Ensure all sites in the hierarchy run System Center 2012 Configuration Manager with SP1.

You cannot upgrade a site to System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager until all sites in the hierarchy run System Center 2012 Configuration Manager with SP1. The version of cumulative updates for Configuration Manager that are installed at sites is not evaluated and you can upgrade a System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1 site regardless of the cumulative update version that is installed, or even when no cumulative update is installed.

Ensure that your computing environment meets the supported configurations that are required for upgrading to System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager.

Before you upgrade to System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager, install the required prerequisites on each computer that hosts a site system role. Several site system roles require new or upgraded prerequisites.

For example, to deploy an operating system, System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager uses Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit 8.1 instead of Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit 8.0. Before you run Setup, on the site server and on each computer that runs an instance of the SMS Provider you must uninstall the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit 8.0, and then download and install Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit 8.1.

For general information about supported platforms and prerequisite configurations, see Supported Configurations for Configuration Manager.

For information about how to use the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit 8.1 with Configuration Manager, see the Prerequisites For Deploying Operating Systems in Configuration Manager topic in the Deploying Software and Operating Systems in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide.

Review the site and hierarchy status and verify that there are no unresolved issues.

Before you upgrade a site, you must resolve all operational issues for the site server, the site database server, and site system roles that are installed on remote computers. A site upgrade can fail due to existing operational problems.

For information about the status of sites and site system roles, see Monitor Configuration Manager Sites and Hierarchy.

Install all applicable critical updates for operating systems on computers that host the site, the site database server, and remote site system roles.

Before you upgrade a site, install any critical updates for each applicable site system. If an update that you install requires a restart, restart the applicable computers before you start the upgrade.

For more information, see Windows Update.

Review requirements for any add-ins or extensions for Configuration Manager that you use.

Before you upgrade a site, review available details for product add-ins and extensions that you use with Configuration Manager to ensure compatibility or potential issues during or after the upgrade of the Configuration Manager site.

Disable database replicas for management points at primary sites.

Configuration Manager cannot successfully upgrade a primary site that has a database replica for management points enabled. Disable database replication before you create the backup of the site database to test the database upgrade, and before you upgrade the production site to System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager.

For more information, see Configure Database Replicas for Management Points.

Reconfigure software update points that use NLBs.

Configuration Manager cannot upgrade a site that uses a Network Load Balancing (NLB) cluster to host software update points. If you use NLB clusters for software update points, use PowerShell to remove the NLB cluster. (Beginning with Configuration Manager SP1, there is no option in the Configuration Manager console to configure an NLB cluster.

For more information, see section in the Upgrade from Configuration Manager with No Service Pack to Configuration Manager SP1 section in the Planning for Software Updates in Configuration Manager topic.

Back up the site database at the central administration site and primary sites.

Before you upgrade a site, back up the site database to ensure that you have a successful backup to use for disaster recovery.

For more information, see Backup and Recovery in Configuration Manager.

Disable all site maintenance tasks at each site for the duration of that site’s upgrade.

Before you upgrade the version of a Configuration Manager site, disable any site maintenance task that might run at that site during the time the upgrade process is active. This includes but is not limited to the following:

• Backup Site Server
  
  
• Delete Aged Client Operations
  
  
• Delete Aged Discovery Data
  
  

When a site database maintenance task runs during the upgrade process, the site upgrade can fail.

Before you disable a task, record the schedule of the task so you can restore its configuration after the site upgrade completes.

For more information about site maintenance tasks, see the Planning for Maintenance Tasks for Configuration Manager section in the Planning for Site Operations in Configuration Manager topic.

Run Setup Prerequisite Checker.

System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager introduces new prerequisite checks. Before you upgrade a site, you can run the Prerequisite Checker independently from Setup to validate that your site meets the prerequisites. When you upgrade the site, Prerequisite Checker runs again.

For more information, see the Prerequisite Checker section in the Install Sites and Create a Hierarchy for Configuration Manager topic.

For information about prerequisite checks, see Technical Reference for the Prerequisite Checker in Configuration Manager.

Download prerequisite files and redistributable files for System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager.

Use Setup Downloader from the System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager source media to download prerequisite redistributable files, language packs, and the latest product updates for the product version upgrade.

For information about Setup Downloader, see the Setup Downloader section in the Install Sites and Create a Hierarchy for Configuration Manager topic.

Prepare to upgrade secondary sites

With System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager, when you plan to upgrade an existing secondary site that uses SQL Server 2012 Express with no service pack, or retry a failed secondary site installation, you must first apply cumulative update 2 to the SQL Server 2012 Express installation on the secondary site server. This is because, when System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager installs SQL Server Express as part of a new secondary site installation, it installs SQL Server 2012 Express with no service pack and is unable to install the required cumulative update 2 as part of the installation. When you direct Configuration Manager to install SQL Server Express as part of a new site, the prerequisite check does not detect an existing installation of SQL Server Express, and then installs SQL Server Express as part of the site installation. During an upgrade or retry, if an existing version of SQL Server Express is detected that does not meet the minimum version requirement for System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager of SQL Server 2012 Express with no service pack and cumulative update 2, the upgrade or retry will fail.

Plan to manage server and client languages when you upgrade a site.

System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager supports the same server and client languages as prior versions. However, when you upgrade the site, the upgrade process installs new versions of each language pack.

When you run Setup, Setup reviews the current language configuration of your site, and then identifies the language packs that are available in the folder where you store previously downloaded prerequisite files. You can then affirm the selection of the current server and client language packs, or change the selections to add or remove support for languages. Only those language packs are available that are available with the prerequisite files that you download.

Important
Server and client language packs are service pack version-specific. You cannot use the language packs from Configuration Manager SP1 to enable languages for a System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager site.

If you have previously installed a language pack for servers or clients at a site, and a version of that language pack is not available with the prerequisite files of the upgrade files, that language cannot be selected. Support for that language is removed from the site when it upgrades.

For more information about language packs, see the Planning for Client and Server Operating System Languages in Configuration Manager section in the Planning for Sites and Hierarchies in Configuration Manager topic.

For information about Setup Downloader, see the Setup Downloader section in the Install Sites and Create a Hierarchy for Configuration Manager topic.

Plan for prerequisites for new site system roles, and ensure site system servers still meet prerequisite for installed site system roles.

Important
Prerequisite Checker for Configuration Manager does not verify the prerequisites for site system roles on the site server or on remote computers.

During a site upgrade, Configuration Manager automatically upgrades site system roles at the site by reinstalling each site system role. When prerequisites are not met, the site system role might not reinstall or might reinstall, but might fail to operate correctly.

For information about prerequisites for site system roles, see the Site System Requirements section in the Supported Configurations for Configuration Manager topic.

Review the list of considerations for site upgrades.

When you upgrade a site, some features and configurations reset to a default configuration. To help you plan for these and related changes in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager, review the information in the Considerations for Upgrading to System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager section in this topic.

Test the database upgrade process on a copy of the most recent site database backup.

Before you upgrade a Configuration Manager central administration site or primary site, plan to test the site database upgrade process on a copy of the site database. You should test the site database upgrade process, because when you upgrade a site, the site database might be modified and although a test database upgrade is not required, it can identify problems for the upgrade before your production database is affected. A failed site database upgrade can render your site database inoperable and might require a site recovery to restore functionality.

Note
Configuration Manager supports neither the backup of secondary sites nor the test upgrade of a secondary site database.

Although the site database is shared between sites in a hierarchy, plan to test the database at each applicable site before you upgrade that site. If you use database replicas for management points at a primary site, disable replication before you create the backup of the site database.

Important

It is not supported to run a test database upgrade on the production site database. Doing so upgrades the site database and could render your site inoperable. Also, do not restore the copy of the database that you use to test he database upgrade to the same SQL Server that hosts the production database. This is because the same SQL Server Service Broker endpoints can be used by each copy of the database, and messages sent to the copy during the upgrade test can be picked up by the production database, and vice versa.

For more information, see the Test the Configuration Manager Site Database for the Upgrade section in the Upgrade Configuration Manager to a New Service Pack topic.

Restart the site server and each computer that hosts a site system role to ensure that there are no pending actions from a recent installation of updates or from prerequisites.

Internal process that is company-specific.

Install System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager.

Starting at the top-level site in the hierarchy, run Setup.exe from the System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager source media. After the top-level site completes the upgrade and replication is Active, you can begin the upgrade of each child site. Complete the upgrade of each site before you begin to upgrade the next site.

Until all sites in your hierarchy upgrade to the new product version, your hierarchy operates in a mixed version mode.

For information about how to run the upgrade installation, see the Upgrade a Configuration Manager Site section in the Upgrade Configuration Manager to a New Service Pack topic.

For information about operating a Configuration Manager hierarchy in mixed mode, see the Interoperability between Sites with Different Service Pack Versions in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager section in the Interoperability between Different Versions of Configuration Manager topic.

Upgrade stand-alone Configuration Manager consoles.

By default, when you upgrade a central administration site or primary site, the installation also upgrades a Configuration Manager console that is installed on the site server. However, you must manually upgrade each Configuration Manager console that is installed on a computer other than the site server.

When you upgrade a Configuration Manager console, the installation process uninstalls the existing Configuration Manager console, and then installs the new version of the software. Therefore, to upgrade a console on computers other than site servers, you can use any method that Configuration Manager supports to install the Configuration Manager console. These supported methods can include a manual installation or a deployment that installs the console.

Important
Close an open Configuration Manager console before you start the upgrade. The installation process cannot upgrade an open console.

For more information about how to install the Configuration Manager console, see the Install a Configuration Manager Console section in the Install Sites and Create a Hierarchy for Configuration Manager topic.

Reconfigure database replicas for management points at primary sites.

If you use database replicas for management points at primary sites, you must uninstall the database replicas before you upgrade the site. After you upgrade a primary site, reconfigure the database replica for management points.

For more information, see the Configurations for Using a Database Replica section in the Configure Database Replicas for Management Points topic.

Reconfigure any database maintenance tasks you disabled prior to the upgrade.

If you disabled database maintenance tasks at a site prior to the upgrade, reconfigure those tasks at the site using the same settings that were in place prior to the upgrade.

Upgrade clients.

After you upgrade a primary site, plan to upgrade clients that are assigned to that site. Although a Configuration Manager primary site or secondary site can support communication from clients that have a lower service pack version (including clients that run Configuration Manager SP1 talking to a site that runs System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager), this communication should be a temporary configuration. Clients that run a previous service pack version of Configuration Manager cannot use the new functionality that is available with the new version of Configuration Manager.

When you upgrade a client, the current client software is uninstalled and the new client software version is installed. To upgrade clients, you can use any method that Configuration Manager supports.

Tip
When you upgrade the top-level site of a hierarchy to a new service pack, the client installation package on each distribution point in the hierarchy is also updated. When you upgrade a primary site, the client upgrade package that is available from that primary site is updated.

For information about how to upgrade existing clients and how to install new clients, see How to Install Clients on Windows-Based Computers in Configuration Manager.

Software Center

When you upgrade to System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager, the following Software Center items are reset to their default values

• Work information is reset to business hours from 5.00am to 10.00pm Monday to Friday.
  
  
• The value for Computer maintenance is set to Suspend Software Center activities when my computer is in presentation mode.
  
  
• The value for Remote control is set to the value in the client settings that are assigned to the computer.
  
  

Software update summarization schedules

When you upgrade to System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager, custom summarization schedules for software updates or software update groups are reset to the default value of 1 hour. After the upgrade finishes, reset custom summarization values to the required frequency.