Impact on SharePoint servers after windows update

Question

We have 6 servers (3 Web front end and 3 Application server) where SharePoint farm is installed. Now we want to upgrade windows server version from 2016 to 2019 one in a week. Will it affect the SharePoint farm on other servers with 2016 version after upgrading another server with 2019?

Answer 1

Hi @Lazy Bee ,

In-place upgrade of the Windows OS with SharePoint installed is not supported. The preferred approach is to deploy the farm on Windows Server 2019 and then retire the older SharePoint servers through migration.

Herea are steps:

1. Create a new server with the version of Windows Server you want.
2. Join the new server to the server farm. For more information about this step, see:

• Add a server to a SharePoint Servers 2016 or 2019 farm
• Add web or application servers to farms in SharePoint 2013
• Add a database server to an existing farm in SharePoint 2013
• Add a content database (SharePoint Server 2010)

3. Move services to the new server as needed.
4. If you're using the search service application, make sure you remove the search component from the old server.
5. Decommission the old server.

Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/troubleshoot/installation-and-setup/upgrade-windows-with-sharepoint

Remember, both SharePoint Server 2016 and SharePoint Server 2019 will reach end of support on July 14th, 2026. Consider planning for a future upgrade to a more recent version of SharePoint as well.

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