Upgrading from WSS 2.0 to SharePoint 2013

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There is no direct approach/method to upgrade from WSS 2.0 to SharePoint 2013. The changes between versions are too great, and the hardware requirements differ so much between versions that a direct, in-place upgrade is not possible or supported. You can, however, perform a series of database attach upgrades to first upgrade your content to Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 to SharePoint Server 2010 and then to SharePoint Server 2013.

Supported Upgrade Sequence

To upgrade your content across these versions, follow these steps.

The supported and tested upgrade path is Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 to Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 to SharePoint Server 2010 and then SharePoint Server 2013.

  1. First upgrade: Upgrade the content to WSS 3.0

    This upgrade method will ensure the required upgraders are run as intended. One of the most common applications of this upgrade method is an in-place upgrade of Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 to Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 followed by the installation of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 over the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 installation.

    • Download the prescan.exe tool and run it on the SharePoint site
    • Check that there are 0 errors and check that the bit flag value on the database for the web site in the table sites is updated.
    • Check for the SQL server having WSS 2.0 sites, stop the services and move the database files over to the new SQL server
    • Run the Products and technologies wizard on the WSS 3.0 environment
    • Create a new web app on port 80 (or a random port)
    • Once the web app is up, detach the content database from Central Admin, Application Management, Manage Content Databases page
    • Attach the restored WSS 2.0 db to the web app in WSS 3.0 and then run the following command to upgrade the database from WSS 2.0 to WSS 3.0

    Stsadm -o addcontentdb -url https://webappUrl -databasename <restoredfromWSSv2> –databaseserver <WSSv3_SQLSvr>

    • Wait for the operation to complete.
    • Once completed, browse to the web app and verify that the sites are browse able.

  2. Second upgrade: Upgrade the content to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

    You can install MOSS 2007 over the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 installation.

  3. Third upgrade: Upgrade the content to SharePoint Server 2010 Products

    • Use SQL Server to make a backup of the content databases on the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 or Office SharePoint Server 2007 farm, restore the backups to the SharePoint Foundation 2010 or SharePoint Server 2010 farm, and then take the old farm offline.
    • Attach the copies of the content databases to the SharePoint Foundation 2010 or SharePoint Server 2010 farm and upgrade them (optionally, you can upgrade them in parallel).
    • Verify that the content was upgraded and that the SharePoint Foundation 2010 or SharePoint Server 2010 farm is working correctly.

  4. Fourth upgrade: Upgrade the content to SharePoint Server 2013 Products

    • Use SQL Server to make a backup of the content databases on the SharePoint Foundation 2010 or SharePoint Server 2010 farm, and then restore them to the SharePoint Foundation 2013 or SharePoint Server 2013 farm.
    • Attach the copies of the content databases to the SharePoint Foundation 2013 or SharePoint Server 2013 farm and upgrade them (optionally, you can upgrade them in parallel).
    • Verify that the content was upgraded and that the SharePoint Foundation 2013 or SharePoint Server 2013 farm is working correctly.
    • Upgrade the site collections.

More Information

What does Prescan do and what does it touch in the database?

PRESCAN.EXE will report on common issues that will result in a failed upgrade; therefore, running PRESCAN.EXE, addressing reported issues, and resolving those issues, and re-running PRESCAN.EXE to verify those fixes is a best practice when planning a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007/Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 upgrade.

It parses and saves List definitions with the associated Lists. SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Service Pack 2 already incorporates this feature whenever a list is modified; however, this process should be completed for all Lists, so prescan calls the SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Service Pack 2 method to persist that data.

  1. Tp_fields column in the lists table to persist the list schema. This is to facilitate v2->v3 list upgrade
  2. Bitflags column in the sites table to indicate a site collection has been scanned.

Flips the bitflags field in the sites table in the content database to 262144 if it is ready to be upgraded.

If you have extensively customized your Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 sites (by using Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003), you need to determine how you want to handle your customized sites when you upgrade. Your approach will vary based on the extent of the customizations, the complexity of your site, and your goals for upgrading.