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Last updated: July 24, 2026

How to move the data from one MSSQL Server to another?

This guide explains how to move the MSSQL database used by Mobile Device Manager Plus from one server or location to another, after stopping the MDM server. The process has three stages: back up the existing database using backuprestore.bat; create a new database by pointing the server to the new SQL Server instance via changedbserver.bat and starting the server to generate default tables; then restore the backed-up data, after replacing the database_params.conf file in the backup archive, using backuprestore.bat again before restarting the server.

Description

This document will explain the steps involved in moving data from one MSSQL server to another. Database could be moved from one drive to another or from one computer to another.

Note: If you want to move Mobile Device Manager Plus server from one location to another, refer this.

Steps

There are three stages in moving the MSSQL database, they are:

  1. Backup the existing Database
  2. Create a New Database
  3. Restore the data to the New Database

Note: Stop the Mobile Device Manager Plus Server and open command prompt as Administrator to perform the following steps.

Backup the Existing Database

  1. Take the backup of our product located at <Mobile Device Manager Plus Home>/bin directory, by using backuprestore.bat. You can take a backup of the existing database and store it, in your desired location.
    A backup file will be named using the buildnumber-date-time.zip format.
    For example, 90000-May-25-2014-13-26.zip where 90000 is the build number, May 25th 2014 is the date and 13:26 is the time.

Create a New Database

  1. Change the new database server details located at <Mobile Device Manager Plus Home>/bin directory, by using the changedbserver.bat file.
    1. Select Database Type as SQL Server.
    2. Specify the Host Name where SQL Server is installed.
    3. From the list of available instances, select the instance on which you wish to run the database.
    4. You can choose to authenticate the database connection either using Windows Authentication or SQL Server Authentication. Choose the required authentication and provide the credentials.
    5. Click the checkbox to enable NTLM authentication.
    6. Click Save to save and complete the SQL Server Configuration. It will take a few minutes to configure the settings on the SQL Server.
  2. Start the Mobile Device Manager Plus Server. Starting the server will create new tables and insert the default data in new DB Tables. (It is equivalent to a fresh setup.)

Restore the data to the New Database

  1. Stop the Mobile Device Manager Plus Server, before the restoring the backup, we need to perform the following:

    Go to the server installed location, and copy the database_params.conf file, this should be replaced in the archived backup. Follow the steps mentioned below:

      1. Go to "server-home/conf/database_params.conf" in the new setup, copy the "database_params.conf".
      2. Now, extract the archived backup zip, and navigate to the same location. For example : "Drive:\ManageEngine\MDMServer\conf" and overwrite the file "database_params.conf"
      3. Select all the files under the unzipped folder, and Convert it to a zip file. Do not Zip the extracted folder directly, which will end up in creating an intermediate folder. Verify if the structure of the converted zip, is the same as :"ManageEngine\MDMServer\conf".
  2. Restore the data to the new MSSQL database located at <Mobile Device Manager Plus Home>/bin directory, by using backuprestore.bat. Locate the data that has been backed up, to restore it in the new MSSQL database.

Now start the Mobile Device Manager Plus server to see that the database has been moved to the desired location.

Frequently asked questions

How is the MSSQL database backed up before moving it?

Run backuprestore.bat from the <Mobile Device Manager Plus Home>/bin directory to back up the existing database to your desired location; the backup file is named using a buildnumber-date-time.zip format, for example 90000-May-25-2014-13-26.zip.

Why do I need to replace the database_params.conf file before restoring the backup?

The new server setup generates its own database_params.conf file in server-home/conf, which must overwrite the one inside the archived backup zip before you re-zip and restore it — otherwise the restored backup won't point to the new SQL Server instance.

Do I need to stop the Mobile Device Manager Plus server during this process?

Yes — stop the server before taking the backup and again before restoring data to the new database, then restart it once the database has been moved.