A Question about the upgrading of my DC

[dubsdj]

Would this be a wise way of going about upgrading our current 2003 r2 domain to 2008 r2:

1. Create a New Server 2008 Virtual Image using VMWare

2. Do the Adprep / forestprep on the Existing DC that holds all the Schema and FSMO roles

3. DC Promo the new 2008 server and install DHCP DNS etc

4. Allow replication to occur

5. Seize all FSMO roles from old DC to new 2008 Server (I'm a bit worried about this bit)

6. Backup the Virtual VM 2008 r2 that now has all the roles

7. upgrade the other old DC's that have good spec to 2008.

8. Once all Servers are running Server 2008 platform raise the forest / domain functional level.

The only part I'm a bit IFFy about is the seizing roles part.. Would my way be the right way we should do it?

Edited May 5, 2010 by dubsdj

[cluberti]

If you're upgrading to new hardware, then moving (not seizing) the roles is the way to go once you've got your 2008 R2 DC up. If you're doing an in-place upgrade of a DC from 2003 to 2008 R2, then obviously that's not necessary unless you want to move the roles around. Some other questions to ask are what other services are in your domain and AD, how many other DCs do you have that you'll be upgrading, etc. Microsoft has a technet paper on ADDS and DNS migration to 2008 R2 here that you might want to peruse if you haven't already.

[dubsdj]

If you're upgrading to new hardware, then moving (not seizing) the roles is the way to go once you've got your 2008 R2 DC up. If you're doing an in-place upgrade of a DC from 2003 to 2008 R2, then obviously that's not necessary unless you want to move the roles around. Some other questions to ask are what other services are in your domain and AD, how many other DCs do you have that you'll be upgrading, etc. Microsoft has a technet paper on ADDS and DNS migration to 2008 R2 here that you might want to peruse if you haven't already.

The reason I thought about moving the Roles to the Virtual 2008 DC is because if I did that then once the roles are all on the Virtual DC I can then upgrade the old DC's with less downtime as the Schema master and all other roles are up and running on the new Virtual Server.

Sound like a plan?

Or do you think I should just do an ADprep forest/domain on the old DC holding all of the roles and just upgrade it to server 2008 first? Only thing that worries me about that approach is what if it goes pear shaped and then I'm faced with restoring Active director.

[cluberti]

I never recommend an in-place upgrade . What you want to do is sound, but follow the technet article and you should be fine.

[Tripredacus]

The migration was actually pretty easy when I did it, except 2008 wouldn't let me migrate Infrastructure FSMO from the 2003 server. It gave me an error about it, so keep an eye out for that one. I don't know what the fix is, I just left the old server running with FSMO and DNS.

[dubsdj]

The migration was actually pretty easy when I did it, except 2008 wouldn't let me migrate Infrastructure FSMO from the 2003 server. It gave me an error about it, so keep an eye out for that one. I don't know what the fix is, I just left the old server running with FSMO and DNS.

After some researching of my current specs of my existing DC's running 2003 R2 I discovered that they are x86 which means that I'm screwed in regards to upgrading them to Server 2008 R2.. Is that right?

So I am going down the route of migration instead.

A few more questions though:

1. Do I run Adprep /domain prep and adprep / forestprep .. also do I need to add gpprep to it or not? I think not cos they are not windows 2000.. but I would like to check with you guys?

2. at what point should I move all of the roles to the new R2 2008 server? As soon as I have promoted it? (Schema, PDC , Infra ..etc) Will this dick up my existing DC's running 2003 r2?

3. Will the 32bit DC's still work on the domain with the new R2 2008 64bit running (As long as I'm at 2003 functional level) ?

I am going to raise the functional level as soon as I have installed 2 new DC's and demoted the old servers.

Edited May 6, 2010 by dubsdj

[dubsdj]

I have installed a new 2008 R2 64bit Server onto my network. I want to make it a domain controller but:

On my existing DC which runs Windows Server 2003 R2 (32bit) do I copy the 32bit version of Adprep from the Server 2008 CD?

If so, will it allow me to promote my 64 bit Server after I have run the 32bit Adprep software on the 2003 DC?

Will this have any effect on the existing DC's in the Domain?

Ok so basically my question is:

Can I promote my new 64bit 2008 R2 server after running the 32 bit adprep on the 32bit Server 2003 which currently holds all the Schema fsmo etc?

[Tripredacus]

I merged your topics. No need to create a new one.

That is interesting, I did not know if there was a difference between a 32bit and a 64bit domain controller. That was how I had done it, my 2003 was 32bit and the 2008 was 64bit. However my 2008 was not R2 so maybe there is a difference?

[cluberti]

On my existing DC which runs Windows Server 2003 R2 (32bit) do I copy the 32bit version of Adprep from the Server 2008 CD?If so, will it allow me to promote my 64 bit Server after I have run the 32bit Adprep software on the 2003 DC?

Yes, this is what you must do.

Will this have any effect on the existing DC's in the Domain?

No, it will extend the schema but make no changes.

Can I promote my new 64bit 2008 R2 server after running the 32 bit adprep on the 32bit Server 2003 which currently holds all the Schema fsmo etc?

Yes. Follow this checklist and you should be fine (skip the upgrading existing domain controllers part if you plan on decommissioning your old 2k3 servers - and given you aren't upgrading them, you'll have to anyway).