Microsoft: Upgrade Windows Server 2008 R2 To Windows Server 2012

In this post, you will see how to upgrade Windows Server 2008 R2 to Windows Server 2012. If you were to upgrade your existing Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise server to Windows Server 2012, you would first choose the edition and then you would check the upgrade paths. Please go to the link below for the upgrade options:
http://mkcheah88.blogspot.com/2014/02/microsoft-upgrade-options-for-windows.html

Lets take a look at the hardware requirements for upgrading your server to Windows Server 2012. Windows Server 2012 requires minimum of 16 GB to 32 GB of disk space. When you install Windows Server 2012, it occupies 15.1 GB of space approximately but its good to allocate at least 32 GB of drive space for Windows Server 2012. You would require 1.4 GHz 64-bit processor, 512 MB of RAM, 32 GB of disk space, DVD Drive, Super VGA (800×600) or higher resolution monitor, keyboard and mouse.

In this post, you will be shown how to upgrade a Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise SP1 to Windows Server 2012 Datacenter. Note that do not consider this post to upgrade your domain controller to Windows Server 2012.

Please follow the steps below for the in-place upgrade:
1.  Insert the Windows Server 2012 DVD into the DVD-ROM and click on Run Setup.exe.

 

2.  On the Windows Setup screen, click on Install now.

 

3.  If you want to get security updates and latest drivers for your operating system select Go online to install updates now. You can also do a windows update once the upgrade is completed, so select No, Thanks.

4.  Enter your product key for Windows Server 2012 and click on Next.

 

5.  Server core installation has no Server Manager or any other MMCs to manage roles and features. The management must be done either remotely from a client machine or through the command prompt or Powershell at the console. There is no Start menu, no desktop Explorer shell, no Microsoft Management Console, and virtually no graphical applications. All you see when you start the computer is a single window with a command prompt. In this step, you may select the second installation mode, Windows Server 2012 Datacenter (Server with a GUI). Click on Next.

6.  Select Upgrade: Install Windows and Keep files, settings and applications. This will keep existing files, settings and applications and upgrade your server to Windows 2012.

7.  The upgrade will take close to 20 minutes. Sit back and relax until the upgrade is complete.

 8.  The upgrade from Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise to Windows Server 2012 Datacenter is complete. Let’s login to the server and check for the edition.

* Note: You may need to upgrade your drivers if any of your devices are not functioning.

Reference:

1.  How To Upgrade Windows Server 2008 R2 To Windows Server 2012

http://prajwaldesai.com/how-to-upgrade-windows-server-2008-r2-to-windows-server-2012/