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Migrating the Windows Media server

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2

Migrating the Windows Media server platform means that you are copying your existing Windows Media Services configuration and media files from your existing Windows Media server (the source server) to a new Windows Media server that is running the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system (the destination server). You may do this if you want to replace a server computer with a new server that has the same Windows Media Services settings and content. Migration is also useful if you configure a server farm that includes a group of servers that have identical settings for Windows Media Services.

Use the procedure in this section to migrate your existing Windows Media server configuration and content from a computer that is running Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2 to another computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2, including cross-architecture migrations (for example, from x86-based to x64-based operating systems).

Important

Custom authentication credentials (user name and password) for the following Windows Media Services plug-ins and properties are not retained when you migrate your current Windows Media Services configuration to a new computer:

The custom credential values revert to default values on the destination server, and you must manually re-enter the custom credential values for the plug-ins and properties.

Note

To complete this procedure, you must be logged on as an administrator or be a member of the Administrators group on the source and destination servers.

To migrate Windows Media Services to Windows Server 2008 R2

  1. On the Windows Media source server, stop Windows Media Services. To do this, follow these steps:

    1. Open an elevated Command Prompt (click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator).

    2. Type the following at the command prompt: net stop wmserver

  2. Back up the Windows Media Services configuration and media files (and optionally log files) so that you can copy them to the new computer.

    The following table lists the files that you should copy together with their descriptions and their default locations on the Windows Media server.

    Files Description Default Path

    ServerNamespace.xml

    ServerNamespace.xml stores the Windows Media Services configuration settings.

    %windir%\System32\Windows Media\Server

    Media

    Media content sources can include playlist files, digital media files such as Windows Media Audio (WMA) and Windows Media Video (WMV) files, and archived broadcasts.

    %SystemDrive%\WMPub

    Logs (optional)

    Log files store data about the clients that receive your content.

    %windir%\System32\LogFiles\WMS

  3. Export registry settings for Windows Media Services to a registry hive file. To do this, follow these steps:

    1. Open Registry Editor (click Start, click Run, and then in the Run dialog box, type regedit).

    2. In the registry, navigate to the following key: \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Media

    3. On the File menu, click Export.

    4. In the Export Registry File dialog box, in Save in, specify a safe location for the saved registry hive file so that you can retrieve it later.

    5. In File name, enter a name for the registry hive file.

    6. In Save as type, select Registry Hive Files (*.*).

    7. In Export range, select Selected branch.

    8. Click Save.

    The following figure shows the Export Registry File dialog box configured to export registry settings for Windows Media Services to a registry hive file on the desktop.

  4. On the destination server (the new server computer that is running the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system), create a Windows Media registry key. To do this, follow these steps:

    1. Open an elevated Command Prompt (click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator).

    2. Type the following at the command prompt: reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Media"

  5. On the destination server, import the registry settings for Windows Media Services from the registry hive file that you created in step 3. To do this, follow these steps:

    1. Open Registry Editor (click Start, click Run, and then in the Run dialog box, type regedit).

    2. In the registry, select the key that you created in step 4: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Media

    3. On the File menu, click Import.

    4. In the Import Registry File dialog box, in the box that displays the type of registry files to import, select Registry Hive Files (*.*).

    5. Find the registry hive file that you created in step 3, select it, and then click Open.

      The following figure shows the Import Registry File dialog box configured to import registry settings for Windows Media Services from a registry hive file on the desktop.

    6. In the Confirm Restore Key dialog box, click Yes.

  6. Copy the Windows Media Services files that you backed up in step 2 to the destination server. If necessary, use the Distributed File System (DFS) and File Replication service to copy content from backup media to the new computer.

  7. Install Windows Media Services 2008 on the destination server.

  8. Stop Windows Media Services on the destination server. To do this, follow these steps:

    1. Open an elevated Command Prompt (click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator).

    2. Type the following at the command prompt: net stop wmserver

  9. On the destination server, type the following commands at the command prompt, pressing ENTER after each command:

    cd "%SystemRoot%\System32\Windows Media\Server"

    WMSServerConfig.exe /repair

  10. On the destination server, start Windows Media Services. To start Windows Media Services, type the following at the command prompt:

    net start wmserver

See Also

Concepts

Testing the updated Windows Media server