SharePoint 2019 to SharePoint Subscription Edition (SE) – Database Attach Upgrade (Step-by-Step)

 SharePoint 2019 to SharePoint Subscription Edition (SE) – Database Attach Upgrade (Step-by-Step)

Database Attach Upgrade is the most recommended migration approach from Microsoft SharePoint Server 2019 to Microsoft SharePoint Server Subscription Edition.

 

High-Level Upgrade Flow

SP2019 Farm
   |
   |  Backup Content DBs
   v
SQL Restore
   |
   v
New SPSE Farm
   |
   | Mount-SPContentDatabase
   v
Upgrade Sites & Validate

 

Phase 1 — Pre-Upgrade Assessment

Step 1: Verify Existing SP2019 Farm Health

Run Health Analyzer and check:

• Timer Jobs
• Search Crawl
• Distributed Cache
• Service Applications
• IIS Bindings
• Certificates
• SQL Connectivity

Important Commands

Get-SPFarm
Get-SPServer
Get-SPDatabase
Get-SPSite -Limit All

 

Step 2: Check Build Version Compatibility

SP2019 must be on supported patch level before migrating.

Check Build

(Get-SPFarm).BuildVersion

Compare with Microsoft compatibility matrix.

 

Step 3: Run Pre-Upgrade Check

Test-SPContentDatabase -Name WSS_Content_Intranet `
-WebApplication http://sp2019web `
-Server SQLPROD01

OR

stsadm -o preupgradecheck

 

Step 4: Inventory Existing Components

Document:

Component	Example
Web Applications	Intranet
Content DBs	WSS_Content
Service Apps	Search, MMS
Solutions (.wsp)	Custom WSPs
Features	Farm/Sandbox
Workflows	2010/2013
Customizations	Master Pages
Authentication	NTLM/Kerberos/SAML

 

Step 5: Identify Unsupported Components

Major challenge areas:

Area	Risk
SharePoint 2010 workflows	Deprecated
InfoPath	Limited future support
Sandbox solutions	May fail
Full Trust Solutions	Compatibility issues
Classic Authentication	Migration needed
Third-party WSPs	Rebuild required

 

Phase 2 — Build New SharePoint SE Farm

Step 6: Prepare New Infrastructure

Recommended Servers

Server	Purpose
APP01	Central Admin + Services
WFE01	Web Front End
SQL01	Databases

 

Step 7: Install Prerequisites

Install:

• Windows Server
• SQL Native Client
• IIS Features
• .NET Framework
• Web Server Roles

 

Step 8: Install SharePoint SE

Install binaries on all servers.

Then run:

psconfig.exe

OR SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard.

 

Step 9: Create New SPSE Farm

New-SPConfigurationDatabase `
-DatabaseName SharePoint_Config `
-DatabaseServer SQLSE01 `
-Passphrase (ConvertTo-SecureString "Password@123" -AsPlainText -Force) `
-FarmCredentials (Get-Credential)

 

Step 10: Configure Service Applications

Create:

• Managed Metadata
• Search
• User Profile
• State Service
• Distributed Cache

 

Phase 3 — Database Migration

Step 11: Set Source Farm Read-Only (Optional but Recommended)

Set-SPSite -Identity http://portal/sites/hr -LockState ReadOnly

Purpose:

• Prevent content changes
• Avoid delta mismatch

 

Step 12: Backup Content Databases from SP2019 SQL

Using SQL Server:

BACKUP DATABASE WSS_Content_Intranet
TO DISK='D:\Backup\WSS_Content_Intranet.bak'

 

Step 13: Restore Databases into New SQL Server

RESTORE DATABASE WSS_Content_Intranet
FROM DISK='D:\Backup\WSS_Content_Intranet.bak'

 

Phase 4 — Attach Databases in SPSE

Step 14: Create Web Applications in SPSE

VERY IMPORTANT:

• URL must match old farm if possible
• Authentication method should match

Example:

New-SPWebApplication `
-Name "Intranet" `
-Port 80 `
-URL http://intranet `
-ApplicationPool "IntranetPool" `
-ApplicationPoolAccount (Get-SPManagedAccount "domain\spfarm")

 

Step 15: Validate Database Before Mount

Test-SPContentDatabase `
-Name WSS_Content_Intranet `
-WebApplication http://intranet

Typical Errors

Error	Meaning
Missing Feature	WSP not installed
Missing Setup File	Custom solution absent
Missing Web Part	Third-party issue

 

Step 16: Install Missing Solutions

Example:

Add-SPSolution CustomSolution.wsp

Install-SPSolution `
-Identity CustomSolution.wsp `
-GACDeployment

 

Step 17: Mount Content Database

Mount-SPContentDatabase `
-Name WSS_Content_Intranet `
-DatabaseServer SQLSE01 `
-WebApplication http://intranet

This performs:

• Database schema upgrade
• Site collection upgrade
• Feature upgrade

 

Step 18: Monitor Upgrade Status

Get-SPUpgradeSessionInfo

Logs location:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\LOGS

 

Phase 5 — Post Upgrade Validation

Step 19: Validate Sites

Check:

• Site accessibility
• Pages
• Libraries
• Permissions
• Search
• Navigation
• Branding
• Workflows

 

Step 20: Rebuild Search Index

Recommended after migration.

Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication

Reset crawl if needed.

 

Step 21: Verify Services

Validate:

Service	Validation
Search	Crawl success
MMS	Terms visible
UPA	Profile sync
Cache	No errors
SMTP	Alerts working

 

Step 22: Upgrade Site Collections (If Required)

Upgrade-SPSite http://intranet

 

Step 23: Run Health Checks

Get-SPHealthAnalysisRule

Central Admin → Monitoring → Review Problems & Solutions

 

Real-Time Production Upgrade Scenario

Example

Old Environment

Component	Value
SharePoint Version	SP2019
Databases	12 Content DBs
Size	4 TB
Users	18,000
Authentication	Kerberos

Migration Approach

1. Build parallel SPSE farm
2. Install all custom WSPs
3. Freeze source farm
4. Backup & restore DBs
5. Attach DBs one-by-one
6. Validate business applications
7. DNS cutover

 

Common Real-Time Challenges

1. Missing Features

Error

Database contains references to missing features

Fix

Deploy missing WSPs.

 

2. Large Content Databases

Issue

Mount takes several hours.

Fix

• Split DBs
• Use high IOPS storage
• Pre-grow SQL files

 

3. Orphan Objects

Detection

Get-SPContentDatabase | % {$_.Repair($true)}

 

4. Authentication Failures

Common Cause

Kerberos SPNs missing.

Fix

Re-register SPNs.

 

5. Search Not Working

Cause

Old index not migrated.

Fix

Full crawl required.

 

Best Practices

Recommended

✅ Build fresh SPSE farm

✅ Patch all servers equally

✅ Use MinRole properly

✅ Test in lower environments first

✅ Perform trial migrations

✅ Keep rollback plan ready

✅ Use SQL backups instead of detach method

✅ Document every DB mapping

 

Important Commands Summary

Task	Command
Validate DB	Test-SPContentDatabase
Mount DB	Mount-SPContentDatabase
Upgrade Site	Upgrade-SPSite
Check Upgrade	Get-SPUpgradeSessionInfo
Add Solution	Add-SPSolution
Install Solution	Install-SPSolution