The Windows Server Migration team’s been cooking…no, not cranberry sauce and stuffing, but a new Windows Server Migration Utilities download package that lets you use the Windows Server Migration Tools to migrate Hyper-V and Routing and Remote Access Services (RRAS). Brand-spankin’-new beta migration guides are available for both Hyper-V and RRAS, with detailed, step-by-step guidance about how to use the Windows Server Migration Tools (after the Utilities package is installed, of course) to migrate to servers that are running Windows Server 2008 R2.

Still not feeling the love? We’ve got new beta migration guides for Health Registration Authority (HRA), Network Policy Server (NPS), and Windows Server Update Services 3.0 SP2 (WSUS). HRA, NPS, and WSUS don’t even require the Windows Server Migration Tools; you can migrate from prep to production, just by following the guides.

Download tools: https://connect.microsoft.com/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?SiteID=468&DownloadID=15664

Supported role configurations and settings

This section identifies the configurations and settings that can be migrated by using the migration tools, and the configurations and settings that must be migrated manually. The following table provides a summary:

The following configurations and settings can be migrated automatically:

• Most virtual machine configurations. Virtual machines and their data are moved as part of the migration, but some configurations require manual intervention, as described below.
• Hyper-V settings. These include the system-wide settings and the authorization store.
• Internal and private virtual networks.
• Virtual network adapter settings in the management operating system. When Hyper-V is configured to use a physical network adapter as a bridge that virtual machines can use to access a physical network, a virtual network adapter is created in the management operating system (which runs the Hyper-V role). For this virtual network adapter, the migration process automatically migrates the IP settings, bindings, and MAC address of this virtual network adapter. However, the connection between the virtual network adapter and the physical network adapter must be re-established manually, as described in the migration steps.
• Virtual machine queue (VMQ) and chimney settings for networking.

The following configurations and settings require manual intervention after the migration tools are used:

• Firewall settings. Firewall settings are recreated on the destination server using the default values that Hyper-V is installed with. If you have modified any of the firewall settings from these default values, you will need to make the same modifications on the destination server.
• External virtual networks. The migration tool recreates the virtual networks on the destination server, but recreates external virtual networks as internal virtual networks. You will need to modify each of these networks to connect it to the appropriate physical network adapter on the destination server, as described in the migration steps.
• VFD and ISO files. These files are not migrated because they are not required for the virtual machine to operate and are not supported by the Import and Export cmdlets. To make them available to a migrated virtual machine, manually copy these files to the destination server and then reattach them to the virtual machine after it is migrated.
• Connections to physical disks directly attached to virtual machines. These connections are not migrated because the disk references might not be valid on the destination server. To make a physical disk available to a migrated virtual machine, connect the disk to the destination server and then to the virtual machine after it is migrated, as described in the migration steps.
• Customized remote administration settings. If you have customized Hyper-V for remote access, you will need to perform some additional procedures to recreate the DCOM and WMI Namespace settings. The migration steps identify the point at which you should take perform these procedures, as well as provide a recommended tool or script to complete the procedure.

Migrating Multiple Roles

The Hyper-V role is not dependent on any other roles. As a best practice, we recommend that no other roles are installed on a server running Hyper-V.

Migration scenarios that are not supported

The following migration scenarios are not supported:

• The saved state of a virtual machine under one of the following conditions:
  • When moving from Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 to Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2.
  • When moving between physical computers that have different processor steppings or vendors—for example, migrating from a computer with an Intel processor to a computer with an AMD processor.
• Virtual machine configuration under one of the following conditions:
  • When the number of virtual processors configured for the virtual machine is more than the number of logical processors on the destination server.
  • When the memory configured for a virtual machine is greater than the available memory on the destination server.
• Consolidation of physical servers to virtual machines, or consolidating multiple instances of Hyper-V to one instance.

The Windows Server Migration team is collecting feedback about the beta guides and the Utilities download package through the end of 2009. You can use the following methods to speak your mind about Migration Guides and the Windows Server 2008 R2 Migration Utilities Beta package. Share your migration experiences; they’re critical to the quality of the Migration Guides, Windows Server 2008 R2 Migration Utilities, and the whole Migration solution for WS08 R2!

• Take the Windows Server 2008 R2 Migration Utilities Beta Survey. Nothing goes better with a cup of coffee.
• Got an earful about how to improve Migration guides or utilities? Reply to the Windows Server 2008 R2 Migration Utilities release announcement on the Windows Server Migration forum.
• Found a bug in our migration guides? Send e-mail to smcpe at Microsoft.com. Include a description of your migration scenario (especially the operating systems that are running on your source and destination servers), and any workarounds that you used to resolve the problem. Unless the problem defied workarounds, of course; in that case, you can just send us a hard luck story and/or flame mail, we still want to hear from you.
• Found a bug in the tools? Send e-mail to smcpe at Microsoft.com. Include a description of your migration scenario (especially the operating systems that are running on your source and destination servers), the steps to reproduce the bug, and the following logs:
  • %windir%\Logs\SmigDeploy.log
  • %windir%\Logs\ServerMigration.log
  • On Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2: %localappdata%\SvrMig\Log
  • On Windows Server 2003: %userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\SvrMig\Log

 Visit the Windows Server Migration Portal on TechCenter to see the complete collection of Windows Server 2008 R2 Migration Guides, and a truckload of other migration resources, too.