Instructions to upgrade a SP 2013 SP1 farm with March 2015 CU

I have an existing farm that is configured with SP 2013 SP1 + Dec 2014 CU. I want to upgrade this farm with the latest March 2015 CU.  Any specific instructions that I can follow ?  My farm is consisting of 2 App servers, 2 Web front ends and Search is configured as well.  Any help is highly apprec

April 16th, 2015 2:37pm

Nothing specific. Looks like you're already familiar with how to apply CUs. Simply install them on both servers, and run psconfig/Config Wizard after the installation is completed.
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April 16th, 2015 2:56pm

Nothing Special, As you already applied the CUs. I would say test thoroughly in the test environment before applying to the Production. May be refresh you dev with Production data and then apply CU In Test Farm and perform your testing.
April 16th, 2015 3:49pm

Thanks for the quick responses. Please note that the earlier DEC CU I have applied is directly while installing the SP itself (including the CU into Product bits by copying the extracted files from DEC CU into UPDATES folder) and installing SP. The question about installing March CU as an update install because I am reading online saying it takes about 5 +hours and is very slow.  Is the same story applicable to March CU as well? 

Also, one more question about adding the CU to the Products set up bits (in UPDATES folder) -> do  I need to copy all files (basically the extracted files are from all language related) or just ENG specific files only is enough ?

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April 16th, 2015 4:09pm

Use the script in this blog post to speed up binary installations of any SharePoint 2013 patch:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/russmax/archive/2013/04/01/why-sharepoint-2013-cumulative-update-takes-5-hours-to-install.aspx

You no longer need to use the Updates folder, just drop the exe (+cab file(s) if applicable) in the same folder as the PowerShell script in the above blog post. Run the PowerShell script and it will automatically install that patch. Only Service Packs are language-specific. All other updates (CU, PU, hotfixes) have all languages.

Don't forget you need to run the Config Wizard after installing any bits.

April 16th, 2015 4:12pm

Thanks very much Trevor.  I am going through the script and will try it.

It seems to be my question on copying the CU files into UPDATES folder  -> What I actually want to get clarified is - for a fresh install of SP2013 SP1 RTM product; what I do is I include the CU extracted bits into the UPDATES folder in the set up bits of RTM - which will take care of installing the RTM + with the CU.(whereas The above script / your answer addresses installing the CU on an existing farm). So, in this case, is just copying the .EXE + 2 .cabs that came with March CU is enough into UPDATES folder ?  Because I am advised to copy the extracted files not just the 3 files (exe, cab).  The problem with this is, the extracted files consist of about 6 GB with 1482 files (most of them are per language specific).

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April 16th, 2015 5:22pm

No, what you would do is extract the March CU, e.g.:

march_cu_exe_name.exe /extract:C:\marchcu_bits

This would extract the CU to C:\marchcu_bits. You would then copy all of those bits into the Updates folder.

April 16th, 2015 5:24pm

That's what I am doing/done with my DEC CU Travis ..but my question is as the size is 6GB (1480 + extracted files), I am wondering any specific reason do I need to have all those files which may not relevant to the installing product with just EN language ?   (sorry for dragging here but, would like to know why SP is required to copy all lang files)
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April 16th, 2015 5:31pm

Yes you do. The package does a language check. The Dec CU is no different. All CUs include all supported languages for SharePoint.
April 16th, 2015 5:32pm

HI Krushi,You need to extract the file and All the files and the script should be in one folder only to run succesfully.Once the patch is Done you need to run the PSconfig.As Trevor said,All the latest CU's contain the previous CU+hot fix that are released prior to this CU.

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April 17th, 2015 3:09am

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