DPM – Upgrading System Centre DPM 2012 to 2012 R2

System Center DPM 2012

Because we planned to implement a new Hyper-V Cluster using Windows Server 2012R2 we had to move to SCVMM 2012 R2 but in order to do this one of the steps we needed to complete was Upgrading System Centre DPM 2012 to 2012 R2.

I have detailed the steps I took below, there may be some differences for your specific configuration but you will get a good idea.

Firstly, there is a list of SCDPM build numbers here;
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/4058.list-of-build-numbers-for-system-center-data-protection-manager-dpm.aspx

IMPORTANT;

Backup DPM database

You can backup the DPM database using DPMBackup.exe -db or you can use SQL Server Management Studio.

I suggest giving the backup name the Build Number – i.e. DPM_4.0.1920.0.bak, this will make it easier if you have to roll back).

Start Build : 4.0.1920.0

Install  System Center 2012 Data Protection Manager SP1

Post SP1 : 4.1.3313.0

Backup DPM database

Install Update Rollup 3 for System Center 2012 SP1 – Data Protection Manager (KB2877075) – this is a required update in order to move to Update Rollup 3.6.

Post Update Rollup 3 : 4.1.3417.0

Backup DPM database

Install Update Rollup 3.6 for System Center 2012 Data Protection Manager Service Pack 1 (KB2886362)

Post Update Rollup 3.6 : 4.1.3419.0

IMPORTANT;

Once you reach this stage you have the ability to backup Windows Server 2003 and VMM 2012 R2 Hyper-V VM’s however if you continue, System Center Data Protection Manager 2012 R2 is unable to backup Windows Server 2003.

Backup DPM database

Install System Center 2012 R2 Data Protection Manager

BEWARE :

 If you have a disjoint namespace as I do;

FQDN : domain.local

NETBIOS Domain Name : MYDOMAIN

the installation will fail at the SQL server install section when it tries to add a user to a group

This is documented in this thread;

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/447b5d05-d48c-45d1-810a-043fb8b94e38/dpm-2012-r2-installation-upgrade-fails-with-error-4323?forum=dpmsetup

The basic workaround is to set the SQL and SQL Agent services to run under a domain account for the install process then change it back to a local service after the install.

Post System Center 2012 R2 Data Protection Manager : 4.2.1205.0

Once you reach the final stage of your upgrade process you will see error messages;

Replica is inconsistent – Protection Group Member.

This is pretty straightforward, right click the Protection Group Member and “Perform Consistency Check”, this should sort this problem.

Upgrade Available – Management Agents

This will give you an option to upgrade and carry out the upgrade once clicked, again this will resolve this issue.

Agent Unreachable – Management Agents

Error – Management Agents

These 2 errors mean something more serious has occurred and you may have to manually remove the agents from the Protected Computer.

To Manually Uninstall DPM Agent

Search the following key until you find the installed DPM agent – HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

You will find a value named UninstallString with a data entry similar to – MsiExec.exe /X{EECBB752-2C6E-45B7-9F18-2327B886309A}

If you copy and paste this value into an Admin Command Prompt and run it the agent will uninstall, this will not require a reboot.

To Re-install DPM Agent

Method 1

Map a Drive to your DPM server;
net use Z: \\CCDPM02\c$

z:

cd \Program Files\Microsoft DPM\DPM\ProtectionAgents\RA\4.1.3313.0\amd64

DPMAgentInstaller_x64 dpmserver.domain.local /IAcceptEula

Method 2

“\\DPMSERVER\c$\…..DPM INSTALL LOCATION….\ProtectionAgents\RA\4.2.1205.0\amd64\DPMAgentInstaller_x64” dpmserver.domain.local /IAcceptEula

Once this is done you should have a matched version of the DPM agent and the server should then communicate successfully.

You will then probably have to Perform Consistency Checks on the relevant Protection Group Members until all errors are cleared and all is “Green Ticked”.

All was good and I had an install of System Center 2012 R2 Data Protection Manager.

Hope this post is of help to someone, please leave comments as appropriate.

One Thought on “DPM – Upgrading System Centre DPM 2012 to 2012 R2

  1. veeresh on February 21, 2014 at 1:10 am said:

    Hey thank you very much for the post. just one question regarding the upgrade of DPM 2012 to DPM 2012 R2, When i follow the steps that u suggested do i get all my protection group settings as it is it was in 2012?

    Thanks.

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