In place Windows upgrade??

[VersEV1]

have a clearwell ediscovery 8.2 VM on Windows 2008R2 Enterprise. EV servers had to be upgraded to EV 12.5 and EV runtime API cannot be installed on clearwell server because it's 2008R2.

has anyone done an in place upgrade to Windows 2012 on a clearwell machine? any gotchas?

[AndrewB]

best way to do this is completely backup clearwell, build a new vm, install clearwell, and restore the data. be sure you check the compatibility guides.

[JimmyClearwell]

Hi @VersEV1 ,

Firstly, I would strongly discourage you from performing an in-place Windows upgrade on the Clearwell server as this could cause unwelcome risk.  You're better served performing a fresh install of Windows on the Clearwell server, or obtaining a new virtual machine with the new Windows OS and comparable (or more) CPU, RAM and disk specifications. You also may want to consider going to Windows 2016 or 2019 because 2012 is soon to be out of support both by Microsoft and Clearwell.

As @AndrewB mentions below, the method of restoring Clearwell with the new Windows OS is done by way of restore. What's more, in the process of a fresh install of WIndows you'll need to perform a fresh install of Clearwell which means you could install the latest, Clearwell 10.1, and restore into it effectively upgrading Clearwell. This is done by way of an Appliance (Node) Backup and Restore which is performed through the CW Utility on the desktop of the Clearwell server.

Note: If you choose to perform a fresh install of Windows on the same server, you'll want to prepare for an outage in Clearwell of a day or two depending on the time it takes for the Windows install.

At a high-level, here's how that would work:

1. Apply the latest 8.2 CHFs 
2. Perform an on-demand set of Case Backups as a one-time schedule under System > Schedules Note: This should be performed just before the Windows install. Also, confirm Case Backups location How to change and move the backup location for eDiscovery Platform appliances or cases https://www.veritas.com/content/support/en_US/article.100038097 
3. Perform an Appliance (Node) Backup through the CW Utility on the desktop of the Clearwell server. Note: Unless otherwise specified in the D:\CW\V82\config\config\esauser\config.prop file in the auto.backup.dir= setting, the backup is written to the default directory D:\CW\V82\backups How to change and move the backup location for eDiscovery Platform appliances or cases https://www.veritas.com/content/support/en_US/article.100038097. Please ensure there's plenty of disk space available for the D:\ drive first. Also, during the Appliance (Node) Backup when prompted, answer N to both copying log files and case backups.
4. Backup applicable security certificates for the Clearwell server.
5. Copy all backups to an off-appliance location, e.g. NAS, SAN. Note: Appliance (Node) Backups must be copied using Robocopy How to use Robocopy to copy data https://www.veritas.com/content/support/en_US/article.100027543 to preserve the integrity of files and folders.
6. Perform fresh install of Windows
7. Before a fresh install of Clearwell, run both VTAS eDiscovery Diagnostic Tool https://www.veritas.com/content/support/en_US/article.100050865 and Veritas Quick Assist https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/vqa to conduct an installation pre-requisite check.
8. Perform a fresh install of Clearwell latest which is Updates Patches and Late Breaking news for eDiscovery Platform 10.1 https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.100052003  Note: Read the installation and upgrade guides Veritas eDiscovery Platform 10.1 - Documentation https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.100052002  thoroughly. 
9. Perform an Appliance (Node) Restore through the CW Utility on the desktop of the Clearwell server. Note: During the Appliance (Node) Restore when prompted, answer Y to both bring in configuration and restore license.
10. Perform post-upgrade steps to ensure that the application is up and running to include confirming that case upgrades are completed under System > Jobs. These case upgrades are performed automatically after upgrade.
11. Read the Veritas eDiscovery Platform Imaging Tool Upgrade Guide  https://www.veritas.com/content/support/en_US/doc/ImagingToolUpgradeGuide for addtional post-upgrade steps following case upgrades.

I hope this helps :)  I tried to keep it as high-level but there's a fair amount of info you should have available to you to help guide you. Good luck!