Latest SCCM Secondary Site Server Upgrade Guide

In this post I will describe the SCCM secondary site server upgrade process. We will upgrade SCCM secondary site to version 2103. You will also understand what logs files do you need to monitor during the SCCM secondary site upgrade.

Upgrading Secondary site server to latest build involves few steps and these steps are common while installing any update on secondary site server. We will be upgrading the secondary site to version 2103.

If you are not aware of what secondary sites are, here are some of my posts that give you a quick start with SCCM secondary sites.

• Step by Step Guide for SCCM Secondary Site Installation
• Easy Steps to Uninstall SCCM Secondary Site
• How to to Recover SCCM Secondary Site

Whenever you see a new Configuration Manager update, you start installing the update from top-level site of your hierarchy. If you have got a single primary site, then your top level site is your primary site.

Suppose that you have upgraded your primary site with latest update, for ex. SCCM 2103 update. Now you have one secondary site, you must upgrade your secondary site server. The update needs to be installed on all your secondary sites.

Notice that in the below screenshot, my primary site server has the build number 9049 and version 5.00.9049.1000. While the secondary site has build number 9040 and version 5.00.9040.1000. That means the secondary site server needs an upgrade to latest build. Your secondary site has to have same build number and version number as that of primary site.

Perform SCCM Secondary Site Server Upgrade

Use the below steps to start the Secondary Site server upgrade in SCCM.

• Launch the SCCM console.
• Navigate to Administration\Overview\Site Configuration\Sites.
• Select your Secondary Site server, right click and select the Upgrade option.

You have chosen to upgrade secondary site <sec site code>. This action will upgrade the database and server components on server <server name>. It will uninstall and reinstall all site system roles within the secondary site. Do you want to continue. Click Yes to begin SCCM secondary site server upgrade.

Monitor SCCM Secondary Site Upgrade Status

To monitor the SCCM secondary site upgrade :-

• Launch the SCCM console.
• Navigate to Administration\Overview\Site Configuration\Sites.
• Right click your Secondary site server and click on Show Install Status.
• In the show install status window, you can monitor the secondary site upgrade process.

There are two ways to monitor SCCM secondary site server upgrade status.

1. Using the Show Install Status option
2. Using log files on secondary site server.

There are several steps involved during the SCCM secondary site installation and upgrade. However all you need to know is if the secondary site upgrade is completed successfully or not.

With the Show Install Status option, you can monitor the secondary site server upgrade in terms of steps. Each of these steps run in the background and contribute to upgrade process.

In the below screenshot, the secondary site installation status shows currently the upgrading configmgr database.

Upgrading a secondary site may take significant amount of time. Do not make any changes while the SCCM secondary site upgrade process is running.

Secondary Site Upgrade Log Files

The alternate way to monitor the SCCM secondary site server process is by reviewing the log files on secondary site server. There are three log files that you can review. All these log files are located on root drive of secondary site server.

Secondary Site Log File Name	Description
ConfigMgrSetup.Log	Records information about setup and recovery tasks when Configuration Manager recovers a site from backup.
SMS_Bootstrap.log	Records information about the progress of launching the secondary site installation process. Details of the actual setup process are contained in ConfigMgrSetup.log.
SMStsvc.log	Records information about the installation, use, and removal of a Windows service. Windows uses this service to test network connectivity and permissions between servers. It uses the computer account of the server that creates the connection.

Verify SCCM Secondary Site Upgrade

We will now review log files to determine of the SCCM secondary site upgrade was successful or not.

Review ConfigMgrSetup.Log

The line Configuration Manager Setup – secondary site upgrade completed in ConfigMgrSetup.log file confirms secondary site upgrade process is complete.

Successfully update secondary site update package status from file C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\bin\X64\secondarysiteupdatepackage.xml
INFO: Successfully begin Automatic Updates detection task
INFO: Configuration Manager Setup - secondary site upgrade completed.
Exiting ConfigMgr Setup Bootstrapper

Review SMS_Bootstrap.log

If you see the below info in the SMS_Bootstrap.log, that confirms the secondary site upgrade is completed successfully.

Deleted C:\SMS_BOOTSTRAP.pkg. SMS_BOOTSTRAP
Deleted C:\SMS_BOOTSTRAP.ini. SMS_BOOTSTRAP
Deleted C:\SMS_BOOTSTRAP.EXE. SMS_BOOTSTRAP
Deleted temp directory .
Deinstalled the SMS_BOOTSTRAP service.
Deinstallation complete.
SMS_BOOTSTRAP stopped.

Secondary Site Installation Status Tool

The secondary site installation status tool is used to determine the upgrade process and confirm if the secondary site upgraded successfully or not.

The line ConfigMgr Setup – Upgrading ConfigMgr Secondary Site successfully confirms that secondary site upgrade is successful.

Finally let’s verify the site version and build number. The secondary site now shows the version as 5.00.9049.1000 and build number as 9049.

I hope this post helps you to perform SCCM Secondary site server upgrade.

Secondary Site Upgrade FAQ’s

Some of the common FAQ’s related to SCCM secondary site upgrade.