How to Up gradation of Window Server 2008 R2 to Window Server 2019 on AWS Cloud

 

Hi viewers!!! in this tutorial I'll explain how to perform an up gradation of Window Server 2008 R2 to Window Server 2019 on AWS Cloud.

To upgrade the Window server 2008 R2 to Window server 2019 We can use the following two method provided by AWS

01.   Automatic Up gradation

02.   Manual In-Place up gradation

We can’t upgrade directly from window server 2008 R2 to Window server 2019.Hence the Server up gradation path we have followed is mentioned below.

WINDOW SERVER 2008 R2 -> WINDOW SERVER 2012 R2 -> WINDOW SERVER 2019

In this up gradation process the main advantage is that it does upgrade the existing server to a new version hence we don’t require to re-install or re-configure the application again on a new instance.

Steps need to be done for Automatic Up gradation

01.   The first requirement for this is that our server should be managed by AWS System Manager.

02.   Secondly we have to taken the Latest AMI of our server before up gradation, however the system takes the AMI automatically during the up gradation process but still we need to took AMI as a safety measure .

03.   Next check that your C drives have enough space as per the best practice around 30 GB should be free space on C drive for up gradation to OS version.

04.   Now go the System Manager and then click on the Automation option on the left side panel.

05.   Then Search for the document starts with ‘AWSEC2-Clone” then selects the AWSEC2-CloneInstanceAndUpgradeWindows  from the search list and click on the next button.

06.    Now choose or set the following parameter within  the document

1.       Choose the execution option as Simple execution.

2.       InstanceID -: (Required) the instance running Windows Server 2008 R2.

3.       InstanceProfile.-: (Required) The IAM instance profile. This is the IAM role used to perform the Systems Manager automation against the Amazon EC2 instance and AWS AMIs.

4.       TargetWindowsVersion-: (Required) Select the target Windows version like window server 2012 R2.

5.       SubnetId-: (Required) this is the subnet for the upgrade process and where our source EC2 instance resides. Verify that the subnet has outbound connectivity to AWS services, including Amazon S3, and also to Microsoft (in order to download patches). As a best practice I have chosen the different subnet to perform the up gradation.

07.   After we have entered the above parameters, we need to selected Execute button. And the automation begins. We can also monitor the execution progress.

08.   This will take approx. 1.5 to 2 hours depending on the Instance Size and data also. The automation process has around 56 tasks.

09.   After the automation completes, we can launched an Amazon EC2 instance using the new AMI ID to review our upgrade from the AMI console of AWS.

 That’s it we have successfully upgraded our window server 2008 R2 to window server 2012 R2. After upgrading we have to update our window with the latest patches.

Steps need to be done for Manually Up gradation

For Up gradation from the Window server 2012 R2 to window Server 2019 first we used the automation method but this method failed to successfully execute the document. I don't know the actual cause.

Hence we use the next method which is manually in-place up gradation. So here the steps as mentioned below to perform this

01.   First take the latest AMI of the Window Server 2012 R2 instance.

02.   Now note two parameter i.e. Instance ID and Availability Zone this we will need in future.

03.   Now login into your Window Server 2012 R2 instance and check that there is enough space for up gradation for this method we need at least 10GB free space.

04.   Next uninstall the EC2config application this will also uninstall the SSM Agent.

05.   Now go to the installation location and do the clean up by deleting the EC2config and SSM Agent folder.

06.   Now go to the ProgramData folder and delete the EC2Config and SSM Agent folder also from there.

07.   Now download the latest version of EC2Launch application and PowerShell script from the AWS official website. We can find the like by just Google them on the net.

08.   Now open the PowerShell script with the PowerShell application and execute the script.

09.   After that download the latest SSM Agent from the AWS official site and install on the Server.

10.   Once the above steps are finished, then go to the EC2 instances console on AWS .

11.   In the navigation pane, choose Snapshots, Public Snapshots.

12.   Add the Owner filter and choose Amazon images.

13.   Add the Description filter and enter Windows 2019 English Installation Media. Press Enter.

14.   Select the snapshot that matches the system architecture and language preference we are upgrading to. For example, select Windows 2019 English Installation Media to upgrade to Windows Server 2019.

15.   Choose Actions, Create Volume.

16.   In the Create Volume dialog box, choose the Availability Zone that matches your Windows instance, and choose Create.

17.   In the Create Volume dialog box, choose the Availability Zone that matches our Windows instance, and choose Create.

18.   In the Volume Successfully Created message, choose the volume that we just created.

19.   Choose Actions, Attach Volume.

20.   In the Attach Volume dialog box, enter the instance ID and choose Attach.

21.   Begin the upgrade by using Windows PowerShell to mount the installation media ISO from the volume that we have attached to the instance. Using the following command

          Mount-DiskImage   <Path>\Filename.ISO

22.   Then cd into the mounted media and then run the following command  in powershell.

         ./setup.exe /auto upgrade

 

23.   For Select the operating system you want to install, in our case I have chosen the Window server 2019 Datacenter Desktop version from the list, and choose Next.

24.   For Which type of installation do you want?, choose Upgrade.

25.   Complete the wizard.

26.   Now just wait for about 1 to 1.5 hour to complete this process. After that your server will be upgraded to new OS version i.e. Window server 2019.

27.   Now I login into the new server and check that everything is working perfectly. 

Wow!!! that's it, we have successfully up graded our Window Server to latest version. I hope you like this blog please feel free to leave the comment in comment section if you need to clear any doubt. Have a nice day!!!!

#aws #cloud #windowserver2008 #howto #tutorial #windowserver 2019 #upgradation

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