W2K3 Server as a PDC?

[RacerX]

I have a user who's NT 4.0 PDC is failing. They've
purchased a new Windows Server 2003 box and want to move
the PDC functionality off the existing server to the new
server. They can't implement Active Directory yet as they
are part of a larger corporation who has not defined how
their AD schema will be yet.

So the question is: How do I make this Windows Server 2003
box an NT 4.0 Domain Controller? Everything I see
indicates that it wants to load AD on the box, but I can't
do that. Help!

TIA.

 

[Danny Sanders]

You can not have a Win 2k or Win 2k3 domain without AD.

If you can't move to AD yet, remove Win 2k from the new server, install NT
4.0 on it as a BDC, promote to PDC (demotes your existing PDC to BDC) and
replace the failing PDC with this server.

You *really* do *not* want to add AD to this domain now if you have to add
this domain to the corporate forest. If you do you will have to blow away
the domain and recreate it again and add it to the corporate forest during
the addition of AD.

Suggest you keep this domain NT 4.0 until the AD migration is planned out.

hth
DDS W 2k MVP MCSE

 

[Jetro]

Preinstalled W2k3 server could be DC for your domain, but you have to change
the domain SID on this computer.
You could promote one of existed BDC to PDC, upgrade it to W2k3 and keep
W2k3 AD domain in mixed mode until the corporate AD rollout starts; Then
rollback the domain into pure NT4 (decomission AD) and join the forest.
Certainly, this is a lot of work...

 

[Rich]

That's exactly what I thought, but I was hoping I was missing something
somewhere.

Thanks for the advise!

</RacerX>