CUCM 6.1.5 MCS migrating to 8.6(2a) virtual.

[delacruze]

We are planning to migrate from 6.1.5 to 8.6(2a).  We have a physical environment and will be setting up VMs in our current virtual environment.  At the moment I have setup a test VM with 8.6 installed.   I have been told to use a data migration tool for UCCX upgrades, but to take a backup from CUCM 6.1.5 and restore on 8.6(2a).  I would like to test this, but are there any recommended docs for viewing?  It seems fairly straightforward enough from what I have read, but I want to see if anyone has experience with this before?  See my setups below.

Production environment

2 x Cisco MCS 7800 Pub/Sub  CUCM 6.1.5

New(test) environment

2 x HP DL 580 G5

ESXi 5.1

VCenter 5

CUCM 8.6(2a) installed virtually

[Jonathan Schulenberg]

Restores can only be performed on the *exact* same version the backup was taken from. You may need to take a few hops to get to 8.6 depending on what generation and model MCS server you are using. Take a look at the Supported Server matrix to determine where your hardware gets cut off. If it says "bridged upgrade only" that means that services will not start on the server when you boot that version; all you can do is take a DRS backup. Plan your outage window accordingly.

Generally speaking it goes like this:

1. Upgrade the MCS servers to 8.0(2) or later to get VMware support.
2. Backup
3. Install the same version on the ESXi host.
4. Restore
5. Repeat steps three and four for each remaining node, following the DRS guide carefully.

Here are a few related documentation links. I suggest engaging a partner to help you through this; it can be bumpy the first time:

• Software Compatibility Matrix
• Release Notes
• Virtualization DocWiki This is critical reading esspecially since you're moving into a specs-based support model with those HP servers.
• DRS Guide
• Also read up on TVS in the Security Guide. You need to understand what happens to the phone with the ITL for your rollback plan.

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