Part 3: Windows Server (Web hosting ratings) 2003 Upgrades and Migrations
Part 3: Windows Server 2003 Upgrades and Migrations Chapter 8 Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Inside Out The domain preparation must be performed on each Active Directory domain prior to attempting to upgrade a domain controller. Also, prior to adding the first Windows Server 2003 system as a new domain controller in an existing (Windows 2000) domain, forest and domain preparation must be successfully completed. The Active Directory Preparation Wizard creates a detailed log of the changes made during the preparation process, which is written to %SystemRoot%System32DebugAdprepLogs DateTimeAdprep.log, where DateTime is a folder name composed of the year, month, date, and time of day in seconds when Adprep was run. This file shows each step of the process and the result code of the attempt to perform each operation. Adprep also has a couple of optional parameters to control its operations during the preparation process. Following are the Adprep parameters: . The /Nofilecopy parameter prevents Adprep from copying any files from the source CD (or distribution folder) to the domain controller. . The /Nospwarning parameter prevents Adprep from displaying a service pack warning when installing on domain controllers that do not have Service Pack 2 installed. During the forest preparation process, Adprep copies the .ldf files containing the schema change from the installation folder (the CD or distribution folder) to the %SystemRoot% System32 folder on the domain controller. These schema change files are 17 consecutively numbered .ldf files named Sch14.ldf through Sch30.ldf. Note The number following the sch indicates the version of the schema the Windows 2000 schema is Version 13. Because Windows Server 2003 uses Version 30 schema, the schema update files begin at 14 and go to 30. Adprep also copies the Dcpromo.csv and 409.csv files from the installation folder to the %SystemRoot%System32DebugAdprepData folder on the domain controller. Updating the Active Directory Forest and Domains Before you start the upgrade process, review your Information Technology (IT) planning information that identifies the Active Directory domain controllers and the upgrade path, including which domain controllers will host which global catalog, operations masters, and bridgehead server roles and the order in which the servers should be upgraded. Because DNS is an integral part of Active Directory, you should also review your DNS namespace and planning information at this point. When you re ready to update the Windows 2000 Active Directory forest and domains, you begin by backing up the Schema Master (domain controller) for the forest and the Infrastructure Master for each domain that will be upgraded. Using the Active Directory Preparation tool is a required next step prior to upgrading a Windows 2000 domain controller Windows Setup will fail if it detects that the forest and/or the domain has not been updated for Windows Server 2003. 236
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