ConfigMgr SCCM 2012 SP1 to R2 Upgrade Checklist

ConfigMgr SCCM 2012 SP1 to R2 Upgrade Checklist. Finally, SCCM ConfigMgr 2012 R2 RTM version has been released. For more details about ConfigMgr 2012 R2, download here. Now start planning the upgrade from SCCM ConfigMgr 2012 Sp1 to SCCM 2012 R2.

The first step I would perform is to download all the binaries, including Windows ADK 8.1, Prerequisite Files for ConfigMgr R2 – CM2012 R2.

Are you looking for SCCM CB Upgrade Checklist? Here is my post on that topic.

ConfigMgr SCCM 2012 SP1 to R2 Upgrade Checklist

SCCM ConfigMgr 2012 R2 CU1 has been released. Download and keep it ready to apply CU1 to post R2 installation. Download SCCM Configmgr 2012 R2 Cumulative Update CU1 – See more at: https://www.anoopcnair.com/2014/03/28/download-sccm-configmgr-2012-r2-cumulative-update-cu1/

Patch My PC

Also, go through the Known issues of SCCM 2012 (ConfigMgr) R2 

Re Download the SCCM 2012 R2 Updated Prerequisite files to fix replication issue of R2

List of Post SCCM ConfigMgr 2012 R2 Hotfixes

Suppose you’re wondering about the added features, changes, and bug fixes (R2 is basically a feature pack, but in SCCM 2012 R2, we can probably see loads of bug fixes also).  Here are the direct links to TechNet library about new stuff included in SCCM R2 Site Installation and the Configuration Manager ConsoleSites and Hierarchies, MigrationClient Deployment and OperationsSoftware Deployment and Content Management and Monitoring and Reporting.

ConfigMgr SCCM 2012 R2 Upgrade Checklist

Make sure you’ve all prerequisites in place. More details about prerequisites are here.

  1. All the sites in the hierarchy must have ConfigMgr SCCM 2012 SP1. If you’ve not upgraded SCCM 2012 RTM to SP1. Have a look at the SP1 upgrade checklist here.
  2. Top to Down approach. Need to upgrade the CAS server (if you’ve one) first then primary and it’s secondary servers.
  3. No need to update remote Site System servers (remote DPs, MPs, SUPs). However, ensure that prerequisite for installed site system roles.
  4. Take backup of CAS as well as Primary servers. Ensure that you’ve a good copy (I would suggest to have 2 copies just in case) of backup.
  5. Uninstall Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) 8.0 from SCCM ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 Site Servers.
  6. Download and Install Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) 8.1on SCCM ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 Site Servers. Download Windows ADK 8.1 from here. .Net 4.5 Framework required for Windows ADK 8.1 . Restart may required after .Net 4.5 installation.
  7. Disable the site maintenance tasks “Backup Site Server”, “Delete Aged Client Operations” and “Delete Aged Discovery Data” on SCCM ConfigMgr sites.
  8. Ensure removed MP replicas and if you’re using SUP with NLB then reconfigure it.
  9. Run the prerequisite checker, 1 or 2 days prior to the actual upgrade. It would be easy to identify whether there is any issue with prerequisites or not.
  10. Download prerequisite files and redistributable files well before scheduled time of SCCM ConfigMgr 2012 R2 upgrade which are the required for ConfigMgr 2012 SP1.
  11. Check SQL version of DB server and confirm this supports SCCM 2012 R2.
  12. For existing SCCM ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 secondary SQL express DB, make sure that SQL Server 2012 Express cumulative update 2 (CU2) has applied before upgrade of ConfigMgr 2012 secondary site servers.
  13. Take a copy of SCCM ConfigMgr SP1 2012 DB and attach it to a test SQL server and run test the database upgrade.
  14. ConfigMgr SCCM 2012 R2 upgrade will automatically distribute update for default client installation package and new Windows ADK 8.1 boot image. So if you’ve loads of remote DPs in the environment then don’t get suprised with these new updates. Plan this well advance.
  15. Make sure SCCM ConfigMgr 2012 Site Servers including remote DPs, MPs, SUPs etc are restarted if this is required.
  16. Reconfigure replica MPs, NLB SUPs and re enable the DB maintanance task which are disabled.
  17. Make sure all the SCCM ConfigMgr 2012 consoles are running with R2 version.
  18. Plan and update/upgrade SCCM ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 clients to SCCM 2012 R2.

More details about checklist and considerations here:-

Adaptiva

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/UpgradeR2Checklist

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/UpgradeR2Considerations

Resources

Free SCCM Training Part 1 | 17 Hours Of Latest Technical Content | ConfigMgr Lab HTMD Blog (anoopcnair.com)

Author

Anoop is Microsoft MVP! He is a Solution Architect in enterprise client management with more than 20 years of experience (calculation done in 2021) in IT. He is a blogger, Speaker, and Local User Group HTMD Community leader. His main focus is on Device Management technologies like SCCM 2012, Current Branch, and Intune. E writes about ConfigMgr, Windows 11, Windows 10, Azure AD, Microsoft Intune, Windows 365, AVD, etc…

18 thoughts on “ConfigMgr SCCM 2012 SP1 to R2 Upgrade Checklist”

  1. Hello,

    As always you have done great work. I have a Windows Server 2012, SQL 2012, and CM 2012 SP1 system. Which would I upgrade to R2 first? The OS or CM?

    Thank you,
    Matt

    Reply
  2. Hi Anoop,

    Thanks for your suggestions and your blog is very informative and helpful.

    We are planning for the Upgrade from SCCM 2012 SP1 to SCCM 2012 R2 CU1 and possible hotfixes in the live environment . we have concern with the following possibilities

    1)Roll Back Plan if the Upgrade fails
    2)We use OSD so from Microsoft we got to know that we have to update the boot images as well .does this updating boot image will also apply to custom boot images which are currently in production.
    3)SCCM Clients – In our test VM we had to reinstall SCCM client in a test client machine after the upgrade .so if this happens in the live environment it will be difficult to reinstall such a large number of clients
    4)Pre and post upgradation checks that has to be done.

    Thanks in Advance
    Vinay Shivashankar

    Reply
    • Only supported role back plan is to backup and restore.
      If I’m not wrong it won’t happen to custom boot images.
      In normal scenarios you don’t need to re install the clients

      Reply
    • I think this should work. But I don’t think that is a good idea to leave client with old version. Most of the fixes in the latest versions have client component as well. So those fixes won’t work until you upgrade your clients to latest version.

      Regards
      Anoop

      Reply
  3. hi anoop how can i migrate my existing sccm 2012 setup including SQL 2012 on new hardware, if yes then how please clear

    Reply
  4. Hi Anoop,

    I need to upgrade SCCM 2012 R2 to SP1, can you share any doc related, prereq check..??, any minimum hardware requirements,…, any particular procedure..

    Thanks & Regards,
    NTRao

    Reply
  5. I am upgrading SCCM 2012 SP1 CU5 to SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 CU2. Is it possible to upgrade the SCCM Client agent on workstations using any SCCM Client Patch, as it is not created by default after the upgrade. When I created it manually and tried the deployments for hotfix KB3100144, it throws an error code 1642 that related product is not installed. When I tried client Install for one machine, it successfully upgraded the client version.
    Is there any other method for upgrading the client agent instead of FULL client upgrade like using patch (.msp).

    Reply
  6. Hi Anoop

    In my environment we have sql server 2012 and sccm config manager 2012 sp1 I wanted to upgrade to sccm 2012 r2 can you guide me on this issue
    I am getting db error messges

    Reply
  7. Hi Anup,
    Can you please provide guidelines and checklist as i am planning to upgradefrom SCCM 2012 Sp1 to SCCM 2016 for one env.
    and SCCM 2012 R2 to SCCM 2016 for other env.

    Thanks
    Mushtaq

    Reply
  8. Hi Anoop,
    I have installed CAS and one PSS with DP role.In CAS sccm 2012 R2 sp1 got updated.
    But in PSS unable to update from SCCM2012 SP2.
    Another issue i have downloaded software updates from CAS and distributed to PSS.All folders (SMSPKG,SMSPKGD$,SMSPKGSIG,SMSSIG#) automatically created but not getting updated with packages.
    Also not able to deploy software updates to collections also.
    Please help me in these issues.

    Reply
  9. HI Sujith! – Do you have more details on these issues? Why is the primary server not getting upgraded ? IS there any specific error during the upgrade ? Package content replication issues could be because of many reasons. Can you please check the DistMgr.log and other log files of CAS and primary site to get more details.

    I’m not really sure whether you need a CAS or not because in most of the cases SCCM CAS is just an over kill.

    Reply

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