NT to W2003 upgrade

[Dan]

Hi, all. I want to upgrade an NT domain to W2k3 domain.
NT on old computer, put W2k3 on new machine. What is best
procedure? I figure upgrade NT to W2k3 on old machine,
then clean install W2k3 and dcpromo new machine in the
domain. But how do I get the new machine to be the first
DC in forest? Please help, thanks!

 

[David Brandt [MSFT]]

Basically two routes here.
1) the one you've outlined below
2) install the new box into the domain as an nt4 bdc, promote to pdc, then
upgrade.

Not sure why you want the new one to be the first dc, as even if the
original nt4 dc was upgraded first, then demoted after the "new" one was
installed/promoted, it would pass all fsmo roles to the new dc upon demotion
which would have been the only difference between them.
hope this helps

--
David Brandt
Microsoft Corporation

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Please do not send e-mail directly to this alias. This alias is for
newsgroup purposes only.

 

[Dan]

We are upgrading old servers to new ones, and upgrading
the domain while we're at it. The old machines will be
taken out completely.
You mean that if I have a W2k3 machine that is first DC
in the forest, and I dcpromo it to a member server, it
will pass all necessary info to another DC, making it the
new first DC in the forest? Is that all there is to
upgrading hardware?
I haven't done this before, but I thought you had to move
the roles and the global catalog manually before you
dcpromo down the first DC. That's what I need to find out.
Thanks for your help. -Dan