Documentation forSolarWinds Platform

Migrate the SolarWinds Platform database to a new server

Last Updated: March 23, 2021 | Migration Guide

Supports: NPM, SAM, NCM, NTA, and all other SolarWinds Platform products using the SQL database

 

This guide details how to migrate your SolarWinds Platform database to new hardware. You can also upgrade your database to a new version as needed for changing Orion product requirements and supported SQL versions.

Migrating allows you to keep all relevant data and history without having to start with a fresh database on a new server. You should always migrate to a dedicated server, physical or VM.

To upgrade without migrating to a new server, see Upgrade the Orion SQL server version without migration.

You may need to migrate if...

  • The database  shares a server with a poller or other products
  • The database is encountering performance and disk space issues
  • The supported version or requirements for the database have changed

Recommendations

  • Always use a dedicated server for the SolarWinds Platform database. You should not migrate the SQL database to servers already in use.
  • Use SQL Server Authentication with the sa login and password to ensure that Orion can access the SolarWinds Platform database, even if it is hosted remotely on a separate server.

How do I migrate?

  1. Prepare your new database server.
  2. Migrate your SQL database to the new server.
  3. Learn more

Task 1: Prepare your new database server

If you are migrating or upgrading SolarWinds Platform products, plan the migration of your SolarWinds Platform server together with your database migration.

1. Prep new hardware for the migration

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

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

You can also review this article for specific Microsoft SQL Server versions per SolarWinds Platform product versions.

2. Gather credentials Gather the local admin credentials for the current and new server

Task 2: Migrate your SQL database to the new server

SolarWinds recommends discussing database migrations with a DBA. You should also schedule a maintenance window to migrate, during non-peak hours (recommended), and notify your company when taking services offline to migrate.

  • When you migrate your database, your services are down and not collecting polling data.
  • If you have VMware Events Add-on installed, you need to migrate your Log Analyzer database as well. Complete the migration of the SolarWinds Platform database and then repeat the steps for the Log Analyzer database.
  • (recursive snippet)

Do not uninstall the SolarWinds Platform database instance on the original Orion SolarWinds server because this causes issues with the SolarWinds Platform server and settings.

1. Disable your High Availability pool (if HA is deployed)

If you have deployed High Availability (HA), disable the HA pool.

  1. In the SolarWinds Platform Web Console, click Settings > My Deployment.
  2. Select the pool to disable and toggle High Availability to Off.
2. Stop SolarWinds Platform services Open the SolarWinds Platform Service Manager, and stop all SolarWinds services.
3. Back up the SQL 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:

4. Restore the database to the new server

Copy and restore the database to the new server, for example using the SQL Management Studio Express. Do not install the database on the same server as your SolarWinds Platform products.

5. Run the Configuration wizard on all servers

Perform the following instructions on all servers in your SolarWinds Platform environment to update the location for the SolarWinds Platform database, starting with the main server:

  • Main SolarWinds Platform server (main polling engine)
  • Every Additional Polling Engine
  • Additional web server
  • All High Availability backup servers (if you have deployed HA)

If you are using a custom port for your SQL server, see Using Orion with a MS SQL server listening on a custom port.

  1. Run the Configuration wizard to update the database location.
  2. On Database Settings, specify your new database server in the SQL Server field.
  3. Select the user with sufficient rights to the migrated database (db_owner) or select a user with privileges to create a new user. Click Next to continue. See SQL permission role requirements on the SolarWinds Platform.
    • To use the currently logged-in user, select Authenticate as currently logged-in user. The user needs to have sufficient privileges.
    • To use a different user, select Switch user (Windows, Azure Active Directory or SQL Server Authentication), provide credentials, and click Next.
  4. Select Use an Existing Database and select or type the database name, and click Next. If you are prompted to use the existing database, click Yes.
  5. On Database account, specify the account for accessing the database. SolarWinds recommends that you create a new account to ensure that the SolarWinds Platform has required access to the database.
    1. Select Create a New Account, and provide a New Account name. The new account must be a db_owner.
    2. Provide and confirm an account Password, and click Next.
  6. Complete the wizard.
6. Start services Start your services on the main and additional polling servers.
7. Enable the HA Pool (if HA is deployed)

If you have deployed High Availability (HA), enable the HA pool.

  1. In the SolarWinds Platform Web Console, click Settings > My Deployment.
  2. Select the pool to enable and toggle High Availability to On.

Results:

The SolarWinds Platform database should display the new web server.

Learn more...