Windows Server 2012 R2 to Windows Server 2019 upgrade succeeded but from Windows Server 2019 to Windows Server 2022 upgrade Failed.
Server runs on VMWARE
Error: 0x80070005 - 0x2000D The installation failed in the SAFE_OS phase with an error during MIGRATE_DATA operation
Tried everything:
Uninstalled Antivirus
Disabled SQL Services
Installed Server 2019 latest CU of January 2025
Server 2022 and Server 2019 both ISOs were freshly downloaded from MS Licensing Site. Same issue with old and new ISOs.
Deleted unwanted user profiles
Uninstalled third party software like browser etc...
Updated VMware tools
Added 50 GB Disk space in C drive
Disabled (unset)the System managed paging.
Attempted 10 times.
Attachments
Windows Server 2019 to Windows Server 2022 Failed.webp
If you haven't already, please review the posting instructions here, and attach the requested log files. Without log files, our helpers will not be able to assist, and this will slow down fixing your machine.
If logs have been already been provided, our team of volunteers will analyse the provided log files to build a fix for your system. Please be aware that this may take several days from your initial post, due to the high volume of threads that we receive.
Here's the situation: Our server was running Windows Server 2012 R2, which reached its end of life in January 2025. Due to the lack of vendor support for an older business application, we had to perform an in-place upgrade. Welcome to Infrastructure Security!
We attempted the upgrade on a clone of the original server. The clone was first upgraded from Windows Server 2012 R2 to Windows Server 2019, and then we tried an in-place upgrade to Windows Server 2022. We encountered the error 0x80070005 - 0x2000D, which occurred during the SAFE_OS phase of the MIGRATE_DATA operation.
To avoid conflicts with the live production server's data connections, we performed the in-place upgrade on an offline server. However, we had to enable internet access for the Server 2022 upgrade.
Here are the steps I recorded to resolve the error:
Cloned the server and kept it offline (the production server remained functional for business as usual).
Created a local administrator user named upgradeadmin.
Logged in with upgradeadmin and performed all steps using this account.
Uninstalled antivirus software.
Disabled SQL Server services.
Disabled application services.
Disabled other security software services, such as CrowdStrike.
Rebooted the clone.
Initiated the Windows Server 2019 installation.
The Windows Server 2019 installation finished after 120 minutes.
Enabled internet access from another VLAN WITH DIFFERENT IP ADDRESS and installed missing updates before starting the Windows Server 2022 installation.
Rebooted the system several times before starting the Windows Server 2022 installation.
Logged in to the server with upgradeadmin.
Started the Windows Server 2022 installation, choosing to keep all files and settings.
Crucial step: Chose to install updates over the internet while preparing for the upgrade.
The upgrade took 90 minutes.
Logged in to the server again with upgradeadmin.
The server was successfully upgraded to Windows Server 2022 with all user data and installed applications intact.
Disconnected the network and added the server to the actual VLAN, keeping it offline until cutover time.
I will enable those services which were disabled (I disabled to avoid live server conflict, your case may be different.)
The error was related to pre-upgrade updates for the Windows Server 2022 installation. I learned that pre-upgrade updates are always important.
I hope this helps everyone. Please let me know if it worked for you too!
