Tag Archives: Windows Server 2008

x86 Windows Server 2008 TS Gateway Migration To x64 Windows Server 2012 RD Gateway

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Introduction

I was working on a little project for a company that was (still) running TS Gateway on a 32 bit  x86) version Windows 2008. The reason they did not go for x64 at the time of deployment was that they then used Microsoft Virtual Server as their virtualization platform and had been for some years.

In a number of posts I’ll be discussing some of the steps we took. You are reading the first one.

  1. x86 Windows Server 2008 TS Gateway Migration To x64 Windows Server 2012 RD Gateway
  2. Installing & using the Windows Server Migration Tools To Migrate Local Users & Groups
  3. TS/RD Gateway Export & Import (Fixing Event ID 2002 “The policy and configuration settings could not be imported to the RD Gateway server "%1"" because they are associated with local computer groups on another RD Gateway server”)

In those early days of W2K8 they had not yet switched to Hyper-V. As an early adopter I was able to show the the reliability of Hyper-V, so later they did.

One of the drawbacks of using Microsoft Virtual Server was that they could not use x64 guest VMs and that’s how they ended up with x86, which was still available for a server OS for W2K8. Since then they have move to Hyper-V and now also run Window Server 2012. Happy customers! So after more than 5 years of service and to make sure they did not keep relying on aging technology it is time to move to Windows Server 2012 RD Gateway and reap the benefits of the latest OS.

The Migration

Their is no in place upgrade from a x86 to an x64 OS. So this has to be a migration. No worries this is supported. With some insight, creativity and experience you can make this happen. The process reasonably well documented on TechNet, but not perfectly, and your starting point is right here RD Gateway Migration: Migrating the RD Gateway Role Service. These docs are for Windows Server 2008 R2 but still work for Windows Server 2012. Another challenge was we needed to also migrate their custom website used for the employees to check whether their PC is still on and if not wake it up or start it up remotely.

There are some things to take care of and I’ll address these I some later blog posts but I want you to take to heart this message. While an in place upgrade of an 32 bit X86 operating system to X64 version of that OS is not possible that doesn’t mean you’re in  a pickle and will have to start over from scratch. For many scenario’s there are migration paths and this is just one example of them, or better two combined,TS Gateway and a Website.