KB 1774 8/12/12 12:20 PM

{u18178.c4794.x50.UK} Logged on as Mohamed Faisal of JBK Controls

Manage Your Account Logoff

Neverfail Partner
12 August 2012 (PT)
How to Replace a Windows 2008 Server

KB article 1774 Last update: 2012-08-06 Audience: Customers

How to Replace a Windows 2008 Server

Location: Technical Support Knowledge Base KB 1774

Summary

This Knowledgebase article provides the step-by-step procedure necessary to replace a Windows 2008 server.

More Information

Initial Assumptions

The Operating System is installed on the C:\ drive

Neverfail is installed on the C:\ drive
Neverfail is installed in a LAN environment
The Secondary server will be replaced
The replacement server meets the documented prerequisites for Neverfail installation (for example, ACPI compliance with the remaining server)
See the Neverfail Heartbeat Installation Guide for more information about hardware requirements for Secondary and Tertiary servers.

Before You Begin

1. Read this entire article before performing any steps.

2. Identify the server that needs to be replaced. The identity of this server is referred to as TO_BE_REPLACED throughout in this document.
3. Identify the Active server. The identity of this server is referred to as TO_BE_BACKEDUP throughout this document.
4. Open the Neverfail Heartbeat Management Client, click Data and select the Configuration tab. Make a note (in a file or on a piece of paper) of all
replication filters.

Procedure

On the Active Server:

1. Shutdown Neverfail Heartbeat when prompted.

2. Set the Neverfail Server R2 service to Manual using the Windows Service Control Manager.
3. Write down the identity of this server.
4. Open the Neverfail Heartbeat Configure Server wizard.
a. Select the Machine tab.
b. Change the Physical Hardware Identity of the server scheduled for replacement to TO_BE_REPLACED (defined above).

WARNING ! Do not change the Server Identity in any situation other than this.
c. Change the Current Role to Passive.

Note: This step applies only to Neverfail Heartbeat v5.5.1 and Prior

d. Click Finish.
5. Launch the Windows Server Backup utility.
a. Start the Backup Once action.
b. Select Different Options.
c. In the next screen, select Custom and press Next.
d. Verify that Enable system recovery is enabled and select any other drives that contain protected application critical program
files or any other application that is required to be present on the replacement server.
e. Select the destination of the backup using a local location or directly on the Secondary or on other server. If the destination
is remote, a Share or Administrative Share location for that server must be provided.
f. Before starting the backup you may want to exclude large files located on the drives selected (see step d, above) to reduce
the size of the backup files.

Exchange or SQL databases or any other data that is included in the Neverfail filter set is not required to be cloned
NOTE: because Neverfail automatically synchronizes them.

Use the following procedure to exclude data:

i. Navigate to Start > Run, enter Regedit, and click OK.

IMPORTANT: Always create a backup before modifying the registry.

ii. Browse to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\BackupRestore\FilesNotToSnapshot
iii. Create a new multi-string value (Exclusion) and add to it all the folders and files that

http://extranet.neverfailgroup.com/aspnet/pages/kb/Kb.aspx?id=1774 Page 1 of 3
KB 1774 8/12/12 12:20 PM

should be excluded from the backup (press Enter after each excluded folder or file).

The recursive exclusion syntax for all files under a folder is: <FolderPath>\* /s.
You may specify files directly without wildcards.
NOTE: See the Microsoft knowledgebase article linked below for the syntax for the various exclusion options. The
best practice when working with registry long data values is to limit them to 300 characters so please create
additional multi-string values to accommodate this.

g. After the backup is complete, run the Neverfail Heartbeat Configure Server wizard again.
h. Select the Machine tab.
i. Change Physical Hardware Identity to TO_BE_BACKEDUP (defined above).
j. Change the Current Role to Active.

Note: This step applies only to Neverfail Heartbeat v5.5.1 and Prior
k. Click Finish.
6. In the task bar, right click the Neverfail Heartbeat Server icon and select Start Neverfail Heartbeat.
7. Log into the Neverfail Heartbeat Management Client. Select the option to Stop replication but leave the Protected Application
running.
8. Set the Neverfail Server R2 service to Automatic using the Windows Service Control Manager.

On the New Server (the Replacement):

1. Copy the backup file from the Active server.

2. Disconnect the Principal (Public) and Channel cables from the server.
3. Browse to the backup location and note the backup identifier (for example, Backup 2009-02-19 090329 - for this example the
BackupVersionNumber will be 02/19/2009-09:03).
4. In a Command console, run the following restore commands:
a. Restore the folders/files from the backup (the <BackupPath> needs to be specified as Shares or Administrative Shares as
shown below):

wbadmin start recovery -backupTarget:"<BackupPath>" -version:<BackupVersionNumber> -itemType:File -items:"

<PathToBeRestored>" -recursive -recoveryTarget:"<RestoreTargetPath>" -overwrite:Overwrite -quiet

The following is an example of a backup that was present on the D: drive (notice the required double-backslashes if the
entire drive is being restored).

wbadmin start recovery -backupTarget:"\\localhost\d$" -version:02/19/2009-09:03 -itemType:File -items:"C:\\" -recursive

-recoveryTarget:"C:\\" -overwrite:Overwrite -quiet

b. After the previous has finished restore the system state using the following command:

wbadmin start systemstaterecovery -backupTarget<BackupPath>-version:<BackupVersionNumber> -quiet

The following is an example with the backup present on the D: drive.

wbadmin start systemstaterecovery -backupTarget:\\localhost\d$ -version:02/19/2009-09:03 -quiet

c. When the above command completes, restart the server.

5. Allow Plug and Play continue and restart the server if prompted.
6. In the Properties window of each network card, verify that the IP address settings are correct and the Neverfail Heartbeat Packet
Filter is enabled for the Principal (Public) network connection and disabled for all channel connections.
7. On the Machine tab of the Neverfail Heartbeat Configure Server wizard, verify that the Identity and Active Server are configured
correctly.
8. On the Public tab of the Neverfail Heartbeat Configure Server wizard, verify that the Public IP is correct.
9. Use the 'route print' command to check that all WAN routes are correctly configured.

NOTE: It may be necessary to re-authenticate Windows

10. When replacing a Primary server and using Neverfail Heartbeat v5.5.[n] or earlier, follow these steps:
(These steps do not apply to Neverfail Heartbeat V6.0 and more recent.)
a. Follow the instructions in Knowledgebase Article #1255 How to request a license key for Neverfail Heartbeat using
SCOPE Data Collector Service V4.1 and later to obtain a new license key.
b. Select the License tab in the Configure Server wizard and replace the old license with the new one.
c. Click Finish.
11. In the task bar, right click the Neverfail Heartbeat Server icon and select Start Neverfail Heartbeat.
12. Log into the Neverfail Heartbeat Management Client and start replication.
13. Set Neverfail Server R2 service to Automatic using the Windows Service Control Manager.

Applies To

Windows Server 2008

Related Information

Microsoft knowledgebase article Excluding Files from Shadow Copies

Knowledgebase Article #1816 How to Replace a Windows 2000 Server

Knowledgebase Article #851 How to Replace a Windows 2003 Server

Did this content help you?

Submit feedback
Yes No
Suggest new content or let us know how we can improve this content (optional):

http://extranet.neverfailgroup.com/aspnet/pages/kb/Kb.aspx?id=1774 Page 2 of 3
KB 1774 8/12/12 12:20 PM

Copyright 2012 Neverfail Group, Ltd. All rights reserved. Use of this web site signifies your agreement to the Terms of Use.

http://extranet.neverfailgroup.com/aspnet/pages/kb/Kb.aspx?id=1774 Page 3 of 3