Upgrading a Single Copy Cluster to Exchange 2007 SP1

Upgrading the Exchange 2007 single copy cluster requires a bit changed steps than in previous Exchange Server's releases. You still have to work on a passive node tough :)))

I suggest that you run Microsoft Update on all nodes prior to Exchange SP1 install. The most important part is .NET Framework 2.0 SP1 update, since Exchange is .NET Framework application!

The change from previous versions is that there is no GUI for updating the cluster. You have to do the upgrade from command prompt.

Let's presume that our nodes are named NODE1 and NODE2. Steps are as follows:

On NODE2

1. Move all cluster groups to NODE1 if they are not already active on NODE1
2. Put Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) service to manual and then START IT, since Setup will add Windows Firewall exceptions for Exchange services
3. Stop any services that have open handles to performance counters (Performance Logs and Alerts and any Microsoft Operations Manager agents), since performance counters are changed during setup
4. Stop, and then restart the Remote Registry service
5. In command prompt navigate to Exchange 2007 SP1 files and run (files must be available locally):

Setup /m:upgrade

1. Restart NODE2 after setup completes
2. Open Cluster Administrator and take Exchange Server's Group OFFLINE !!!
3. Move all Groups to NODE2 (THIS SERVER)
4. In command prompt navigate to Exchange 2007 SP1 files and run:

Setup /upgradecms

1. After this completes Exchange Services on NODE2 are started and you are ready to move to NODE1

On NODE1

1. Put Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) service to manual and then START IT, since Setup will add Windows Firewall exceptions for Exchange services
2. Stop any services that have open handles to performance counters (Performance Logs and Alerts and any Microsoft Operations Manager agents), since performance counters are changed during setup
3. Stop, and then restart the Remote Registry service
4. In command prompt navigate to Exchange 2007 SP1 files and run (files must be available locally):

Setup /m:upgrade

1. Restart NODE1 after setup completes
2. Move all cluster groups back to your preferred active node

On NODE1 and NODE2

1. Stop and disable the Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) service on both nodes.