Our org has a single primary site (SCCM 2012 R2 5.00.7958.1203) and is comprised of two site systems/servers and roughly 2500 clients.
Site System/Server 1 has the following site system roles installed:
- Distribution Point
- Management Point
- Software Update Point
Site System/Server 2 has the following site system roles installed:
- Site Database Server
- Reporting Services Point
Both servers are currently running Windows Server 2008 R2. We'd like to upgrade the OS of these two site systems/servers to Windows Server 2012 R2 but as I understand it, Microsoft does not support this as an in place upgrade (Infrastructure
Upgrade for Configuration Manager).
Also, while it is not absolutely necessary, it would be nice to rename the site systems/servers in the process in order to better conform to our organization's naming conventions.
What is the best process to accomplish this without any downtime to existing clients? I was thinking something along these lines...
- Build out a 2nd site/servers with Windows Server 2012 R2 and the correct server names running side-by-side with the current production SCCM site/servers.
- Grant the new site's MP computer account permission to modify the System Management container in Active Directory. Will this have any impact on the production environment and existing clients?
- Re-install the clients from the new site that is running 2012 R2 OS.
- Decommission the old site that is running on 2008 R2 OS.
