Upgrade OS to 2008? 1

[cajuntank]

Has anyone done or tried an upgrade on their OS from 2003/R2 to 2008 yet with Exchange 2007 SP1 installed?

 

[MarkArnold]

You CANNOT upgrade Windows Server 2003 x64 to Windows Server 2008 x64 if Exchange Server 2007 SP1 is already on the box.
No, no, not no way not no how.
I have ranted:

http://markarnold.blogspot.com/2008/02/windows-2003-to-2008-with-exchange-sp1.html

Oh, and just for kicks and giggles I took a 2003 box, upped it to 2008 and installed E2K7 on it. What a frikkin' mess that turned out as well.

 

[cajuntank]

I am going to be upgrading and installing 2008 during the summer for my K-12 and was wanting to do my Exchange box as well, but I guess it's not a necessity. I just really want to get my DC(s) and file/print server(s) on 2008 to take advantage of 08's added capabilities.

So is it still a wait for some update or SP for one of these (Exchange or OS) to be able to upgrade?

 

[MarkArnold]

Given what goes wrong I think it will be a cold day in hell before it's possible to upgrade.
Don't even plan on an upgrade. Base all your thinking on a new installation to new hardware - even if that takes a server refresh cycle to get you there.

 

[cajuntank]

Ok... let me pose it this way then. If I have a single Exchange 2007 SP1 server installed in my domain with absolutely no mail on it yet (not even mailboxes on it), would it do me any good in un-installing Exchange and starting completely over with 2008 and doing another Exchange install? Am I going to get any benefit whatsoever of this server being 2008 with Exchange 07 over it being 2003 and Exchange 07?

 

[MarkArnold]

In my opinion you will gain not one damn jot of benefit. It's going to be a pain in the butt since you're going to have to learn IIS7 on a production system.
The only possible upside to uninstalling and reinstalling is that you're going to need to do it within 18 months when 2003 goes out of support. Mind you, if you're not on premier support the level of support you actually get is questionable and even if you are it can be sketchy thanks to where it's all outsourced to.

 

[58sniper]

I'd agree with Mark. What is the need to go to 2008? If you haven't identified a need, wait till the next refresh cycle of that resource and address it then.

Pat Richard
Microsoft Exchange MVP

 

[cajuntank]

One of the main reasons of wanting to go to 2008 is the read only AD. My predecessor has had to call me in several times with the techs at the campus sites accidently doing something in AD (one deleteted an entire OU of users and computers). I like the read-only move (Novell's had that for ages now in NDS) and Microsoft's finally caught on.

 

[MarkArnold]

This has crept far away from "can I upgrade by W2K3/E2K7SP1 box to W2K8.
Having an RODC in your mix is going to help your admins not delete things but only if you take away their Domain Admin rights. If someone is a DA they will be able to screw you over whatever you do operating system wise.

The only way to fix this is to properly delegate permissions. The people out on the campus's shouldn't have the rights to do what they did in the first place. If people cannot be trusted not to be ultra careful in ADU&C they shouldn't be DA's.

In summary you've drifted well wide of the original point. Deploy your DCs as 2008 if you want. Deploy RODCs if you want (remember though, Exchange won't use them so keep them in different AD sites) but really, fix your administration model. "There are seldom good technological solutions for behavioural problems" (Ed Crowley)

 

[cajuntank]

As always... thanks.

 

[Zelandakh]

If the reason for upgrading is because techs are deleting things, tackle that by taking away their rights, not by upgrading. As Mark says...

 

[cajuntank]

It's a political thing.

 

[Zelandakh]

Ah - admin staff, can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em.

Nuff said.