How to Upgrade to VMM on a Different Computer
Updated: May 13, 2016
Applies To: System Center 2012 - Virtual Machine Manager
In some cases, you may not want to or you may not be able to do an in-place upgrade to System Center 2012 – Virtual Machine Manager. For example, you cannot perform an in-place upgrade if you have to move the VMM database to another computer before beginning the upgrade. In these cases, you can install System Center 2012 – Virtual Machine Manager on a different computer and use the VMM database from your VMM 2008 R2 SP1 installation.
Use the following procedure to upgrade to System Center 2012 – Virtual Machine Manager on a different computer.
To upgrade to System Center 2012 – Virtual Machine Manager on a different computer
Uninstall VMM 2008 R2 SP1, making sure on the Uninstallation Options page to select Retain data.
After uninstalling VMM 2008 R2 SP1, install System Center 2012 – Virtual Machine Manager on the other computer.
During the installation of System Center 2012 – Virtual Machine Manager, on the Database configuration page, specify the VMM database that you retained from the VMM 2008 R2 SP1 installation. A message will appear indicating that the selected database was created by a previous version of VMM. To upgrade the VMM database to System Center 2012 – Virtual Machine Manager, click OK.
On the Configure service account and distributed key management page, choose your service account and distributed key management settings carefully. In some circumstances, depending on what you choose, encrypted data, like passwords in templates and profiles, will not be available after the upgrade and you will have to re-enter them manually. For more information, see Choosing Service Account and Distributed Key Management Settings During an Upgrade.
For more information about installing a VMM management server, see Installing a VMM Management Server.