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Home > Success Center > Network Performance Monitor (NPM) > NPM - Knowledgebase Articles > Migrate SolarWinds Orion products to a new server with a new IP and hostname

Migrate SolarWinds Orion products to a new server with a new IP and hostname

This guide has been revised to include 2016.2 and later steps supporting the new web-based license manager. Migrating with SolarWinds HA will be documented at a later time.

Last Updated: October 16, 2018 | Migration Guide

 

This information details how to migrate to a new server using a new IP and hostname different than the current server. You will install the product on the new server, move reports, import SSL certificates, reassign nodes, and redeploy agents.

Use these instructions if you are migrating any SolarWinds products, including NPM, SAM, NCM, and NTA.

If upgrading, please review the SolarWinds Upgrade Guide and the release notes for your products and complete the upgrades before starting a migration. 

Be sure to check out this video: How to migrate SolarWinds products to a new server with a new IP and hostname.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Please upgrade all SolarWinds software on the main poller and any additional pollers or web servers before migrating. If you are currently running Server 2008 R2, please upgrade to NPM 12.1, SAM 6.4, NCM 7.6,  NTA 4.2.2 and other compatible modules before migrating to Server 2012 or Server 2016. When migrating, please install the identical software versions of NPM, SAM, NTA, NCM and any other modules on the new main Orion server as were installed on the original server.  Failure to so may result in a failed migration.

 

Follow instructions according to the SolarWinds product versions you have installed based on the following:

  • Orion Platform 2016.1 and earlier: These products include NPM 12.0 and earlier, SAM 6.2.4 and earlier, NCM 7.5 and earlier, NTA 4.2 and earlier, and SRM 6.3 and earlier
  • Orion Platform 2016.2. and later: These products include NPM 12.0.1 and later, SAM 6.3 and later, NCM 7.5.1 and later, NTA 4.2.1 and later, and SRM 6.3.1 and later
  • SFTP users created do not get carried over to the new App server, and you should also backup your SFTP_Root folder as well. 

If you are migrating to a new server using the same IP and hostname, see this article.

Prepare your new server

Before backing up data or installing a product, you must prepare your new server. If you are migrating the SolarWinds Orion SQL database or NTA Flow Storage database, you should plan that database migration with your product migration.

Migrating the Orion SQL database? You need to complete the SQL migration before migrating products.

1. Prep new hardware for the migration

Build the new server including any changes to the architecture, hardware, and Operating System.

Review the minimum SolarWinds Orion platform requirements, multi-module guidelines, and specific product requirements (see release notes and admin guides) for your product.

Product requirements include:

For all port requirements, see Port Requirements for all SolarWinds products.

See URLs used by the Orion Platform for a list of URLs to add as exceptions to your firewall.
2. Gather credentials Gather the local admin credentials for the current and new server.
3. Get SolarWinds installation files Download the SolarWinds product installation files from the Customer Portal. Copy the files to the new server.

During migration, SolarWinds recommends backing up your database. If you need software to perform database backups and maintenance, you can install SQL Management Studio Express for your specific version of Microsoft SQL on your Orion SQL database server.

Use the following links to download the installation for the latest version, which is backward compatible with older versions:

Migrate your product to the new server

Follow these step-by-step instructions to install your products to the new server. Depending on the products you migrate, you may have different steps to take such as importing SSL certificates, redeploying agents, and moving files.

Note on Capitalization: Queries are case sensitive for the stored values in the database. Check the stored value capitalization prior to running queries in these steps. If a stored values for a hostname is in ALL CAPS, CamelCase, or all lower case, you must match the capitalization in your query.

1. Delete your High Availability pools (Optional) If your server is a member of an HA pool, delete the pool.
2. Release the product license

Release the product license on the original server.

Orion Platform 2016.2 and later products

In Orion Platform 2016.2 and later (example NPM 12.0.1, SAM 6.3), you must use the web-based License Manager when migrating your main Orion server.

  1. Log in to the Orion Web Console.
  2. Click Settings > All Settings > License Manager.
  3. Copy and paste your activation keys to a text file that you can move to the new server.
  4. Select the product and click Deactivate.
  5. Complete the deactivation wizard.
  6. Continue until you have deactivated all your products.

If you are offline, save the deactivation receipt file, and then upload the deactivation file:

  1. Save the deactivation file from the deactivation wizard.
  2. Log in to the Customer Portal, and navigate to the License Management page. Select your product, and click Deactivate license manually.
  3. In the Manage License Deactivation page, browse for the deactivation file you created in License Manager, and click Upload.
Orion Platform 2016.1 and earlier products

In Orion Platform 2016.1 and earlier (example NPM 12.0 and 11.5.3), certain products can deactivate licenses through the product internal licensing tool or the stand-alone License Manager.

  1. Start the License Manager from the SolarWinds Program group.
  2. Select your product in the License Manager, and click Deactivate.
  3. Complete the deactivation wizard. If you are online, the deactivation file is handled for you through the wizard.

If you are offline, you need to then upload the deactivation file:

  1. Save the deactivation file from the deactivation wizard.
  2. Log in to the Customer Portal, and navigate to the License Management page. Select your product, and click Deactivate license manually.
  3. In the Manage License Deactivation page, browse for the deactivation file you created in License Manager, and click Upload.

The deactivated licenses are now available to activate on a new server.
3. Stop Orion services Stop services on the original polling server. You can leave the original server running. Stop all services by using the Orion Service Manager on the original polling server. You can leave the original server running.
4. Back up your database

Back up your current database before migration.

If your SQL database is on a VM, create a snapshot of the VM.

If using the SQL Management Studio Express, do the following:

  1. Open the SQL Management Studio Express on the Orion SQL server using your Windows credentials.
  2. From the Object explorer, expand Databases and locate the SolarWinds (Orion) database.
  3. Right-click on the Orion database and select Tasks then Backup. 
  4. Create a backup of your SolarWinds SQL database.
5. Back up files (Optional)

(Optional) If you use Report Writer reports (NPM 10.5 and earlier) or still have legacy reports, back up the reports folder to save your custom reports:

  • 64 bit OS: C:\Program Files x86\Solarwinds\Orion\Reports
  • 32 bit OS: C:\Program Files\Solarwinds\Orion

For NCM, you may need to back up the following folders (found in C:\Program Files\SolarWinds\Orion\NCM or C:\Program Files (x86)\SolarWinds\Orion\NCM):

  • Reports
  • Config Archive
  • Scripts
  • Device Command Templates
6. Install products

Unzip and install the new Orion product.

Do not run the Configuration wizard.

If you migrate as part of an upgrade, follow the upgrade path for your upgrades. Depending on the upgrade path and requirements for new product versions, you may need to migrate to new servers and OS before upgrading Orion products.

 

Point to the SolarWinds Orion SQL database and (optional) configure the NTA Flow Storage database.

Need more information? Check our SolarWinds Upgrade Guide.
7. Update references to the old server and remove HA entries

Replace all references to the old server with the new server name.

You must use the NetBIOS short names to the old and new servers to complete this step. Run the hostname command from the command line to confirm the server names. If you have decommissioned the old server completely, look in the Engines table for this information.

  1. Open the Database Manager by clicking Start > All programs > SolarWinds Orion > Advanced Features > Database Manager.
  2. Click Add Server, connect to the SQL server, and select the SolarWinds Orion database.
  3. Run one of the following queries and replace Server1 and Server2 with the appropriate host names.

    Migrating the Main server, run this query:

    DECLARE @oldHostname nvarchar(max)
    SET @oldHostname = 'Server1'
    DECLARE @newHostname nvarchar(max)
    SET @newHostname = 'Server2'

    UPDATE Engines SET ServerName = @newHostname WHERE ServerName = @oldHostname
    UPDATE WebSettings SET SettingValue = @newHostname WHERE SettingName = 'JobSchedulerHost'
    UPDATE Websites SET ServerName = @newHostname WHERE ServerName = @oldHostname
    UPDATE OrionServers SET HostName = @newHostname WHERE HostName = @oldHostname
     

    Migrating an Orion Platform 2015.1.3 and earlier product? Although the OrionServers Update query fails, the migration completes successfully.

     

    Migrating Additional Polling Engines, run this query:

    DECLARE @oldHostname nvarchar(max)
    SET @oldHostname = 'Server1'
    DECLARE @newHostname nvarchar(max)
    SET @newHostname = 'Server2'

    UPDATE Engines SET ServerName = @newHostname WHERE ServerName = @oldHostname
    UPDATE OrionServers SET HostName = @newHostname WHERE HostName = @oldHostname

     

    Migrating Additional Web Servers, run this query:

    DECLARE @oldHostname nvarchar(max)
    SET @oldHostname = 'Server1'
    DECLARE @newHostname nvarchar(max)
    SET @newHostname = 'Server2'

    UPDATE Websites SET ServerName = @newHostname WHERE ServerName = @oldHostname
    UPDATE OrionServers SET HostName = @newHostname WHERE HostName = @oldHostname

     

    Migrating with HA, run this query:

    This query removes the HA entries. They are automatically repopulated when you restart the HA service.

    truncate table HA_FacilitiesInstances
    truncate table HA_PoolMemberInterfacesInfo
    truncate table HA_PoolMembers
    truncate table HA_Pools
    truncate table HA_ResourcesInstances

8. Run the Configuration Wizard

Run the Configuration wizard on the new server and restart all Orion services.

What you should do:

  • When selecting or creating a database, select your existing database.
  • When selecting or creating a user, use the existing DB admin credentials.
  • When prompted to create a new website, select yes and complete.

Need more information? Check our SolarWinds Upgrade Guide.
9. Move the license store
Orion Platform 2016.2 - 2017.1

Complete this step if your products are on Orion Platform 2016.2 - 2017.1, such as NPM 12.0.1 and SAM 6.3. If not, continue to the next step.

If you are migrating the main Orion server, you must move the license store.

  1. Log in to the new Orion server.
  2. Open a command prompt.
  3. Navigate to c:\Program Files (x86)\SolarWinds\Orion\Licensing\.
  4. Enter the following: Migration.exe /promote
  5. Open the Orion Service Manager.
  6. Restart the SolarWinds Orion Module Engine service.
10. Re-initialize the license store If you are running Orion Platform 2017.3 and later, re-initialize the license store.
11. Enable the product license 

Enable the product license on the new server.

Orion Platform 2016.2 and later

In Orion Platform 2016.2 and later, you must use the web-based License Manager when migrating your main Orion server. 

  1. Log in to the Orion Web Console.
  2. Click Settings > All Settings > License Manager.
  3. Copy and paste your activation keys to a text file that you can move to the new server.
  4. Select the product and click Activate.
  5. Complete the wizard and enter your activation key.

If you are offline, do the following:

  1. Select a product, and click Activate.
  2. Click Copy to Clipboard to copy the unique machine key.
  3. Log in to the Customer Portal, and click License Management > License Management.
  4. In the Customer Portal License Management, expand the product license to activate, and click Activate License Manually.
  5. Paste the unique machine id from clipboard, and click Generate License File. Save the .lic file locally and transfer it to the offline computer.
  6. In the License Manager on the offline computer, choose the .lic file, and click Activate.
Orion Platform 2016.1 and earlier

In Orion Platform 2016.1 and earlier, certain products can activate licenses through the product internal licensing tool or the stand-alone License Manager.

To activate using the License Manager:

  1. First, visit the Customer Portal License Management section.
  2. Browse to your product, and click the + icon. Copy your Activation Key.
  3. Start the License Manager from the SolarWinds Program group.
  4. Select your product in the License Manager, and click Activate.
  5. In the activation wizard, select that you have Internet access.
  6. Enter your Activation Key for the product and complete the process following the prompts and options.

If you are offline, you need to complete a few extra steps:

  1. In the activation wizard, select This server does not have Internet access, and click Next.
  2. On the Activate Product screen, click Copy Unique Machine ID. Paste this data in a new document using a text editor. Save the file as a .txt document.
  3. Transfer the document to a computer with Internet access or to a shared location to access from a computer with access.
  4. Through the Customer Portal License Management section, click Manually Register License.
  5. Provide the Unique Machine ID from the .txt file. Download and move the license key to the offline computer.
  6. Run the activation wizard, browse and select the key from the Activate Product window.

12. Redeploy or reconnect to Agents

You have multiple options for deploying or reconnecting to existing Agents during a migration. You can:

  • Redeploy agents through an Orion server push (recommended)
  • Manually changing the Orion server IP address the agent uses via the Windows Control Panel
  • Use the Group Policy Administrative template to redirect existing agents to the new Orion server

13. Copy legacy reports to the server, upgrade report schemas

Copy other files as needed

(Optional)

(Optional)

Copy the reports folder to the same directory as on the old server on the new server: c:\program files x86\solarwinds\orion\reports

Orion Platform 2016.1 and earlier

 

You must upgrade the report schemas in the new install. Updating the report schemas allows Report Writer to display and use custom property information.

  1. Keep the Report Writer closed. In Windows, click Start > All Programs > SolarWinds Orion > Advanced Features > Custom Property Editor.
  2. Right-click on the toolbar, and then click Customize.
  3. Click the Commands tab.
  4. Click the Properties in the category list.
  5. Drag Update Report Schemas to the toolbar to add a new button to the toolbar.
  6. Close the Customize window.
  7. Click Update Report Schemas on the toolbar.
  8. Click OK after the custom properties have been added to the report schemas.
  9. Close Custom Property Editor.

Copy over other files as needed. If you have migrated NCM, you may need to merge folder contents with the following (found in C:\Program Files\SolarWinds\Orion\NCM or C:\Program Files (x86)\SolarWinds\Orion\NCM):

  • Reports
  • Config Archive
  • Scripts
  • Device Command Templates
14. Validate SNMP and WMI requests Validate all devices are set to allow SNMP and WMI requests from the new web address as appropriate.
15. Transfer your SSL
Generate a new self-signed SSL

For website SSL certificates, you will need to transfer the certificate to the new server. Review the documentation from your SSL vendor to migrate the certificate. You will need the CSR, private key, and certificate.


If you use a self-signed SSL certificate, you must create a new self-signed certificate for the new server IP and hostname.
16. Recreate your High Availability pool (Optional)

(Optional) If your server was an HA pool member, recreate your HA pool. This is for SolarWinds HA, not FailOver Engine HA.

For details on SolarWinds HA, see this article.

Results

In the web console, you should see the node displaying the new IP and host name in Manage Nodes. All polling engines should be assigned to the new server.

 

Cleaning up

Uninstall the products from your original server to use the server for other needs and products.

Delete the product install zip files to save space.

Troubleshooting

Subscriptions table showing original server

This applies to migrations to products running on Orion Platform 2016.1 and earlier. One possible issue that may occur is the original server showing in the subscriptions table of the database. This information is dynamic, created during service startup. If you see old info pointing to the original polling engine in the subscriptions table, change the following:

  1. In the database, go to the subscriptions table then the column endpointaddress.
  2. Expand out to see hostname or ip of the server: port: subscription.
  3. If you see the old IP and host name, stop services and run the following SQL query: 
    DELETE from pendingnotifications
DECLARE @oldHostname nvarchar(max)
SET @oldHostname = 'Server1' 
DELETE FROM Subscriptions WHERE EndpointAddress LIKE ('%' + @oldHostname + '%')
DELETE FROM SubscriptionTags Where Subscription_Id NOT IN (SELECT Id FROM Subscriptions)
  4. Restart SolarWinds InformationServiceV3 on the main Orion server.

Results: In the subscriptions table column endpointaddress, you should see the new host name and IP in the database entries.

 

Active Directory login issues

If you experience failures with Active Directory logins, please review the Active Directory login scenarios in the NPM Administrator Guide. You may need to remove an account or account group, and re-add it to Active Directory to successfully login on the new server.

 

RabbitMQ may require purging

After completing your migration, you may need to complete a purging of RabbitMQ data form the SwisPubSub queue. For details, see this article.

 

Orion Platform 2016.2 migration and upgrade may not start Syslog and Traps Services

After migrating and upgrading an Orion Platform 2016.2 product (such as NPM 12.0.1 and SAM 6.3), Syslog and Traps services would not start and the Manage Nodes section/option in the Web Console is missing. For more information, see this article.

 

Engine troubleshooting

  • Engines table must contain just 1 primary poller. If still exists, move the nodes assigned to it to existing poller and remove the redundant one
  • Nodes should not be assigned to an old or not existing engine. Use this query to locate:
  • SELECT NodeId, Caption, EngineId FROM Nodes WHERE EngineID NOT IN (SELECT EngineID from Engines)
  • Cleanup obsolete entries from OrionServers.

 

License troubleshooting

  • License server and JobSchedulerHost should be located on the Primary engine. Use this query to locate:
    SELECT * FROM WebSettings WHERE SettingName IN ('JobSchedulerHost', 'LicensingMainServerName')
    If they are not on the Primary engine, update the JobSchedulerHost entry and follow the instructions for Migration.exe /promote on Main poller.
  • Check product licenses are correctly assigned to the existing servers. Click Settings > All Settings > License Manager to open the web-based License Manager. If licenses are not assigned to existing servers, select the license and reassign to a new server.
  • Make sure the servers can talk to your new main poller. The  licensing server should be accessible via NetBios hostnames. If you are unable to ensure the connection on the DNS side, modify the hosts file (c:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts) with the correct hostname.

Migrate your integration modules

When you migrate your Orion server to a new hostname and IP address, follow these step-by-step instructions to ensure that any integration module that links your Orion server to a separate SolarWinds application points to the correct server. These steps are performed after you have successfully migrated your Orion server.

If you have not installed an integration module, do not perform these steps.

DPA Integration Module v10.2 and later

1. Show all DPA servers integrated with the Orion server

View all DPA servers that are integrated with your Orion server.

  1. Log in to the new Orion server.
  2. Open the Database Manager by clicking Start > All programs > SolarWinds Orion > Advanced Features > Database Manager.
  3. Run the following SQL query:
    SELECT * FROM [dbo].[DPA_DpaServer]

2. Update the Orion server name

Update the hostname in the Orion database.

  • If the column OrionHostnameSetByUser equals 1 for a DPA server, perform the following steps. The setting means the DPA server can connect to the Orion server using the hostname.
    1. Log in to the DPA server and ensure you can reach the new Orion server from the DPA server using the new hostname or IP address by using the ping.
    2. Update the hostname or IP address by running the following query:
      UPDATE [dbo].[DPA_DpaServer] SET [OrionHostname] = 'hostname/IP' WHERE [DpaServerId] = @dpaServerId
  • If the column OrionHostnameSetByUser equals 0 for a DPA server, perform the following steps. This setting means the DPA server cannot connect to the Orion server using the hostname.
    1. Log in to the DPA server and ensure you can reach the new Orion server from the DPA server using the IP address by using the ping.
    2. Update the IP address by running the following query:
      UPDATE [dbo].[DPA_DpaServer] SET [OrionHostname] = 'IP_address',  OrionHostnameSetByUser = 1 WHERE [DpaServerId] = @dpaServerId
Restart Orion services

Open Orion Service Manager and restart the SolarWinds Orion Module Engine service.

DPA Integration Module v9.2 to 10.0.1

1. Ensure you can reach the Orion server

Log in to the DPA server and ensure you can reach the new Orion server from the DPA server using the new hostname or IP address by using the ping command.

 
2. Update the Orion server name

Update the Orion server name in the Orion database.

  1. Log in to the new Orion server.
  2. Open the Database Manager by clicking Start > All programs > SolarWinds Orion > Advanced Features > Database Manager.
  3. Update the hostname or IP address by running the following query:
    UPDATE [dbo].[WebSettings] SET SettingValue = 'hostname/IP' WHERE SettingName = 'DPA.OrionHostname'
3. Update the location of the Orion server in DPA

Update the Orion server name in the DPA database.

  1. Log in to the DPA server.
  2. Open the DPA Database Manager.
  3. Run the following query: 
    SELECT * FROM CON_ORION_INTEGRATION
  4. Update the columns ORION_SERVER_URL and ORION_SERVER_WEB_URL with the  correct hostname or IP address.
4. Update any Orion subscriptions in DPA

Update the Orion subscriptions.

  1. Run the following query:
    SELECT * FROM CON_ORION_SUBSCRIPTIONS
  2. Delete any rows where the endpoint address contains the old Orion server name.
  5. Restart DPA Restart DPA.
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