Microsoft has stopped providing technical support for outdated operating systems such as Windows Server 2008 R2. For security or business reasons, you must migrate Windows Server 2008 R2 or later to a later version. This topic describes how to use Server Migration Center (SMC) to migrate a Windows operating system of an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance.
Scenarios
The following table describes the x86-based operating systems that can be migrated by using SMC and the operating systems that can serve as migration destinations.
Operating system architecture | Source operating system | Destination operating system |
x86 |
| Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter 64-bit (Chinese/English) Important The language of the destination operating system must be the same as that of the source operating system. |
|
Important The language of the destination operating system must be the same as that of the source operating system. | |
| Windows Server 2019 Datacenter 64-bit (Chinese/English) Important The language of the destination operating system must be the same as that of the source operating system. |
Limits
Cross-language migration of Windows operating systems is not supported.
The ECS instance whose Windows operating system is to be migrated must have at least 2 vCPUs and 2 GiB of memory.
The migration tool consumes resources to download and install software packages during the migration process. Therefore, make sure that the available space of the C drive on the instance is at least 20 GiB, and the available space is larger than the size of the
C:\Windows
directory.
Usage notes
Before you migrate the operating system, we recommend that you test and verify that all your business applications are compatible with the destination operating system and run as expected in the destination operating system to ensure business continuity and functionality.
During the migration, the following operations are performed on the ECS instance: creating snapshots for basic disks, reinstalling software packages, creating a custom image from a system disk snapshot, replacing the system disk, stopping the ECS instance, and starting the ECS instance. To prevent the preceding operations from affecting your business, we recommend that you back up important data and plan an appropriate migration timeframe.
If you perform a migration test or cancel a migration job, all disks of the ECS instance may be automatically rolled back to the snapshots that are created before the migration. In this case, the data generated during the migration is lost. Before the migration job is complete, we recommend that you do not use the ECS instance.
During the migration, the system automatically shares the snapshot of the Windows installation media with the current Alibaba Cloud account, and uses the snapshot to create and attach an intermediate disk to the instance. Do not perform operations on the intermediate disk during the migration. After the migration is complete, the intermediate disk is automatically detached and released.
Before and during the migration, the system checks whether the source instance meets the required conditions and prechecks the migration job. If the source instance does not meet the required conditions or fails to pass the precheck, errors occur during the migration and the migration job fails. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the migration limits and FAQ documents and perform migration tests. For more information, see Errors occurred during the migration of a Windows operating system.
During the migration, the operating system kernel and software packages are installed or updated and the operating system is automatically restarted multiple times. In this process, business continuity cannot be ensured. We recommend that you assess the impact of migration on your business and suspend your business before you perform a migration job. We also recommend that you do not use the source operating system during the migration.
Billing
During the migration, the system creates snapshots for all disks of the ECS instance to back up data. You are charged for snapshots on a pay-as-you-go basis. For more information, see Billing.
Prerequisites
The preparations for the migration are complete. For more information, see Before you begin.
The ECS instance is deployed in a virtual private cloud (VPC). If the ECS instance is in the classic network, you must migrate the ECS instance from the classic network to a VPC. For more information, see Migrate ECS instances from the classic network to a VPC.
Snapshots are created for the source operating system and data for backup, so that you can restore the source operating system and data if necessary. For more information, see Create a snapshot for a disk.
ImportantIf you migrate an operating system, the operating system kernel, software packages, and configurations are modified. The modifications are irreversible.
The Delete Automatic Snapshots While Releasing Disk feature is manually disabled if you want to retain the snapshots that are associated with the original system disk. After the migration, the original system disk is released and the associated snapshots are also released by default. For more information, see Delete automatic snapshots while releasing a disk.
Procedure
(Recommended) Fast migration
To use the SMC console to import the information about a migration source, make sure that the following conditions are met:
Internet access is enabled for the migration source.
Cloud Assistant Agent is installed on the migration source. By default, Cloud Assistant Agent is installed on ECS instances that are created based on public images after December 1, 2017.
If you want to import the information about a migration source as a Resource Access Management (RAM) user, make sure that the following permissions are granted to the RAM user:
AliyunRAMReadOnlyAccess
. For more information, see Grant permissions to a RAM user.The
AliyunECSAssistantFullAccess
policy is attached to the RAM user to grant the RAM user the permission to manage Cloud Assistant. For more information, see RAM overview.
Log on to the SMC console.
In the left-side navigation pane, choose
.On the OS Migration page, click Upgrade Operating System.
In the Operating System Migration dialog box, configure the parameters that are described in the following table.
Parameter
Description
Example
Select Migration Source
Select the region of the ECS instance whose operating system you want to migrate and the ID or name of the ECS instance from the drop-down lists.
Region: China (Hangzhou)
Instance ID and name: i-2ze4looqfx**** and test
Current Operating System
By default, the current operating system is displayed and cannot be modified.
Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter 64-bit (Simplified Chinese)
Destination Operating System
Select the operating system to which you want to migrate the source operating system from the drop-down list.
Windows Server 2016 R2 Datacenter 64-bit (Simplified Chinese)
Select I acknowledge and accept these risks and authorize Alibaba Cloud to create snapshots for all disks on the instance and click Create.
In the Migrate Operating System dialog box, read the messages and click Got It.
In the Create Migration Job dialog box, click Go to the Migration Jobs page and wait until the migration job is complete.
WarningDuring the migration, do not stop, restart, or release the Windows ECS instance manually or by using O&M scripts.
Staged migration
Step 1: Import the information about a migration source
Step 2: Create a migration job
Verify the migration result
Clear resources
During the migration, SMC creates two pay-as-you-go snapshots named SMC_Backup_Snapshot_XXX
and SMC_Transition_Snapshot_XXX
for disks of the ECS instance for backup and data transfer. The method of clearing the snapshots depends on whether the migration is successful.
If the migration is successful, the snapshots are automatically released. No manual operation is required.
If the migration fails, the snapshots are not automatically released and incur fees as long as the migration job exists. You can release the snapshots by using one of the following methods to reduce costs:
If you no longer need the migration job, move the pointer over the
icon in the Actions column and select Delete to delete the migration job and release the snapshots at a time.Manually delete the snapshots. For more information, see Delete a snapshot.