Primary Storage

Expand all | Collapse all

SC 5.3.7 - changing AD domain

  • 1.  SC 5.3.7 - changing AD domain

    Posted Thu September 09, 2021 12:36 AM
    Hello,

    I have SC 5.3.7 installed on Windows with AD users and groups in use rather than local users and groups.

    The customer is retiring one of the AD domains, uk1, and wants to migrate the SC VM to a new AD domain, eur1. This will also require SC running on a new VM in the new AD domain.

    I have contacted IBM support with little success.

    My plan is:

    1. Reinstall DB2 and SC from the original install media so that DB2 and SC are at the same level in uk1 and eur1 VMs. The new VM will be configured with new users and groups in the eur1 AD domain.
    2. Take a DB2 backup of the existing SC server in existing uk1 domain.
    3. Transfer the DB2 backup to the new SC VM in the eur1 domain.
    4.  Restore the DB2 backup in to the new SC server in the eur1 domain.

    What I'm unsure about is how the user and group are stored in SC. If I restore the uk1 DB2 backup in to the new eur1 SC server will it overwrite any references to the new eur1 users and groups I specified when I installed SC (step 1 above)?

    Does this approach make sense or is there a better method to migrate an SC server from one AD domain to another AD domain?

    Thanks

    ------------------------------
    Glenn Robinson
    ------------------------------

    #PrimaryStorage
    #StorageManagementandReporting
    #Storage


  • 2.  RE: SC 5.3.7 - changing AD domain

    Posted Thu December 02, 2021 08:32 PM
    hello Glenn,

    Sorry for the delayed reply on this topic.

    First of all, it would be advised that you upgrade to the latest level of SC : 5.4.4 since the SC 5.3.7 you have installed just had it's end of life : https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/overview-ibm-spectrum-control-releases
    well, not at the time you've posted this thread though. 

    The migration of SC server is one of the most feverishly debated topics, which unfortunately it is not supported.  There were some one-offs cases https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/spectrum-control/5.3.2?topic=upgrading-migrating
    and even redbook topics written on this subject, but because it's a very complex subject, it was often recommended to be implemented by one of our lab services personnel. 

    instead of a migration, we do recommend installed a new SC server and run in parallel for a while (on the old SC server, along with the new SC server), until you are ready to shut down the old server and every device you monitor on old is also monitored on new SC.   You will be able to export the list of devices (ip's mostly) and bulk add them into a new server, so hopefully monitoring all the devices should be a breeze.  There is also the subordination (rollup) SC concept that you can add in your new SC server as subordinate the old SC server : https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/spectrum-control/5.4.4?topic=concepts-rollup-servers   which can aid a bit, but we really suggest to run the 2 x servers in parallel for a while. 

    Again, migration is very complex, much more then those 4 steps in your plan (just compare that one off in the 2nd like I've posted) 

    Another possibility, in case you are migrating from a physical server to a virtual one (as long as you keep the ip settings) is to use the vmware converter (chapter 3.16) : http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/pdfs/sg248236.pdf
    but this is only for the case of outdated hardware, in most cases the software (OS) is eventually aging and almost none of the OS's I'm aware of, are accommodating major release migration.  

    My recommendation is to : install the new SC server (or keep the existent 5.3.7 if you want to upgrade to 5.4.4 - which is direct) and configure it with the new AD (or simply change it for the case of the upgrade of 5.3.7 to 5.4.4).

    Let us know if you have any questions !  Thanks

    ------------------------------
    TIBERIU HAJAS
    ------------------------------