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Upgrade Sequencing for System Center 2012 SP1

 

Updated: May 13, 2016

Applies To: System Center 2012 SP1

In an environment that includes two or more components of Microsoft System Center 2012, the order in which you upgrade those components to System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 (SP1) is very important. The following is a list of the System Center 2012 SP1 components that are affected by upgrade sequencing:

  1. Orchestrator

  2. Service Manager

  3. Data Protection Manager (DPM)

  4. Operations Manager

  5. Configuration Manager

  6. Virtual Machine Manager (VMM)

  7. App Controller

The list of components is presented in order of upgrade priority; the first component to be upgraded is at the top of the list. If you have only one of these System Center components in your environment, then you can proceed directly to the upgrade guide for that component. Otherwise, follow the steps in this guide to make sure that you perform the upgrades in the correct sequence.

The following sections in this guide show you how to prepare for upgrading two or more System Center components and are presented in order of upgrade precedence. Start with the section in this guide for the component you have at the highest position on the list. For example, if you have Operations Manager and VMM, start with the Operations Manager section first, as it is higher in the list, and then proceed to the VMM section.

Read the section in this guide for each component you have to help you prepare for an upgrade before referring to the specific component upgrade guide.

Except for the case of VMM and App Controller, you do not need to upgrade additional components at the same time. As long as you perform the upgrades in the order listed, an upgraded component will continue to function with the other components that have yet to be upgraded.

Except for VMM, which requires Windows Server 2012, it is assumed that no other operating system upgrades have taken place before or during this upgrade. Upgrade the various System Center components before you upgrade the operating system. In addition, we assume that no upgrades to SQL Server have taken place. You can upgrade to SQL Server 2012 after you have upgraded your System Center components.

We recommend that you update all of the System Center 2012 components with the most current update rollups, or newer, if available. The update rollups that were current as of the time this document was published are shown in the following table.

Note

For information about the cumulative updates for Configuration Manager, see TechNet article Update System Center 2012 Configuration Manager.

Component Current Update Rollup
Orchestrator UR6
Service Manager UR6
DPM UR6
Operations Manager UR6
VMM UR6
App Controller UR6

Notes about System Center Versions

In April 2012, Microsoft released the first version of the System Center product, System Center 2012, and is referred to as System Center 2012 in this guide. The next version of System Center product we released was System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 (SP1), the version that you are reading about now. This version is referred to as System Center 2012 SP1 in this guide.

Notes about Orchestrator

If Orchestrator is part of your environment, then Orchestrator will be the first component that you upgrade. You need to be aware that any System Center component integration packs (IP) that you installed on System Center 2012 will not function with System Center 2012 SP1 components.

When upgrading Orchestrator, you will do so leaving the System Center 2012 IPs in place so that current functionality continues until the other components are upgraded. When you upgrade subsequent components, for example System Center 2012 – Service Manager, you will uninstall the System Center 2012 IP. After your component has been upgraded, go back to the Orchestrator computer and install the SP1 version of the IP. This sequence is detailed both in this guide and in the Upgrade Guide for Orchestrator.

Note

When you install an upgrade of an integration pack, you must first uninstall any earlier version of the integration pack from all Runbook servers and Runbook Designers. You then register and deploy the upgrade of the integration pack. If you do not uninstall the previous version of the integration pack prior to registering and deploying the upgrade version, the upgrade version will fail.

Notes about Configuration Manager

Configuration Manager shares connectors with Operations Manager, has an integration pack with Orchestrator, and has a management pack with Operations Manager. Configuration Manager must be upgraded after Orchestrator, Operations Manager, and Service Manager to ensure continued operations with the connections it shares with other components. Configuration Manager agents for System Center 2012 do not support managing Windows Server 2012 operating systems so Configuration Manager will need to be upgraded before Virtual Machine Manager since Virtual Machine Manager has a mandatory requirement on Windows Server 2012.

For example, if you were to upgrade Configuration Manager before Service Manager, the connectors for Service Manager would fail and you would lose that connector functionality until Service Manager is upgraded to System Center 2012 SP1. As another example, if you were to upgrade

Virtual Machine Manager to System Center 2012 SP1 before Configuration Manager you would not be able to manage the VMM management server as the Configuration Manager for System Center 2012 does not support Windows Server 2012.

Notes about Operations Manager

After you upgrade Operations Manager, you might have to install the Operations Manager console on some of the down-level components.

There are some new features that are available with Operations Manager that are only available when using Windows Server 2012. It is our recommendation that you first upgrade Operations Manager on the existing operating system before you upgrade to Windows Server 2012.

Notes about DPM

There are some new features that are available with Data Protection Manager (DPM) that are only available when using Windows Server 2012. It is our recommendation that you first upgrade DPM on the existing operating system before you upgrade to Windows Server 2012.

Notes about Service Provider Foundation

The current release of Service Provider Foundation provides access to Virtual Machine Manager Web Service, which interacts with VMM. Do not install Service Provider Foundation until all of the other System Center components have been upgraded.

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