Moving the SharePoint Databases to a new SQL server instance

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(Updated 20071004)

Well, you just have a brand new database server and you need to move all the databases from your old SQL server to the new SQL server.

This is what I did to change the SQL server instance of an existing EPM farm.

You cannot just backup and restore (or detach it) the databases. This is because the configuration database of your farm cannot be restored to a new SQL server. You have to use the backup/restore tools described here for EPM : https://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/8aee655b-1f87-4729-bf30-e79ad0debeec1033.mspx?mfr=true 

This farm is configured with two separate servers: one web/application server and one sql server..

  1. Using the SharePoint Central Admin, make a full backup the whole farm.
  2. Start the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard and disconnect the web server from the farm
  3. Using the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard define a new farm in the SQL server, that creates a new configuration database
  4. (Updated) Using the SharePoint Central Admin restore the full backup in your new farm, running it twice. Select New configuration to be able to change the Database name.
    1. Restore first the content database
    2. Restore the SSP and its content

Enjoy your new SQL server !

In a next post, I will detail what you need to manually redo in your restored envirornment, depending on your original configuration.