FRS Migration Guide

The purpose of this guide is to provide detailed steps on how to migrate a 12d Synergy File Replication service to another server.

1.1. Tools needed

You will need the following tools:

1. SQL Server Management Studio
2. 12d Synergy FRS Server Upgrader

1.2. Scope

This document will discuss the necessary steps to reconfigure 12d Synergy during and after a migration.

The following are considered outside the scope of this document:

1. Migrating a database to another instance of SQL Server
2. Redefining the appropriate port forwards for firewalls

1.3. Information needed

Before you begin, you should determine the values of the following information:

1. File Stores
   You may have one or more file stores that may need to be migrated. The locations and types of these are available in the 12d Synergy Administrator, under File Storage – File Stores

2. Preparing to Migrate

2.1. File Copies

If you have a large data set, it may take some time to copy file data from one server to another. This is especially true if you are copying from one VM to another. As such, it is generally  recommended that you do the following:

1. Start a file copy early (the week before).
2. At the time of migration, stop the server and backup the database.
3. Complete the file copy again, skipping files that were already copied.
   This may require the use of a tool such as RoboCopy, but it will save time migrating large amounts of data.

2.2. Risk Mitigation

If something goes wrong with the migration, make sure you leave the old server in a state that you can rollback to, if necessary. For example,

1. Copy the files instead of moving them during the file migration step. 
2. Do not drop the database until you are sure the system is ready and up and running.

3. Migrating the 12d Synergy File Replication Server

Make sure all user data is checked in, to prevent data loss.

3.1. Backup your FRS Database

Make sure you take a backup of your database in case of errors during the process. To backup your database, you should use SQL Server Management Studio.

1. Select the 12d Synergy database.
2. Right-click and select Tasks > Backup.
3. Remove any current backup destination and add a new one.
4. Click Okay to begin your backup.

3.2. Migrate the Delta Cache

Your delta cache may be stored on network attached storage, in which case this step may be unnecessary. However, if you do need to migrate the Delta Cache, you will need to follow these steps:

1. Open SQL Server Management Studio.
2. Connect to the 12d Synergy FRS Database.
3. Edit the table Setting.
4. Find the setting named DeltaCachelocation.
5. Copy the delta cache directory to its new location.

3.3. Migrate the File Log

Your file log may be stored on network attached storage, in which case this step may be unnecessary. However, if you do need to migrate the file log, you will need to follow these steps:

1. Open SQL Server Management Studio.
2. Connect to the 12d Synergy FRS Database.
3. Edit the table Setting.
4. Find the setting named FileLogPath.
5. Copy the file log to its new location.
6. Update the path in the table to the new location.

3.4. Migrate the File Stores

Your file stores may be stored on network attached storage, in which case this step may be unnecessary. However, if you do need to migrate the file stores, you will need to follow these steps:

1. Copy the File Storage directories to their new locations.
2. Open SQL Server Management Studio.
3. Connect to the 12d Synergy FRS Database.
4. Update paths for any “Full” File Stores.
   • Edit the table FileDiskStore.
   • Update the value of StoreLocation appropriately.

3.5. Install the Microsoft C++ Runtimes

This is required by 12d Model analysis. It is installed when completing an initial install, but not at upgrade time.

You can download these files from:

• http://downloads.12dsynergy.com/vcredist_2012_x86.exe 
• http://downloads.12dsynergy.com/vcredist_2017_x86.exe

3.6. Run the FRS Upgrader on the New Server

You will now need to run the standard FRS Upgrader on the new server. This will perform an install without creating a new database – but you will need to nominate, when prompted, the following details:

• A service account to run the 12d Synergy FRS Service
• The connection details for your database, which may be different if the database has been migrated to a new SQL Server Instance

When completed, make sure you check the Application Event Viewer to ensure the service started correctly.

3.7. Update the Master Server

You must now update the master server to point to the new FRS address. To do so, follow these steps.

1. Run the 12d Synergy Administration application.
2. Connect to the Master Server.
3. Select File Storage tab.
4. Select the File Servers tab.
5. Edit the File Replication Server, which may appear to be offline.
6. You may receive an error as it may not be reachable until you change the address.
7. Edit the remote and local addresses as necessary.

3.8. Updating Client Settings

If the physical name of the server has changed, and if you are not using FRS allocation via groups, then the server address at each client that uses the FRS must be updated. This can be updated by clicking the Servers button on the connection screen while logging into the 12d Synergy Client application and entering the appropriate address in the File Server boxes.

4. Final Steps

As a note, you may need to update firewall settings (such as NAT port mappings) to allow external access and file publishing to work with your new server. 

You should also update backup plans for the new server.

Make sure you shut down the original server service to prevent accidental connection to the old system.