Migrate from Server 2012 R2 Essentials to Server 2022 Standard

Quickpath 21 Reputation points
2021-11-03T15:44:34.33+00:00

I need to be able to do a server migration from Server 2012 R2 Essentials to Server 2022 Standard (since the will basically be no "Essentials" version of Server 2022). The upgrade won't work since I'm attempting to go from Essentials to Standard. I can upgrade to Standard 2012 R2 using the evaluation key, but since it won't activate the migration to 2022 won't work (it fails at 3%). Is there any way to do this without having to purchase a 2012 R2 Standard license before I do the Server 2022 upgrade? Seems that Microsoft forgot about this kind of situation since they basically abandoned the "Essentials" version. I can always do a clean install, but the amount of work that will be done and the down-time is a lot of hours.

Windows Server 2012
Windows Server 2012
A Microsoft server operating system that supports enterprise-level management, data storage, applications, and communications.
1,519 questions
Windows Server Migration
Windows Server Migration
Windows Server: A family of Microsoft server operating systems that support enterprise-level management, data storage, applications, and communications.Migration: The process of making existing applications and data work on a different computer or operating system.
406 questions
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Accepted answer
  1. Dave Patrick 425.7K Reputation points MVP
    2021-11-03T23:29:49.197+00:00

    need to upgrade first to 2012 R2 Standard

    to convert you can
    Dism /online /Set-Edition:ServerStandard /ProductKey:xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx /AcceptEula

    then do the in-place upgrade to 2022

    That's unlikely to work. They generally support a single version jump so 2012 R2 to 2019 would be as good as it gets.

    --please don't forget to upvote and Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--


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  1. Dave Patrick 425.7K Reputation points MVP
    2021-11-03T15:47:19.357+00:00

    The two prerequisites to introducing the first 2019 or 2022 domain controller are that domain functional level needs to be 2008 or higher and older sysvol FRS replication needs to have been migrated to DFSR
    https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Storage-at-Microsoft/Streamlined-Migration-of-FRS-to-DFSR-SYSVOL/ba-p/425405

    I'd use dcdiag / repadmin tools to verify health correcting all errors found before starting any operations. Then stand up the new 2022, patch it fully, license it, join existing domain, add active directory domain services, promote it also making it a GC (recommended), transfer FSMO roles over (optional), transfer pdc emulator role (optional), use dcdiag / repadmin tools to again verify health, when all is good you can decommission / demote old one.

    --please don't forget to upvote and Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--

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  2. Quickpath 21 Reputation points
    2021-11-03T16:03:18.457+00:00

    I can easily update the AD schema by using Adprep.exe, and the migration starts to work but dies at 3%. I'm guessing that this is because after converting to Standard from Essentials, Windows is not "activated" and won't because I used the eval key. Just seems to me that all I need is a 2012 R2 license and it would work just fine. I haven't tested this since I didn't want to spend the money on a 2012 R2 Standard license, but I'm at a loss to understand why Microsoft didn't think of this upgrade path since they aren't providing the path to 2022 Essentials to the gen. public.

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  3. Dave Patrick 425.7K Reputation points MVP
    2021-11-03T17:11:43.27+00:00

    I'm guessing that this is because after converting to Standard

    This seems a different question but there's no need to convert the existing to standard.

    --please don't forget to upvote and Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--

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  4. Quickpath 21 Reputation points
    2021-11-03T22:36:56.077+00:00

    You cannot upgrade to Server 2022 from Server 2012 R2 Essentials - I have tried and it fails with a message that basically says that the version "types" need to be the same; i.e. Essentials to Essentials or Standard to standard. You can't upgrade from Essentials to Standard - if you know how to get it to work please let me know, but I have tries about a dozen ties and I get the same message. However, if I switch Essentials to Standard (using the Evaluation key) I can at least get it to try (it fails because the AD schema is different and the Adprep.exe certificate needs to be installed; but once these are fixed the upgrade starts- however it fails at 3%, which I'm guessing is because you can't activate an evaluation version of Server). Please correct me if I'm wrong - your input is greatly appreciated.

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