Understanding Upgrade Sequencing
Updated: May 13, 2016
Applies To: System Center 2012 SP1
This section describes the connections that exist between the System Center 2012 components. This information can help you determine when to follow the upgrade sequence. In a mixed environment of System Center 2012 and System Center 2012 SP1, not all of the components can integrate with each other. The following table outlines what integration levels are supported and what will work between a System Center 2012 and System Center 2012 SP1 component.
| Orchestrator 2012 | Service Manager 2012 | DPM 2012 | Operations Manager 2012 | Configuration Manager 2012 | VMM 2012 | App Controller 2012 | |
| Orchestrator 2012 SP1 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Service Manager 2012 SP1 | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| DPM 2012 SP1 | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Operations Manager 2012 SP1 | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Configuration Manager 2012 SP1 | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| VMM 2012 SP1 | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
The following sections provide specifics about each component.
Orchestrator
Orchestrator shares connections with all System Center components through integration packs and shares a connector with Service Manager. In general, integration packs are not forward compatible, however, when Orchestrator is upgraded to System Center 2012 SP1, you can continue to run the legacy System Center 2012 integration packs. If the component that you plan to upgrade shares a connection with Orchestrator through an integration pack, you should upgrade Orchestrator first so that Orchestrator can support the component.
Example
If you upgrade any System Center component before Orchestrator, the 2012 integration pack for that component will no longer work. Additionally, you will not be able to load the new component’s System Center 2012 SP1 integration packs in Orchestrator 2012.
Service Manager
Service Manager shares connectors with Operations Manager, Orchestrator, and Configuration Manager. As a rule connectors are not forward compatible. However if Orchestrator is first in the upgrade sequence, an Orchestrator connector will continue to run. If you want to upgrade Operations Manager and Configuration Manager, you must upgrade Service Manager first if you want Service Manager operations to continue during the upgrades.
Example
If you were to upgrade Operations Manager and Configuration Manager to SP1 before Service Manager, then when you attempt to re-establish a connection, the connectors will not work properly or will completely fail, unless as noted above, if Orchestrator is the first component in the upgrade sequence. If you encounter this situation you should upgrade Service Manager to System Center 2012 SP1.
Data Protection Manager
There is some flexibility on the placement of DPM in the upgrade sequence. Some of the placement constraints are related to DPM’s Administrator Console that relies on Operations Manager. The Administrator Console is not forward compatible therefore, if the Administrator Console will be needed after the upgrade, you must upgrade DPM before you upgrade Operations Manager. If there is no Administrator Console integration with Operations Manager then DPM must be upgraded after Orchestrator and prior to Virtual Machine Manager. This will ensure continued integration with Orchestrator post upgrade and deployment of the DPM agent for Windows Server 2012 that was added in Service Pack 1.
Examples
Administrator Console will no longer function if you upgrade Operations Manager to SP1 prior to DPM.
If you upgrade Virtual Machine Manager to System Center 2012 SP1 prior to DPM, you will not be unable to use DPM to load an agent using the upgraded Virtual Machine Manager server because in System Center 2012 SP1, the DPM agent is not supported on Windows Server 2012. In addition, you will not be able to back up Virtual Machine Manager until upgrading DPM.
If you encounter these situations you should upgrade DPM to System Center 2012 SP1.
Operations Manager
Operations Manager integrates with all System Center components through management packs. Operations Manager also has SDK connections with Service Manager, Orchestrator, and Virtual Machine Manager. Management packs are not forward compatible with Service Manager and Orchestrator. The Operations Manager management packs will continue to monitor Service Manager and Orchestrator when Service Manager and Orchestrator are upgraded first and second in sequence. In addition, Operations Manager must be upgraded prior to Virtual Machine Manager due to the mandatory Windows Server 2012 operating system requirement for Virtual Machine Manager and the Operations Manager 2012 Console as SDK integration is not supported on Windows Server 2012.
Examples
Management packs for SP1 will not load in Operations Manager 2012, except for those noted above. You will be able to monitor those components after Operations Manager is upgraded.
If you upgrade Virtual Machine Manager to System Center 2012 SP1 before Operations Manager then the Operations Manager console in System Center 2012 SP1 will not load on Windows Server 2012. This means is that you will be unable re-establish integration between Virtual Machine Manager and Operations Manager.
If you encounter these situations you should upgrade Operations Manager to System Center 2012 SP1.
Configuration Manager
Configuration Manager shares connectors with Operations Manager, has an integration pack with Orchestrator, and has a management pack with Operations Manager. Configuration Manager must be upgraded after Orchestrator, Operations Manager, and Service Manager to ensure continued operations with the connections it shares with other components. Configuration Manager agents for System Center 2012 do not support managing Windows Server 2012 operating systems so Configuration Manager will need to be upgraded before Virtual Machine Manager since Virtual Machine Manager has a mandatory requirement on Windows Server 2012.
Examples
If you upgrade Configuration Manager before Service Manager, the connectors for Service Manager will fail and you will lose that connector functionality until Service Manager is upgraded to System Center 2012 SP1.
If you upgrade Virtual Machine Manager to System Center 2012 SP1 before Configuration Manager you will not be able to manage the VMM management server as the Configuration Manager for System Center 2012 does not support Windows Server 2012.
If you encounter these situations you should upgrade Configuration Manager to System Center 2012 SP1.
Virtual Machine Manager and App Controller
Virtual Machine Manager shares connections with Service Manager, Orchestrator, Configuration Manager, and Operations Manager. Virtual Machine Manager has an operating system requirement to run on Windows Server 2012. DPM and Configuration Manager manage and back up the Virtual Machine Manager server. Neither of those agents are forward compatible to manage and back up Windows Server 2012. The Operations Manager 2012 console, which is required for VMM integration, is not forward compatible to run on Windows Server 2012 so Operations Manager must be upgraded first. App Controller has a hard-coded version dependency on the version of Virtual Machine Manager, therefore Virtual Machine Manager and App Controller must always be at the same version level to ensure that integration continues to function.
Examples
If you upgrade Virtual Machine Manager to System Center 2012 SP1 prior to any other component you will lose the ability to back up with DPM, monitor and integrate with Operations Manager, manage with Configuration Manager, orchestrate run books with Orchestrator, and you will lose integration with Service Manager.
If you upgrade Virtual Machine Manager to System Center 2012 SP1 and don’t upgrade App Controller at the same time you will be unable to re-establish the integration until App Controller is upgraded.
If you encounter these situations you should upgrade all components that are impacted to System Center 2012 SP1.