Server 2008 R2 to 2012 R2 - Full Backup

Matt Dillon 1,211 Reputation points
2020-11-23T16:23:51.493+00:00

I have been tasked with doing an in-place upgrade of a slew of physical production Server 2008 R2 servers to Server 2012 R2. I have a single test server with 2008 R2 that has the required apps installed. When I attempted the upgrade a week ago, .NET 3.5 decided it did not want to play nice and install. I have since rebuilt the server, upgraded to 2012 r2, and verified that .NET 3.5 worked as intended.

Now I am back to having all the apps installed, and about to do the upgrade. As it is not a VM, I do not have the luxury of a VM Snapshot. What I am wondering is if I install the Windows Server Backup Feature and do a full backup to an attached hard drive that has plenty of room, will I be able to restore Server 2008 R2 from Backup once Server 2012 R2 has been installed?

Windows Server
Windows Server
A family of Microsoft server operating systems that support enterprise-level management, data storage, applications, and communications.
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Windows Server Backup
Windows Server Backup
Windows Server: A family of Microsoft server operating systems that support enterprise-level management, data storage, applications, and communications.Backup: A duplicate copy of a program, a disk, or data, made either for archiving purposes or for safeguarding valuable files from loss should the active copy be damaged or destroyed.
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  1. Leon Laude 85,781 Reputation points
    2020-11-23T16:34:39.967+00:00

    Hi @Matt Dillon ,

    Since your server is a physical server, installing the Windows Server Backup role would be a good idea indeed.
    By performing a Bare Metal Recovery (Full backup) you will be able to restore your server in case anything might go wrong during the in-place upgrade, easiest is to back up the server to a network share that is accessible by your physical server.

    In-place upgrades are never recommended, although still supported, but for any server, whether it's virtual or physical you should always have a backup.

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    (If the reply was helpful please don't forget to upvote or accept as answer, thank you)

    Best regards,
    Leon

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  1. Matt Dillon 1,211 Reputation points
    2020-11-23T16:38:48.727+00:00

    Perfect. Trust me. I have advised against the in-place upgrade several times.


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