Upgrade Veeam Backup & Replication to v12 and SQL Server to PostgreSQL

In this Post I will show you how to upgrade Veeam Backup and Replication from version 11a to v12, including database migration from SQL Server to PostgreSQL (the default database in this new Veeam release).

I used RTM version released in 30 january 2023 (I think there won't be big differences for the GA version):

• Previous Versions: 11.0.1.1261
• Upgrade Version: 12.0.0.1402

The Upgrade and Migration are done in three steps:

1. Upgrade v11a to v12 including all components (console, explorers, agents and plugins);
2. Database Backup and Restore from SQL Server to PostgreSQL;
3. Cleanup SQL Server databases and files.
   

Since it will be necessary to stop services and Backup Jobs, it is convenient that this process be carried out in a period where there is no backup window. This whole process takes about 2 hours (depending on the infrastructure).

Note: I will not cover the Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager Upgrade.

Let's start!

Changing SQL Server Collation After Installation and in Production

 

 

In some scenarios we can find different SQL Server collations between the server instance and its databases. Sometimes the collation is fixed in some table columns or inside stored procedures to solve some of relationship problems with columns that have different collations. The most common technique to have a consistent collation for the instance and all it databases has a lot of steps and can sometimes be problematic.

 

A classic example is that when you want to reuse a SQL Server for System Center components and the Collation is not SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS (required for the installation)

 

To correct the collations in a few steps is outlined in this Post. It is recommended to create a backup of all databases (including system databases) before take administrative actions on a SQL Server instance. It is important to ensure that there is no fixed collation logic in columns or inside stored procedures, triggers, etc., otherwise the command below may report problems.
In this post I will change  "Latin1_General_CI_AS" collation to "SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AI"

Upgrade In-Place SCCM 2012 R2 - WIndows Server 2008 R2 to 2012 R2

Today, in the post I will show you how to migrate SCCM operating system from Windows Server 2008 R2 to Windows Server 2012 R2 in-place. I had some problems and that is what I will try to describe in more detail. You can do a in-place upgrade from:

• Windows Server 2012 R2 to Windows Server 2016
• Windows Server 2012 to Windows Server 2012 R2
• Windows Server 2008 R2 to Windows Server 2012 R2 (SCCM 1602 or higher)
 
You cannot go from Server 2008 R2 to Server 2016, Windows Server 2008 to Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2008 R2 to Windows Server 2012!

 

The key reason for this change is that most installations of SCCM 2012 R2 are based on Windows Server 2008 R2. And if the SCCM evolves, the operating system also has to evolve. Another possible approach would be to install a Windows Server 2012 R2 from scratch and do a restore of the SCCM and database (keeping the same name and IP). I think the first approach is simpler and I will describe it.