Small Business Server 2000 to Windows Server 2003 Migration

[Nichoals]

I am trying to help someone do a migration from Small Business Server 2000
to Windows Server 2003.

I say its a small business server 2000 installation purely due to the fact
that they initially installed Windows Server 2000 from the Small Business
Server Disk 1. Now, whenever you try to view licensing etc, it indicates
that these options are not available on SBS 2000.

Firstly, does this mean that its definitely NOT possible to do an upgrade
from SBS 2000 to Windows Server 2003?

All the posts that I have read indicate that it is not possible to do this
upgrade. Hence the long story to follow. We are planning on doing the
migration as follows, please could all you experts indicate if we are on the
correct track?

We currently have 1 main server running Small Business Server 2000, DHCP,
Internal DNS for Active Directory and an additional server running Exchange
2000.

We plan on taking the following steps to get both servers over to Windows
Server 2003:

1. Run adprep on the Small Business Server 2000 GC to prep forest and domain
for Windows Server 2003
2. Install Windows Server 2003 on a new temporary machine and run DCPROMO to
promote the server to an additional controller for the domain
3. Change the GC role and the FSMO roles to point to the new temporary
server
4. Run DCPROMO on the old Small Business Server 2000 to demote it to a
member server
5. Shut down the machine
6. Remove the SBS 2000 Server from AD Sites and Services
7. Format the SBS 2000 Server and install Windows Server 2003 on it
8. Run DCPROMO to promote to an additional controller for the domain
9. Take over the GC and FSMO roles
10. Shut down temporary server
11. Remove the temporary server from AD Sites and Services

The one thing I am not sure on is that the old server runs DNS and once the
machine goes down, then there will be no DNS server running and no way for
the AD Controllers to know what is what.

Where in these steps do you suggest I move the DNS server to the temporary
server and how do I go about doing this?

Should I install the dns server on the temporary server before I run DCPROMO
on it and then just point the servers dns settings to itself (as we did with
the SBS 2000 Server)?

After we have done all this and migrated the Small Business Server 2000
Controller to Windows Server 2003,we will then format the Exchange Server
2000 and install Windows Server 2003 with Exchange Server 2003.

When we have done this, will mailboxes for all users on the domain be
recreated with the installation of Exchange Server 2003?

If there is an easier way to do this without buying the SBS Migration pack
then please let me know! The company has decided to rather purchases the
seperate licenses for each product as they have more than 50 users.

Thanks for the help!!!

 

[Steve Foster [SBS MVP]]

I am trying to help someone do a migration from Small Business Server
2000 to Windows Server 2003.

I say its a small business server 2000 installation purely due to the
fact that they initially installed Windows Server 2000 from the Small
Business Server Disk 1. Now, whenever you try to view licensing etc,
it indicates that these options are not available on SBS 2000.

Firstly, does this mean that its definitely NOT possible to do an
upgrade from SBS 2000 to Windows Server 2003?

All the posts that I have read indicate that it is not possible to do
this upgrade. Hence the long story to follow. We are planning on
doing the migration as follows, please could all you experts indicate
if we are on the correct track?

We currently have 1 main server running Small Business Server 2000,
DHCP, Internal DNS for Active Directory and an additional server
running Exchange 2000.

We plan on taking the following steps to get both servers over to
Windows Server 2003:

1. Run adprep on the Small Business Server 2000 GC to prep forest and
domain for Windows Server 2003
2. Install Windows Server 2003 on a new temporary machine and run
DCPROMO to promote the server to an additional controller for the
domain 3. Change the GC role and the FSMO roles to point to the new
temporary server
4. Run DCPROMO on the old Small Business Server 2000 to demote it to a
member server
5. Shut down the machine
6. Remove the SBS 2000 Server from AD Sites and Services
7. Format the SBS 2000 Server and install Windows Server 2003 on it
8. Run DCPROMO to promote to an additional controller for the domain
9. Take over the GC and FSMO roles
10. Shut down temporary server
11. Remove the temporary server from AD Sites and Services

The one thing I am not sure on is that the old server runs DNS and
once the machine goes down, then there will be no DNS server running
and no way for the AD Controllers to know what is what.

Where in these steps do you suggest I move the DNS server to the
temporary server and how do I go about doing this?

Should I install the dns server on the temporary server before I run
DCPROMO on it and then just point the servers dns settings to itself
(as we did with the SBS 2000 Server)?

After we have done all this and migrated the Small Business Server
2000 Controller to Windows Server 2003,we will then format the
Exchange Server 2000 and install Windows Server 2003 with Exchange
Server 2003.

When we have done this, will mailboxes for all users on the domain be
recreated with the installation of Exchange Server 2003?

If there is an easier way to do this without buying the SBS Migration
pack then please let me know! The company has decided to rather
purchases the seperate licenses for each product as they have more
than 50 users.

Thanks for the help!!!

The Migration Pack is the official route out of SBS to the underlying
products. Note that you don't also buy all the underlying products!

It does actually work out a bit cheaper this way than individual
purchases, but not by much. Though it sounds like the invididual
purchasing may already have happened.

The reason you're having difficulty with the SBS server is that it's
not been properly installed in the first place. Just installing the
base Win2K Server OS is not enough, you must complete the SBS Install
Wizard that runs from CD1.

I don't see any fundamental errors in your plan, though as you
indicate, you do need to take care of DNS - it's critical to AD and
you'll need one somewhere throughout. There doesn't appear to be any
plan to manage the Exchange data migration either.

To upgrade from Win2K/Ex2K to WS2003/Ex2003, you should upgrade
Exchange first, then the OS. Both can be done in-place. Alternatively,
if you want a clean install, you can introduce a new WS2003/Ex2003
server into an existing Exchange site, and then use the Exchange tools
like Move Mailbox to shift everything across.

 

[Nicholas]

Steve, thanks for your reply.

You are correct in saying that the SBS installation was not completed
correctly in the first place. The Windows 2000 installation was done by
booting from SBS Disk 1 and it doesnt look like the rest of the SBS
components were ever installed!

They have tried installing BackOffice tools such as the Management Console
etc, however immediately when setup is run from Disk 1, they receive an
error message stating that Small Business Server cannot upgrade the current
installation - or something to that effect.

The reason they have chosen the route of rather buying the individual
products is two fold:

1. They want to immediately go to the 2003 suite of products, instead of
first buying the migration pack and then also having to buy all the
individual 2003 products too!

2. They also only use Exchange and Windows 2000 Server, not SQL or ISA.

How would you suggest we tackle the DNS issue?

Would you suggest we first setup DNS on the temporary server before doing a
DCPROMO? Will this automatically create all the necessary zones and
configurations for the domain on the new temporary server when we run the
DCPROMO? I remember those zones etc got automatically created on the DNS
server when AD was initially set up.

Or is there a way to migrate a DNS server to another server?

After the new DNS server is running we will point all dns records to the
temporary server so it stays up to date during all this re-installing etc.

The Exchange issue is not really a problem as all their users mail is stored
in local pst's on the workstations, not on the server. So my question for
this is, if we simply re-install Windows Server 2003 with Exchange 2003 -
will it immediately re-create mailboxes for all the domain users, or does
this need to be done manually for each and every user?

I must say, I find it strange that Microsoft does NOT have an upgrade path
for SBS 2000 to Windows Server 2003. Especially if customers have purchased
both products legally.

IMHO MS should certainly provide the Migration pack for free when customers
buy the 2003 products so that an upgrade can simply be done after the
migration pack is installed. I don't see why this should be a problem as
this tool would make it far easier for customer to do an upgrade instead of
re-installing from scratch!

Thanks once again for all your help!

 

[Jeff Middleton [SBS-MVP]]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I find your comments somewhat
curious.

The suggestion that MS should provide a migration path from SBS 2000 to
Windows 2003 is clearly addressed in the upcoming release of SBS 2003, or in
the Migration Pack. That's the migration option. If you want to stay with
the use of all products in the SBS 2000 Suite but without the single server
limitations, then the Migration Pack provides that. If you want to go to
Windows 2003 with all the products well managed and prepared to run on W2K3
Server, you have the SBS 2003 product coming. If you want only to have a
Windows 2003 Server and no longer use any of the other SBS products to
reduce your license per/seat cost, then you should create a new DC and
migrate your domain to W2k3 followed by a shutdown of the SBS and all
related products. If you want the cheapest licensing cost and only to use
Exchange with a DC, the Migration Pack is, I think, still less expensive
than the options.

It's not that there's not a scenario that wasn't covered, clearly it sounds
like you are trying to do it....but this isn't a very common course for
people to take. Given that MS is raising the seat count limits on MS by
50%, why would you leave the product?

Steve, thanks for your reply.

You are correct in saying that the SBS installation was not completed
correctly in the first place. The Windows 2000 installation was done by
booting from SBS Disk 1 and it doesnt look like the rest of the SBS
components were ever installed!

They have tried installing BackOffice tools such as the Management Console
etc, however immediately when setup is run from Disk 1, they receive an
error message stating that Small Business Server cannot upgrade the current
installation - or something to that effect.

The reason they have chosen the route of rather buying the individual
products is two fold:

1. They want to immediately go to the 2003 suite of products, instead of
first buying the migration pack and then also having to buy all the
individual 2003 products too!

2. They also only use Exchange and Windows 2000 Server, not SQL or ISA.

How would you suggest we tackle the DNS issue?

Would you suggest we first setup DNS on the temporary server before doing a
DCPROMO? Will this automatically create all the necessary zones and
configurations for the domain on the new temporary server when we run the
DCPROMO? I remember those zones etc got automatically created on the DNS
server when AD was initially set up.

Or is there a way to migrate a DNS server to another server?

After the new DNS server is running we will point all dns records to the
temporary server so it stays up to date during all this re-installing etc.

The Exchange issue is not really a problem as all their users mail is stored
in local pst's on the workstations, not on the server. So my question for
this is, if we simply re-install Windows Server 2003 with Exchange 2003 -
will it immediately re-create mailboxes for all the domain users, or does
this need to be done manually for each and every user?

I must say, I find it strange that Microsoft does NOT have an upgrade path
for SBS 2000 to Windows Server 2003. Especially if customers have purchased
both products legally.

IMHO MS should certainly provide the Migration pack for free when customers
buy the 2003 products so that an upgrade can simply be done after the
migration pack is installed. I don't see why this should be a problem as
this tool would make it far easier for customer to do an upgrade instead of
re-installing from scratch!

Thanks once again for all your help!

 

[Steve Foster [SBS MVP]]

Steve, thanks for your reply.

You are correct in saying that the SBS installation was not completed
correctly in the first place. The Windows 2000 installation was done
by booting from SBS Disk 1 and it doesnt look like the rest of the SBS
components were ever installed!

They have tried installing BackOffice tools such as the Management
Console etc, however immediately when setup is run from Disk 1, they
receive an error message stating that Small Business Server cannot
upgrade the current installation - or something to that effect.

There's a KB article that covers this scenario, but I don't have the
number to hand. Searching on the error given will return the relevant
KB.

The reason they have chosen the route of rather buying the individual
products is two fold:

1. They want to immediately go to the 2003 suite of products, instead
of first buying the migration pack and then also having to buy all the
individual 2003 products too!

The Migration Pack would get you all the 2000 products, since it's
SBS2000 that would be being unbundled. But there would be no
expectation to then buy all the 2000 products as well - that's the
whole idea of the MP.

However you dice it, there's no direct path from the 2000 generation
products to the 2003 series, other than SA or retail VUPs (where they
still exist). That's MS policy, whether we like it or not (we can of
course grouse at MS and try to persuade them to change their policy -
if enough do, we may succeed).

2. They also only use Exchange and Windows 2000 Server, not SQL or
ISA.

The Migration Pack changes the licensing to just Windows Server and
Exchange anyway, SQL licensing is left out and ISA doesn't use CALs
anyway. They left out SQL because the proportion of SBS users making
use of SQL was reckoned to be a pretty low percentage.

How would you suggest we tackle the DNS issue?

Would you suggest we first setup DNS on the temporary server before
doing a DCPROMO? Will this automatically create all the necessary
zones and configurations for the domain on the new temporary server
when we run the DCPROMO? I remember those zones etc got automatically
created on the DNS server when AD was initially set up.

No. You would need to manually add DNS Server to a second machine, and
either move the zone file by hand, or use DNS replication (either by
zone or AD).

Or is there a way to migrate a DNS server to another server?

Of course. DNS is designed to handle multiple servers. See above.

After the new DNS server is running we will point all dns records to
the temporary server so it stays up to date during all this
re-installing etc.

The temporary server is going to be the only server for a while, so yes
all DNS records will need to point to it, but the DCPromo process and
AD FSMO role transfers should take care of that.

The Exchange issue is not really a problem as all their users mail is
stored in local pst's on the workstations, not on the server. So my
question for this is, if we simply re-install Windows Server 2003
with Exchange 2003 - will it immediately re-create mailboxes for all
the domain users, or does this need to be done manually for each and
every user?

If Exchange is not currently configured in the AD domain, then no,
mailboxes will not automatically be created. You'll need to mail-enable
every user by hand. And if Exchange is already installed, you're going
to have to remove it unless you use the Exchange migration strategy I
already outlined.

I must say, I find it strange that Microsoft does NOT have an upgrade
path for SBS 2000 to Windows Server 2003. Especially if customers
have purchased both products legally.

Microsoft's exit strategy for SBS2000 is either an upgrade to SBS2003
when it arrives, or the Migration Pack. There's no direct upgrade path
from NT4 to WS2003 either, although there's nothing to stop you from
adding a WS2003 server to an NT4 domain in exactly the same way that
you can with SBS2000.

IMHO MS should certainly provide the Migration pack for free when
customers buy the 2003 products so that an upgrade can simply be done
after the migration pack is installed. I don't see why this should be
a problem as this tool would make it far easier for customer to do an
upgrade instead of re-installing from scratch!

If you want to use the Migration Pack route, buy the MP, don't buy
individual product! Duh. Technically, there's nothing particularly
complex about a migration using the standard products. The whole point
of the MP is that it's a direct, in-place, on the SBS, breakout. It
modifies the SBS itself to unlock all the SBS constraints.

 

[Nicholas]

Steve, I would like to just clarify the dns issue - sorry if this is
becoming monotonous for you!

Do you suggest I create a secondary DNS server on the temporary server using
the procedures described in this MS article:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;313563&Product=win20
00

Theoretically, that would copy all the dns zones and settings required by
active directory to the new server from the old controller which we want to
re-install.

We would then re-install take down the old DC/DNS Server, re-install Windows
Server 2003 on it and point its dns to the temporary server.

Then run DCPROMO so it can copy the AD across. Then take over the GC and
FSMO roles and then move the dns back.

Would that work?

Thanks again!