How to upgrade from Windows Server 2000 to 2003 remotely?

[djtampaguy]

Hi all-

I need to upgrade a server from Windows Server 2000 SP4 to 2003 R2. This is not a domain controller. I have admin rights to the server but the server is offsite in a data center that I do not have physical access to.

I have never done a 2000 --> 2003 upgrade so I have a few questions.

Will all the apps and files be intact with after the upgrade?

Is there any way to do the upgrade while being offsite. I have the physical 2003 R2 CD available and could copy it to the 2000 server and launch setup, but I'm guessing I need to boot from the 2003 CD, right?

THANKS!!!!
Dennis

 

[itsp1965]

Although I would never recommend performing an in-place upgrade of an OS (as opposed re-building from scratch -- especially remotely), if you are looking to upgrade a server remotely and assuming you have one, does your server have a remote management card like ILO/RILOE, RSA-II, ILOM, etc? You would have direct access to the server console and be able to mount your OS CD as an ISO image in order to perform the install.