Decommissiong 2003 server with AD

[robatwork]

Hi all,
I want to decommission our 2003 server that for a while was our first and only DC, and a few years ago got a 2008 server friend with which to replicate to. They both have DNS server running with AD integration. As far as I can see they are full replicas of each other - but as I rarely touch anything to do with DNS or AD I wanted to ask if there was anything I should check before going ahead.

What makes is slightly more complicated is that I want to to keep SERVER2003 up and running as it's also a file server, so I don't want to change its name. So I will just demote it as a DC following

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc740017(v=ws.10).aspx

I have already checked all PCs are looking at the 2008 server as the first DNS server.

I am going to be bringing online another DC for replication - is this best done before I go ahead with the above?
many thanks for any pointers
Rob

 

[itsp1965]

Before you do anything.. even though your servers have been replicating "correctly", you need to ensure that your AD FSMO roles have been transferred off the 2003 server and migrated to the 2008 server before you even consider demoting the existing 2003 DC.

 

[robatwork]

Thanks for replying - I have been so far following an excellent guide I found here:

http://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/show/164-file-server-ad-migration