Mixed Servers on a domain

[Kiwica]

Hi .. I currently have a single DC on a 2003 domain. My question is 2 parts..

1. Can I add a server 2008 to the domain?, and..
2. Can that 2008 be the secondary server to the primary 2003?

Cheers

"Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?

 

[markdmac]

If you wish to add the 2008 server as a member server there is no extra work to do. Just join it to the domain the same as any other system.

If however you wish to make it a DC, then you will need to run ADPREP to update your AD Schema.

When you run it, it must be run from an elevated command prompt. To open an elevated command prompt, click Start, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

ADPREP /forestprep must be run on the Schema Master. Make sure that the ID you are logged in with is a member of the Schema Admins and Enterprise Admins groups.

ADPREP /domainprep must be run on the Infrastructure Master with the credentials of someone in the Domain Admins group.

Important: Since at the time of running ADPREP you still do not have any Windows Server 2008 Domain Controllers, it should be made clear that these commands MUST be run on EXISTING Windows Server 2003 Domain Controllers. Unless your Windows 2003 is x64, you MUST make sure you use a copy of the 32-bit version of the Windows Server 2008 installation DVD. You cannot use the 64-bit version of the installation media to run ADPREP on 32-bit versions of Windows 2000/2003. Because Windows Server 2008 installation media is 64-bit by default, remember to request the 32-bit version when you get your copy. In case you don't have the 32-bit version available, you can also use the evaluation version of Windows Server 2008 32-bit installation media to run ADPREP, so just download the file from Microsoft's website, and use it to run ADPREP on your 32-bit Windows 2000/2003 DCs.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

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