SolarWinds Suite Upgrade 11.5.3 -> 12.3 – Forum – Network Performance Monitor (NPM) – THWACK

I’m looking for some advice regarding upgrading a SolarWinds suite. We’re currently at NPM 11.5.3, NCM 7.4.1, NTA 4.1.2, SAM 6.2.3 with the SolarWinds server on a Windows 2012 server and the SolarWinds DB on a Windows 2008 R2 server with SQL 2008. We need to go to  NPM 12.3, NCM 7.8, NTA 4.4, SAM 6.7 with the SolarWinds server on a Windows 2016 server and the SolarWinds DB on a Windows 2016 server with SQL 2016. This is going to multiple sites, so I want to deploy the final Windows 2016 SolarWinds server as a OVA/OVF via vmWare vCenter already configured as much as possible, so the sites have to do the minimum amount of work.

My initial plan is to upgrade the current installations to the compatible midway point (ignoring NTA since 4.4 requires a new database and a full rebuild anyway) – NPM 12, NCM 7.5, SAM 6.2.4. Then backup the DB and bring down the current SolarWinds DB and SolarWinds server. Stand up the new SolarWinds DB with SQL 2016 and migrate the backup into it. Deploy the OVA/OVF for the new Windows 2016 SolarWinds server with the SolarWinds suite already upgraded and ready to go at NPM 12.3, NCM 7.8, SAM 6.4. I believe that this should apply the necessary changes and updates to the database when they are connected and Configuration Wizard is run without actually going through the process of manually upgrading from 12.0 to 12.3. Not sure though.

How would you do this upgrade? I’d love to hear everyone thoughts on this upgrade path and any other tips or tricks you’re willing to share.