Can't upgrade but can't wreck domain either

[Neal]

We have two domain controllers running w2k Advanced Server. We want to
'upgrade' these to w2003 server (not enterprise) and you CAN'T 'upgrade' as
it is not supported (only to w2003 Enterprise.

A = first domain controller with FSMO roles. B = second domain controller

I propose to:

1) run w2003 DomainPrep and ForestPrep
2) run DC promo on B and demote it, leaving all the FSMO roles on A
3) format the disk on B, install w2003 server and then DC promo on it to
make it a domain controller
4) move all the FSMO roles from A to B and run DCPromo to demote A. Then
blow it away and install w2003 and DCPromo it to be a dc.

Will this work?? Can anyone see anything wrong with my plan?

Regards, Neal Blackie

 

[Mark Renoden [MSFT]]

Hi Neal

That looks like it should work to me. Step 0 might be to take a backup so
you've got something to fall back on.

You might want to consider using new server names (even though this
shouldn't necessary). If you want to use the same server names, make sure
the computer accounts are removed and that there's no indication that
attempts at replication are occurring after you've done the demotions.

Kind regards
--
Mark Renoden [MSFT]
Windows Platform Support Team
Email: (e-mail address removed)

Please note you'll need to strip ".online" from my email address to email
me; I'll post a response back to the group.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Neal]

Thanks Mark.

The only step that really worries me is moving all the roles manually from
w2k to w2003 as I've never done that before. Any tips?

Oh yeah, one more thing, both servers are running DNS, so I'd like to make a
backup of that config so I can restore it easily. Never done that either,
is there a way to do that? Or is that something I can't do as it is part of
the AD structure?

NTBackup runs daily to back up the system state.

Hi Neal

That looks like it should work to me. Step 0 might be to take a backup so
you've got something to fall back on.

You might want to consider using new server names (even though this
shouldn't necessary). If you want to use the same server names, make sure
the computer accounts are removed and that there's no indication that
attempts at replication are occurring after you've done the demotions.

Kind regards
--
Mark Renoden [MSFT]
Windows Platform Support Team
Email: (e-mail address removed)

Please note you'll need to strip ".online" from my email address to email
me; I'll post a response back to the group.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

We have two domain controllers running w2k Advanced Server. We want to
'upgrade' these to w2003 server (not enterprise) and you CAN'T 'upgrade'
as
it is not supported (only to w2003 Enterprise.

A = first domain controller with FSMO roles. B = second domain controller

I propose to:

1) run w2003 DomainPrep and ForestPrep
2) run DC promo on B and demote it, leaving all the FSMO roles on A
3) format the disk on B, install w2003 server and then DC promo on it to
make it a domain controller
4) move all the FSMO roles from A to B and run DCPromo to demote A. Then
blow it away and install w2003 and DCPromo it to be a dc.

Will this work?? Can anyone see anything wrong with my plan?

Regards, Neal Blackie

 

[Mark Renoden [MSFT]]

Hi Neal

Transferring FSMO Roles:

324801 HOW TO: View and Transfer FSMO Roles in Windows Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=324801

321469 Scripting Operations Master Role Transfers
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=321469

223787 Flexible Single Master Operation Transfer and Seizure Process
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=223787

255504 Using Ntdsutil.exe to Seize or Transfer FSMO Roles to a Domain
Controller
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=255504

What DNS zone types are you using? AD Integrated will just replicate
between DC's. Remember to allow everything to replicate when you demote and
promote. You shouldn't need to worry about backing up DNS if Dynamic Update
is in place. Clients and servers will just register as they boot (or DHCP
will do it for the downlevel clients). All you really need to do if
something goes wrong with DNS is recreate the zones and point all the
clients and servers at the correct preferred DNS server. Aside from this,
set your forwarders and the rest takes care of itself. I'm not aware of a
tool that backs up the DNS config specifically.

Kind regards
--
Mark Renoden [MSFT]
Windows Platform Support Team
Email: (e-mail address removed)

Please note you'll need to strip ".online" from my email address to email
me; I'll post a response back to the group.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Thanks Mark.

The only step that really worries me is moving all the roles manually from
w2k to w2003 as I've never done that before. Any tips?

Oh yeah, one more thing, both servers are running DNS, so I'd like to make
a
backup of that config so I can restore it easily. Never done that either,
is there a way to do that? Or is that something I can't do as it is part
of
the AD structure?

NTBackup runs daily to back up the system state.

Hi Neal

That looks like it should work to me. Step 0 might be to take a backup
so
you've got something to fall back on.

You might want to consider using new server names (even though this
shouldn't necessary). If you want to use the same server names, make
sure
the computer accounts are removed and that there's no indication that
attempts at replication are occurring after you've done the demotions.

Kind regards
--
Mark Renoden [MSFT]
Windows Platform Support Team
Email: (e-mail address removed)

Please note you'll need to strip ".online" from my email address to email
me; I'll post a response back to the group.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

We have two domain controllers running w2k Advanced Server. We want to
'upgrade' these to w2003 server (not enterprise) and you CAN'T
'upgrade'
as
it is not supported (only to w2003 Enterprise.

A = first domain controller with FSMO roles. B = second domain controller

I propose to:

1) run w2003 DomainPrep and ForestPrep
2) run DC promo on B and demote it, leaving all the FSMO roles on A
3) format the disk on B, install w2003 server and then DC promo on it to
make it a domain controller
4) move all the FSMO roles from A to B and run DCPromo to demote A. Then
blow it away and install w2003 and DCPromo it to be a dc.

Will this work?? Can anyone see anything wrong with my plan?

Regards, Neal Blackie