Migration from Single Farm Instance to Mini Role Instance

Question

Is it possible to convert a running single farm instance (SharePoint 2016) into a mini role instance and then add new server to this farm?

Answer 1

you can do it. Here is MS documentation about it.

How to change a server role:

To change a server role by using the Central Administration Web site

1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is a member of the local Administrators group.
2. On the Central Administration web site, click System Settings.
3. On the System Settings page, click Convert server role in this farm.
4. On the Role Conversion page, in the New Role area, click the drop-down box to select the new server role for each server to change.
5. Click Apply.

To change a server role by using PowerShell
1. Verify that you have the following memberships:
- securityadmin fixed server role on the SQL Server instance.
- db_owner fixed database role on all databases that are to be updated.
2. In Start find SharePoint Management Shell.
3. Run command Set-SPServer -Identity <server name> -Role <server role>

Hope it helps!