Hey folk, soon we can perform rolling upgrade Microsoft Cluster to new version of Windows Server 2016 and we have tested this features on Win 2016 TP3.
On current version, if you would like to upgrade to Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V Cluster, you’re require to use Copy Cluster Wizard
Cluster must be at least
- Win 2008 R2 SP1
- Windows 2012
- Windows 2012 R2
You can refer to Technet Library on how to perform upgrade/migrate cluster:
Both migration steps was lengthy as it took a lot of effort to upgrade to Windows Server 2012 R2.
However the game has changed with Windows Server 2016 TP3, the process is a lot of easier. Just perform Rolling upgrade with the followings:
- Cluster in running Windows Server 2012 R2
- Add a server running Windows Server 2016 TP3 into an existing cluster. Yes! a cluster that can contain node mixed running Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2016.
On node running Windows Server 2016, check the cluster functional level.
| Get-Cluster | fl * |
Current cluster functional level is 8. You can still live migrate virtual machine from Windows Server 2012 R2 to/from Windows Server 2016. However, you cannot enjoy some of the new features of Windows Server 2016 Cluster.
Next migration step is
- Live migrate all VM from Node 1
- Evict a node (Node 1) running Windows Server 2012 R2
- Format and Install Windows Server 2016 on Node 1
- Join Node 1 to an existing cluster
- Repeat the process of live migrate virtual machine from remaining node running Windows Server 2012 R2 (example Node 2)
- Then evict node 2 from an existing cluster
- Format and Install Windows Server 2016 on Node 2
- Join Node 2 to an existing cluster
- Once an entire Hyper-V Nodes are running Windows Server 2016, you can start to upgrade cluster functional level to 9.
Upgrade cluster functional level by execute the following command:
| Update-ClusterFunctionalLevel Get-Cluster | fl * |
Once upgraded to level 9, there is no turning back. Well, that’s not a problem, since now we can enjoy more features of Windows Server 2016 Cluster.
Note: Do take note, at this moment Windows Server 2016 TP3 is still under technical preview. You can test in on non-production environment. “Do not apply in production environment”
