Migrating SCCM Hierachies - Overview and considerations

This step by step SCCM 2012 to SCCM 1511 migration guide explains how to migrate all the supported objects from SCCM 2012 to SCCM 1511 using side by side approach.

This approach assumes that we have fully functional SCCM 2012 environment and fully functional System Center Current branch 1511 or higher. You can follow similar approach to migrate any supported version of Configuration Manager products.

Migration Considerations;

-     We can migrate an existing Configuration Manager hierarchy to latest Configuration Manager Current branch 1511. 

-     We can migrate the data from a single source site to several different sites in the destination hierarchy

-     We can move data from multiple source sites to a single site in the destination hierarchy

Before we start let’s have a quick  look in to the terminology we use during whole migration process;

Source hierarchy:

A hierarchy that runs a supported version of Configuration Manager and contains data that we want to migrate (typically SCCM 2012 for this exercise). When we configure migration, the top-level site of the destination hierarchy gathers data from the database of the designated source site to identify the data needs to be migrated

Source sites:

The sites in the source hierarchy that have data that we can migrate (from) to the destination hierarchy (to). 

Destination hierarchy:

A System Center Configuration Manager hierarchy where migration runs to import data from a source hierarchy (SCCB 1511).

Data gathering:

Data gathering is an ongoing process of identifying the information in a source hierarchy that will be migrated to the destination hierarchy. 

Configuration Manager checks the source hierarchy on a schedule to identify any changes to information in the source hierarchy that we previously migrated and that we might want to update in the destination hierarchy. 

Migration jobs:

The process of configuring the specific objects to migrate and then managing the migration of those objects to the destination hierarchy. We have to create migration jobs before actually migrate any objects.

Client migration:

Migrating the information that clients use from the database of the source site to the database of the destination hierarchy. 

Not all the client data can be migrated.

Shared distribution points:

Shared distribution points will serve both source and destination hierarchies during the migration.

Monitoring migration:

We can monitor the migration progress from the Migration node in the Administration workspace. 

Stop gathering data:

The process of stopping data gathering from source sites. When we no longer have data to migrate from a source hierarchy, or if we want to temporarily suspend migration-related activities, we can configure the destination hierarchy to stop gathering data from the source hierarchy.

Clean up migration data:

The process of finishing migration from a source hierarchy by removing information about the migration from the destination hierarchies database.

Click here for complete SCCM 1511 Current Branch setup step by step guide.

Click here for complete SCCM 1511 Current Branch step by step guide, step by step migration guide, step by step monitoring and health check guide and step by step SCCM Current Branch servicing guide.