ADPREP on W2K Infrastructure DC

[Bigtm]

Hello, I have a domain comprising of 3 W2k DC's and 100 workstations. I need to promote a Windows 2003 Enterprise member Server to full DC status with a view to demoting the W2k DC's and eventually runing 3 Windows 2003 DC's instead.

I need to run adprep /domainprep and also /forestprep on the Master but I am worried that this process will cause damage to the AD schema. There are no exchange servers present so that i suppose helps a bit.

Could I disconnect one of the W2k DC's for security in the event it all goes wrong or do the adprep changes need to replicate to all existing W2k DC's before a new 2003 DC can be introduced.

Any tips, preferably step by step would be greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,
BigTM.

 

[kmkeshav]

Here are the steps that will help you in this:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325379

Hope this helps.

-Keshav / IT Consultant

 

[markdmac]

I don't follow your concern for breaking AD. The ADPREP utility is designed to specifically manage this and prevent problems.

Not a good idea to take a DC off line, AD must be in sync before ADPREP will allow itself run.

Don't forget to make your new server a GC and transfer FSMO roles when you are decommissioning the older server.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

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