time and involves lots of complications. Additionally, even the organizational dynamics can change significantly within the long time-period necessary for the migration. This could Any upgrade from SP result in a wholesome change in the objectives for adapting to SP 2001 to SP as compared to the objectives established during should take into implementation of SPS This brings us to the question of account the changes in the preferred way for upgrade / migration and of the preferred organizational timing of information analysis (before or after upgrade). dynamics within the decade Datamatics believes that it should always be done before undertaking an upgrade. The reasons are given below: - It has been a decade since system has been implemented. Possibility of lot of legacy information is higher that needs to be achieved. It can be planned better in newer system for achieved information if it is available before upgrade - Since lot of time has passed, there is definite chance of change in business dynamic, hence change in information policies. The difference identified earlier would give better shape to information policy applied on newer platform - A lot of content that is irrelevant for business anymore can be purged, that helps making newer system slick Another important decision to make regards the involvement of only technical team for upgrade or to take the option of supporting them with a functional team as well? Migrating to SP 2013 would be a decision driven by business demands. Since business requires this change and it involves IT support for upgrades, it is very logical to put an equivalent functional team along with the technical team. The technical team would provide software upgrades and performance optimization whereas the functional team would attempt to being in the expected ROI to this initiative. 10

11 Migrating from MOSS 2007 to SharePoint 2013 As mentioned earlier, MOSS 2007 was the first version to be accepted as enterprise solution. More than 50% of the current SP population is still on this version of the platform. We would look at this migration in detail because of its reach and relevance. MOSS 2007 must be first upgraded to SP 2010 for it to be upgraded to SP 2013 Business Reasons for migration Architecture wise, SP 2013 has remained more or less the same like SP 2010, which is quite different from MOSS These changes have given solid business productivity gains. Some of those are outlined below. - Beneficial for Enterprise Social Collaboration. - Greater mobility - Strong and improved enterprise search - Improved BI capabilities to leverage Upgrade approaches Organizations cannot migrate directly from MOSS 2007 to SP They must first upgrade to SP 2010 and then to SP There are two ways MOSS 2007 can be upgraded to SP 2010; first, by in-place upgrade to SP 2010 and second, by the 'database attach & upgrade' method. This has been depicted in the diagram below: In Place Upgrade to SP 2010 MOSS 2007 Database Attach & Upgrade to SP 2010 Database Attach & Upgrade to SP

12 Quick check list for upgrade preparations Preparation is a key to a success of any Upgrade project. The checklist provided below can ascertain the readiness for an upgrade project. Migration is a costly and time-taking affair. Make sure you have crossed your entire checklist - Latest backups have been collated for: - Content databases - Configuration database - Service application databases - Customization that is stored on local disks & latest builds - All farm settings have been recorded and validated - A complete list of server side customizations that are deployed and active is ready - Spare storage disks available since multiple backup & restore of databases would happen. This can be planned after studying total space consumed by farm currently - Sufficient licenses of new farm environment are available 12

13 Migrating from SP 2010 to SP 2013 You can only use Database attach and upgrade method for migration from SP2010 to SP 2013 As noted earlier, the only available option for migrating from SP 2010 to SP 2013 is using the 'database attach & upgrade' method. Organizations do not face too many of hurdles related to hardware when upgrading from SP 2010, since SP 2010 is based on 64 bit hardware infrastructure as well. However, organizations may still require pre-upgrades with respect to database server (older than MS SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1) and operating system (older than Windows server 2008 R2). Organizations may plan to upgrade to new hardware provided adequate capacity planning has been undertaken and business goals of this implementation are seen as demanding this change. SP 2010 Database Attach & Upgrade SP 2013 Testing content DB before attach It is very important to be sure about database we are going to attach is not going to throw up application. This can be achieved using following command Test-SPContentDatabase -name "databasename" webapplication "webapplicationname This command is non-intrusive i.e.; it performs all read-only operations. It can be run on content DB as many times possible to resolve all issues. This will ensure smoother upgrade of content database when attached to the application. 13

14 Upgrade / Migration of custom server side solutions Upgrade/Migration of Custom server-side solutions can throw up numerous tricky scenarios and situations. Ideally, adherence to SP development best practices should ensure that custom solutions work correctly during upgrades. However, there are a few potential trouble areas as described below: - Custom master pages, layouts build on SP 2010 could Custom search malfunction if they are upgraded to 15-hive. This is because solutions in SharePoint SP 2013 has undergone lot of changes in visual design, Server 2013 do not HTML & CSS as compared to its previous versions. The good support SQL syntax but news is that, option of running solutions on 14hive, which is FQL and KQL default for SP 2010 solutions, remains open. - Custom search solutions in SharePoint Server 2013 do not support SQL syntax. Search in SharePoint 2013 supports FQL syntax and KQL syntax for custom search solutions. One cannot use SQL syntax in custom search solutions using any technology, including the Query server object model, the client object model, and the Search REST service. Custom search solutions that use SQL syntax with the Query server object model and the Query web service that were created in earlier versions of SharePoint Server will not work when upgraded to SharePoint Server The Query web service (located in the path is deprecated in SharePoint While writing new applications, it is advisable to avoid using this deprecated feature and to use the new Query CSOM or Query REST service instead. While modifying existing applications, we strongly encourage you to re-migrate any dependency on this feature. - The Content Editor WebPart has long been touted as the holy grail of no-code customization. If you have been using it to insert HTML elements, they should migrate properly (but will most certainly clash with the new look). 14

15 Third Party Migration This white paper focused only on methods of migration that are available using tools provided by Microsoft to upgrade SharePoint solutions. Another option available for migration to SP 2013 is by using third party migration products. Advantages of third party products Datamatics has this unique combination where in it can utilise third party software to expedite migration process and use internal SharePoint expert developers to upgrade custom code solution for compatibility with upgraded version - Popular products are built after lot of research and many provide smooth migration - Reduction in time required - Evaluation copies available for checking outcome early-on - Granular level of migration - Retains all metadata - Same product may allow transfer of content from other legacy system as well (like from MS exchange folders, network file shares etc.) Challenges using third party products - Additional cost of software - Need of separate server farm for migration - No support code upgrade required 15

16 Conclusion Well planned and executed migration to SP 2013 result in providing better ROI Migration is a crucial step for any application to stay up-to-date in terms of lifecycle of an application and its usage in business. Every migration is evaluated by businesses from the singular perspective of provision of efficiency and ROI. Parameters that decide a migration's efficacy would be different for different businesses. For example, an application that had earlier been managing the workflow of changes that are to be initiated by the share holder to change his name, address or nominee etc. would no longer be required to migrate. The reason being that a business that runs this application is soon going to see end of road as the technology in de-materialization of Share accounts has moved a long way ahead. The answer for this business would be to build a completely new application that caters to a new set of requirements. Migration is only a technical process, it is imperative to have business teams involved in making most of the decisions. This involvement ensures there is maximum focus on ROI. Finally, following are layers that affect during migration to SharePoint Each layer needs to be evaluated during planning phase, failing which, it could bring bottlenecks once it has started. 1. Business need & ROI study 2. Hardware upgrades or new procurement 3. Operating system upgrades or new installations 4. Database upgrades or new installations 5. SharePoint upgrades or new installation. Datamatics can help customers in all layers of migration above. 16

17 About the Author Swapnil S. Bhagwat Sr. Technical Architect Microsoft Technologies At Datamatics, Swapnil is responsible for providing technology solutions for customer business problems. The business problems vary according to different business verticals like health care, International Organizations, Logistics management services and more. He has more than 13 years of IT industry experience and his core expertise lies in providing solutions on SharePoint platforms. He has been very actively providing solutions on SharePoint for the last 7 years. He has handled various complex international and domestic projects on SharePoint. About Datamatics Global Services Global Information Technology (IT) & Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) organization Delivers smart, next-generation business solutions Trusted partner to several Fortune 500 companies Capabilities built around technology, domain expertise & knowledge of business processes Featured amongst the Global Services 100 List in 2010 & 2011 Decades of global experience having executed projects across 60 countries 2 Alliances with global technology leaders such as Microsoft, IBM & EMC Certified for SEI CMMI Level 3 V1.3, ISO 27001:2005 ISO 9001:2008 SSAE 16 compliant processes Global presence: U.S, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Bosnia, Australia, Singapore & India To know more, connect with us on business@datamatics.com 17