Dice is the leading career destination for tech experts at every stage of their careers. Our client, APN Software Services, Inc, is seeking the following. Apply via Dice today!
Core Windows Server Upgrade Skills
- Proven experience performing in‑place upgrades from Windows Server 2016 to 2019 and/or 2022
- Strong understanding of Windows Server upgrade paths, edition compatibility, and licensing implications
- Ability to assess and remediate pre‑upgrade blockers (deprecated roles, drivers, legacy applications)
- Hands‑on experience reviewing and resolving setupact.log / setuperr.log issues
- Knowledge of supported .NET, PowerShell, and role dependencies across Windows Server versions
- Experience validating post‑upgrade OS health (services, roles, performance, event logs)
VMware vSphere & Virtual Machine Operations
- Experience working with VMware vSphere / ESXi virtual machines
- Ability to safely perform:
- VM snapshots (pre‑upgrade and rollback planning)
- Disk space checks and expansion if required
- VMware Tools verification and upgrades
- Understanding of vCPU, memory, and virtual hardware compatibility with newer Windows Server versions
Pre‑Upgrade Planning & Risk Mitigation
- Ability to:
- Run and interpret Windows Upgrade Readiness checks
- Verify application and vendor support for target OS
- Confirm backup validity and recovery options
- Experience documenting:
- Upgrade plans
- Rollback procedures
- Success criteria and validation steps
- Familiarity with change management and maintenance window execution
Application & Role Awareness
- Experience upgrading servers with common roles such as:
- Active Directory Domain Services (non‑FSMO or with coordination)
- DNS / DHCP
- IIS
- File & Print Services
- SQL Server (OS upgrade support validation)
- Ability to identify workloads not suited for in‑place upgrade and recommend alternatives
Security & Compliance Considerations
- Understanding of TLS, cipher, and security baseline changes between Server 2016 and newer versions
- Ability to validate:
- Antivirus / EDR compatibility post‑upgrade
- GPO and local policy behavior after upgrade
