upgrade w2k3

[Guest]

I am currently running W2K in native mode with two DC. The 1st DC is
configured as the FMSO/GC while the 2nd DC is configured as a GC. The
servers in the domain are all W2K standard edition with all the required
service packs and patches. I have two questions: 1. Can I upgrade the W2K
DCs running standard edition to W2K3 enterprise edition. Second, can I
upgrade the 2nd DC, before I upgrade the DC acting as the FMSO.

 

[William Hutchison [MSFT]]

Manoa,

Yes, you can upgrade the W2K DCs running standard edition to W2K3 enterprise
edition as explained in this link:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/whyupgrade/supportedpaths.mspx

However, you probably should be upgrading the FMSO DCs first as explained in
the following link which guides one through the process of upgrading a W2K
domain controller to W2K3:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;325379

In the section dealing with actually upgrading the domain controllers
themselves (not just the domain), it explains which FMSO DCs need to be
upgraded first and why:

Upgrading Windows 2000 domain controllers by using Winnt32.exe
After the changes from /forestprep and /domainprep completely replicate and
you have made a decision about security interoperability with
earlier-version clients, you can upgrade Windows 2000 domain controllers to
Windows Server 2003 and add new Windows Server 2003 domain controllers to
the domain.

The following computers must be among the first domain controllers that
run Windows Server 2003 in the forest in each domain: . The domain naming
master in the forest so that you can create default DNS program partitions.
. The primary domain controller of the forest root domain so that the
enterprise-wide security principals that Windows Server 2003's forestprep
adds become visible in the ACL editor.
. The primary domain controller in each non-root domain so that you
can create new domain-specific Windows 2003 security principals.



Hope this helps. Thanks.