Documentation forSolarWinds Platform

Migrate SolarWinds Platform products to a new server with a new IP or hostname

Last Updated: November 22, 2022 | Migration Guide

Supports: Orion Platform 2020.2.6 and earlier and SolarWinds Platform 2022.2 and later

  See this video: Orion Platform Product Migration With Minimal Downtime. | Read the THWACK Post

When migrating your SolarWinds Platform server to a new server using a new IP or hostname different than the current server, install the product on the new server, move reports, import SSL certificates, reassign nodes, and redeploy agents.

How do I migrate?

  1. Prepare the new server for the SolarWinds Platform server.
  2. Migrate your product to the new server.

Task 1: Prepare the new server for the SolarWinds Platform server

Migrating the SolarWinds Platform database, NTA Flow Storage database, or both? Complete the database migration before migrating your SolarWinds Platform products.

1. Prep new hardware for the migration

Build the new server including any changes to the architecture, hardware, and Operating System.

Review the SolarWinds Platform requirements, in multi-module guidelines, and requirements for your product (see release notes and admin guides).

Product requirements include:

For all port requirements, see Port Requirements for all SolarWinds products.
2. Gather credentials Gather the local admin credentials for the current and new server.
3. Get SolarWinds installation files Download the SolarWinds product installation files from the Customer Portal. Copy the files to the new server.

Task 2: Migrate your product to the new server

Depending on the products you migrate, you may have different steps to take such as transferring SSL certificates, redeploying agents, and moving files.

Note on Capitalization: Queries are case sensitive for the stored values in the database. Check the stored value capitalization prior to running queries in these steps. If a stored values for a hostname is in ALL CAPS, CamelCase, or all lower case, you must match the capitalization in your query.

1. Delete your High Availability pools (Optional) If your server is a member of an HA pool, delete the pool.
2. Release the product license

Release the product license on the original server.

Use the web-based License Manager when migrating your main SolarWinds Platform server.

  1. Log in to the SolarWinds Platform Web Console.
  2. Click Settings > All Settings > License Manager.
  3. Copy and paste your activation keys to a text file that you can move to the new server.
  4. Select the product and click Deactivate.
  5. Complete the deactivation wizard.
  6. Continue until you have deactivated all your products.

If you are offline, save the deactivation receipt file, and then upload the deactivation file:

  1. Save the deactivation file from the deactivation wizard.
  2. Log in to the Customer Portal, and navigate to the License Management page. Select your product, and click Deactivate license manually.
  3. In the Manage License Deactivation page, browse for the deactivation file you created in License Manager, and click Upload.
3. Stop the SolarWinds High Availability Service If HA is installed, go to services.msc and stop the SolarWinds.HighAvailability.Service on the old server.
4. Stop SolarWinds Platform services Stop services on the original polling server. You can leave the original server running.
5. Back up your database

Back up your current database before migration.

If your SQL database is on a VM, create a snapshot of the VM.

If your SQL database is on a server, you can use SQL Management Studio Express for your specific version of Microsoft SQL on your SolarWinds Platform database server. See the Microsoft article Create a Full Database Backup for details (©2019 Microsoft, available at https://www.microsoft.com, obtained on October 10, 2019).

Use the following links to download the installation for the latest version, which is backward compatible with older versions:

SFTP users created do not get carried over to the new App server, and you should also backup your SFTP_Root folder as well.
6. Back up files (Optional)

(Optional) If you have legacy reports (Orion Platform 2020.2.6 or earlier), back up the reports folder to save your custom reports:

  • 64 bit OS: C:\Program Files x86\Solarwinds\Orion\Reports
  • 32 bit OS: C:\Program Files\Solarwinds\Orion

For NCM, you may need to back up the following folders (found in C:\Program Files\SolarWinds\Orion\NCM or C:\Program Files (x86)\SolarWinds\Orion\NCM):

  • Reports
  • Config Archive
  • Scripts
  • Device Command Templates
7. Install products

Unzip and install the new SolarWinds Platform Agent product.

Do not run the Configuration wizard. If it launches automatically, cancel the wizard.

If you migrate as part of an upgrade, follow the upgrade path for your upgrades. Depending on the upgrade path and requirements for new product versions, you may need to migrate to new servers and OS before upgrading SolarWinds Platform products.

Need more information? Check our SolarWinds Platform Products Installation and Upgrade Guide.
8. Update references to the old server and remove HA entries

Replace all references to the old server with the new server name.

You must use the NetBIOS short names to the old and new servers to complete this step. Run the hostname command from the command line to confirm the server names. If you have decommissioned the old server completely, look in the Engines table for this information.

  1. Open the Database Manager by clicking Start > All programs > SolarWinds Orion > Advanced Features > Database Manager.
  2. Click Add Server, connect to the SQL server, and select the SolarWinds Platform database.
  3. Run one of the following queries and replace Server1 and Server2 with the appropriate host names.

    See script disclaimer for queries.

    Migrate the Main server

    DECLARE @oldHostname nvarchar(max)
SET @oldHostname = 'Server1'
DECLARE @newHostname nvarchar(max)
SET @newHostname = 'Server2'

UPDATE Engines SET ServerName = @newHostname WHERE ServerName = @oldHostname
UPDATE WebSettings SET SettingValue = @newHostname WHERE SettingName = 'JobSchedulerHost'
UPDATE Websites SET ServerName = @newHostname WHERE ServerName = @oldHostname
UPDATE OrionServers SET HostName = @newHostname WHERE HostName = @oldHostname

     

    Migrate Additional Polling Engines

    DECLARE @oldHostname nvarchar(max)
SET @oldHostname = 'Server1'
DECLARE @newHostname nvarchar(max)
SET @newHostname = 'Server2'

UPDATE Engines SET ServerName = @newHostname WHERE ServerName = @oldHostname
UPDATE OrionServers SET HostName = @newHostname WHERE HostName = @oldHostname

    Migrate Additional Web Servers

    DECLARE @oldHostname nvarchar(max)
SET @oldHostname = 'Server1'
DECLARE @newHostname nvarchar(max)
SET @newHostname = 'Server2'

UPDATE Websites SET ServerName = @newHostname WHERE ServerName = @oldHostname
UPDATE OrionServers SET HostName = @newHostname WHERE HostName = @oldHostname

    Clean up the database

    This query removes all High Availability (HA) entries. Run it even if you don't have High Availability deployed at the moment to make sure there are no remains of previous settings.

    If you have deployed HA, stop the HA service on all polling engines before you run the query. If you had HA pools configured, you will have to re-create the pools after running the query (step 18).

    The code below will remove all HA entries in the tables and is thus not suitable when you have multiple HA Pool entries. If you are migrating server(s) only from specific pool(s), refer to Remove orphaned standby High Availability servers.

    Remove HA entries

    truncate table HA_FacilitiesInstances
truncate table HA_PoolMemberInterfacesInfo
truncate table HA_PoolMembers
truncate table HA_Pools
truncate table HA_ResourcesInstances
9. Run the Configuration wizard

Run the Configuration wizard on the new server and restart all SolarWinds services.

What you should do:

  • When selecting or creating a database, select your existing database.

    Point to the SolarWinds Platform database and (optional) configure the NTA Flow Storage database.

  • When selecting or creating a user, use the existing DB admin credentials.

  • When prompted to create a new website, select yes and complete the wizard.

    If you already had an Orion website installed on the server, you will be prompted to use the existing website. Click Yes.

Need more information? Check our SolarWinds Platform Products Installation and Upgrade Guide.
10. Restart the SolarWinds Administration service Restart the SolarWinds.Administration service on all servers in the environment.
11. Re-initialize the license store If you are running Orion Platform 2017.3 and later, re-initialize the license store.
12. Enable the product license 

Enable the product license on the new server.

Use the web-based License Manager when migrating your main SolarWinds Platform server. 

  1. Log in to the SolarWinds Platform Web Console.
  2. Click Settings > All Settings > License Manager.
  3. Copy and paste your activation keys to a text file that you can move to the new server.
  4. Select the product and click Activate.
  5. Complete the wizard and enter your activation key.

If you are offline, do the following:

  1. Select a product, and click Activate.
  2. Click Copy to Clipboard to copy the unique machine key.
  3. Log in to the Customer Portal, and click License Management > License Management.
  4. In the Customer Portal License Management, expand the product license to activate, and click Activate License Manually.
  5. Paste the unique machine id from clipboard, and click Generate License File. Save the .lic file locally and transfer it to the offline computer.
  6. In the License Manager on the offline computer, choose the .lic file, and click Activate.

13. Redeploy or reconnect to Agents

You have multiple options for deploying or reconnecting to existing Agents during a migration. You can:

  • Redeploy agents through a SolarWinds Platform server push (recommended)
  • Manually changing the SolarWinds Platform server IP address the agent uses via the Windows Control Panel
  • Use the Group Policy Administrative template to redirect existing agents to the new SolarWinds Platform server

14. Copy legacy reports to the server, upgrade report schemas

Copy other files as needed

(Optional for 2020.2.6 and earlier)

(Optional for 2020.2.6 and earlier)

Copy the reports folder to the same directory as on the old server on the new server: c:\program files x86\solarwinds\orion\reports

Copy over other files as needed. If you have migrated NCM, you may need to merge folder contents with the following (found in C:\Program Files\SolarWinds\Orion\NCM or C:\Program Files (x86)\SolarWinds\Orion\NCM):

  • Reports
  • Config Archive
  • Scripts
  • Device Command Templates
15. Validate SNMP and WMI requests Validate all devices are set to allow SNMP and WMI requests from the new web address as appropriate.

16. Transfer SSL certificates
Generate a new self-signed SSL certificate

For website SSL certificates, you will need to transfer the certificate to the new server. Review the documentation from your SSL vendor to migrate the certificate. You will need the CSR, private key, and certificate.

If you use a self-signed SSL certificate, you must create a new self-signed certificate for the new server IP and hostname.
17. Recreate your High Availability pool

If your server was an HA pool member, recreate your HA pool. This is for SolarWinds HA, not FailOver Engine HA.

For details on SolarWinds HA, see this article.
18. Update PDF engine settings If you are using a third-party PDF engine to generate PDF reports and upgrade to 2022.4, update the PDF engine settings in the Registry Editor (Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\SolarWinds\Orion\Core\PdfEngineManager).

Results

In the web console, you should see the node displaying the new IP and host name in Manage Nodes. All polling engines should be assigned to the new server.

Cleaning up

Uninstall the products from your original server to use the server for other needs and products.

Delete the product install zip files to save space.

Troubleshooting

Active Directory login issues

If you experience failures with Active Directory logins, please review the Active Directory login scenarios in the NPM Administrator Guide. You may need to remove an account or account group, and re-add it to Active Directory to successfully login on the new server.

RabbitMQ may require purging

After completing your migration, you may need to complete a purging of RabbitMQ data form the SwisPubSub queue. For details, see this article.

Engine troubleshooting

  • Engines table must contain just 1 primary poller. If still exists, move the nodes assigned to it to existing poller and remove the redundant one.

  • Nodes should not be assigned to an old or not existing engine. Use this query to locate the redundant engine:

    SELECT NodeId, Caption, EngineId FROM Nodes WHERE EngineID NOT IN (SELECT EngineID from Engines)

  • Cleanup obsolete entries from OrionServers.

License troubleshooting

  • License server and JobSchedulerHost should be located on the Primary engine. Use this query to locate these:

    SELECT * FROM WebSettings WHERE SettingName IN ('JobSchedulerHost', 'LicensingMainServerName')

    If they are not on the Primary engine, update the JobSchedulerHost entry and follow the instructions for Migration.exe /promote on Main poller.

  • Check product licenses are correctly assigned to the existing servers. Click Settings > All Settings > License Manager to open the web-based License Manager. If licenses are not assigned to existing servers, select the license and reassign to a new server.

  • Make sure the servers can talk to your new main poller. The  licensing server should be accessible via NetBios hostnames. If you are unable to ensure the connection on the DNS side, modify the hosts file (c:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts) with the correct hostname.

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