Copying arcgisserver directories to another machine?

[Jay_Gregory]

Is replacing the arcgisserver/directories and arcgisserver/config-store folders with the same folders from another server that you want to, in essence, "replicate" supported?  For example, my IT department wants to rebuild one of my server, and I was hoping I could just copy those directories with my old configuration somewhere, reinstall the server software and create a new site, and then overwrite the new arcgisserver directories with my old ones to have all the map services and configurations retained?  Is this possible?  Are there specific steps I have to follow?

Thanks, Jay

[KevinHibma]

I've got no experience trying what you proposed, so I couldn't even hazard a guess if it would work or not, but I have this:
Backing up and restoring your ArcGIS Server site configuration
Backup utility
It might be worth investigating and giving a try.

[Jay_Gregory]

Shucks - I really like that idea.  Unfortunately I'm running 10.1 not 10.2.  Any other suggestions?

Jay

[WilliamCraft]

My suggestion is that you utilize the Export / Import Configuration tool for ArcGIS Server 10.2 using the Administrator Directory.  That URL is generally something like http://gisservername:6080/arcgis/admin/login.  This tool allows you to backup and restore your site configuration whenever you need to rebuild a server.  I do think taking a backup of the configuration store and the server directories would be a good idea in case there are specific files that need to be recovered after importing the configuration.  However, I believe the configuration site export file should contain all of your service definitions and registered data stores.  If you are using a multi-server site by chance, make sure you re-install the software on all of the ArcGIS Server machines and join them together as a site before re-importing your configuration.