Preparing Site Servers for the Client Upgrade

Before you can upgrade your client computers, you must upgrade your site servers. You begin this process by evaluating the operating systems used by the client computers that will be reporting to your site servers.

Review Table 12.1 to determine which versions of SMS you should use on your SMS site servers to support existing clients, and then use the procedures in this chapter to create your new site hierarchy.


Table 12.1 SMS Version to Use by Client Operating System

If the client computer operating system isThe site server should be running…
Windows 2000SMS 2.0
Windows NT Server 4.0, Service Pack 4 (or later) or Windows NT Workstation 4.0, Service Pack 4 (or later)SMS 2.0
Windows NT Server 3.51 or
Windows NT Workstation 3.51		SMS 2.0
Windows 95 or Windows 98SMS 2.0
Windows 3.xSMS 2.0
MS-DOS 5.0 or later, without Windows SMS 1.2, Service Pack 4 (or later)
OS/2, any versionSMS 1.2, Service Pack 4 (or later)
Macintosh System 7 or laterSMS 1.2, Service Pack 4 (or later)

You will need to use only one of the following procedures, depending on the SMS versions required to support the clients in your hierarchy. If some of your clients are using MS-DOS (without Windows), OS/2, or the Macintosh operating system, your site hierarchy will contain both SMS 2.0 and SMS 1.2 Service Pack 4 site servers when you are finished. If your clients are all using Windows operating systems, your site hierarchy will contain only SMS 2.0 site servers.

Procedure Bullet  To prepare your site servers to support a mixed SMS 2.0/SMS 1.2 hierarchy

  1. If you have 16-bit clients in your SMS hierarchy, you should reconfigure the Remote Control and component auto-start client settings in SMS 1.2. After you change these settings, 16-bit clients will require one less restart during the upgrade process to SMS 2.0.

    Note   To reconfigure SMS 1.2 for faster client upgrades to SMS 2.0, use the “To disable automatic component starts and Remote Control in SMS 1.2” procedure later in this chapter.

  2. Install and configure one SMS 2.0 site server as a parent site. This site server will be the parent site to the SMS 1.2 site server or servers that you will maintain in your hierarchy to support MS-DOS, OS/2 and Macintosh clients. You do not have to configure this SMS 2.0 site server to be your central site.
  3. Install and configure one or more SMS 2.0 site servers to support client computers running Windows 3.x, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 3.51 or later, and Windows 2000. These sites might be parents or children of the SMS 2.0 site server you installed in step 1.
  4. Map your SMS 1.2 domains to your network’s IP subnets or IPX network numbers. Decide which domains to move to each of your SMS 2.0 site servers on the basis of these domain/subnet relationships.

    Tip   To help determine how many clients are in each subnet, you can use resource discovery to gather information about the computers in the subnets you plan to manage. To gather this information, initiate either a logon discovery method or Network Discovery in the SMS Administrator console without initiating client installation. However, make sure that you have not specified any site boundaries so that SMS does not install client software. For more information about discovery methods, see Table 12.2, “Summary of Resource Discovery and Client Installation Methods,” later in this chapter.

    Note that throughout this chapter, “initiate” is used to refer to the entire activity required to begin using a discovery or installation method, including defining site boundaries, choosing options for each method, and enabling the services in the SMS Administrator console.

  5. Designate one SMS 1.2 site server to support all clients running MS-DOS, OS/2 and Macintosh operating systems. Create a new domain that includes only those clients. Add the new domain to the SMS 1.2 site server.

    Important   If you have many clients using MS-DOS (without Windows), OS/2, and Macintosh operating systems, you might decide to keep more than one SMS 1.2 site server in your hierarchy. Before proceeding, you should review the “Client-Side Upgrade Issues” section in Chapter 5 of the SMS 2.0 Administrator’s Guide and resolve any site hierarchy structure issues.

  6. Apply SMS 1.2, Service Pack 4 (or later) to the SMS 1.2 site server. Doing so will enable it to communicate correctly with the SMS 2.0 site servers in your hierarchy.
  7. Assign the SMS 1.2 clients using all Windows operating systems to the new SMS 2.0 site servers by defining site boundaries for each SMS 2.0 site server. To define site boundaries, navigate to the following location in the SMS Administrator console:
    8. Systems Management Server   Lower levelSite Database (site code-site name)      Lower levelSite Hierarchy         Lower levelsite code - site name

    Right-click the site whose boundaries you want to define, click Properties, and then click the Boundaries tab.

  8. Attach the SMS 1.2 site server as a child site to the SMS 2.0 parent site server that you created in step 1.
  9. Upgrade all other SMS 1.2 site servers in your hierarchy to SMS 2.0. Define the site boundaries for each upgraded site in the SMS 2.0 Administrator console.
  10. Initiate one or more resource discovery methods if you have not already done so. Also initiate the appropriate client installation methods on each site server in your hierarchy. For more information, see “Upgrading Clients” later in this chapter.

SMS 2.0 will install the SMS 2.0 client software on all SMS 1.2 and SMS 2.0 site servers and site systems in your hierarchy.

Procedure Bullet  To support only Windows clients in your hierarchy

  1. If you have 16-bit clients in your SMS hierarchy, you should reconfigure the Remote Control and component auto-start client settings in SMS 1.2. After you change these settings, 16-bit clients will require one less restart during the upgrade process to SMS 2.0.

    Note   To reconfigure SMS 1.2 for faster client upgrades to SMS 2.0, use the “To disable automatic component starts and Remote Control in SMS 1.2” procedure later in this chapter.

  2. Install a new SMS 2.0 site server.
  3. Map your SMS 1.2 domains to your network’s IP subnets or IPX network numbers. Decide which domains to move to each of your SMS 2.0 site servers on the basis of these domain/subnet relationships.

    Tip   To help determine how many clients are in each subnet, you can use resource discovery to gather information about the computers in the subnets you plan to manage. To gather this information, initiate either a logon discovery method or Network Discovery in the SMS Administrator console without initiating client installation. Make sure that you have not specified any site boundaries so that SMS does not install client software.

  4. Assign one or more groups of clients to this site server by defining site boundaries. To define site boundaries, navigate to the following location in the SMS Administrator console:
    5. Systems Management Server   Lower levelSite Database (site code - site name)      Lower levelSite Hierarchy         Lower levelsite code - site name

    Right-click the site whose boundaries you want to define, click Properties, and then click the Boundaries tab.

  5. Install and configure additional SMS 2.0 site servers by following steps 1 through 3.
  6. Attach site servers to their parent sites in the SMS 2.0 Administrator console.
  7. Install any SMS 2.0 secondary sites and define their site boundaries.
  8. Initiate one or more resource discovery methods if you have not already done so. Also initiate client installation methods on each site server in your hierarchy. For more information, see “Upgrading Clients” later in this chapter.

SMS 2.0 will automatically install the client software on all SMS 2.0 site servers and site systems.