2003 to 2008 DC migration

Pash

Hi all,

Well no better way to get thrown in the deep end of my studies than to be given a project to do it!

Our client wants 2008 R2 on their network now, and they are looking on replacing the main FSMO holding 2003 DC with this 2008 R2 server.

I have begun to summarize the steps (and rough estimation of time needed) involved for this project as the below:-

Configuration of server and install of OS – 1 day x1

Migration of 2003 dc server to 2008 (including prep work + FSMO transfer) – 1day x1
Roll out of CSE’s KB943729 to 2003 domain controllers. - .5 day x1
Roll out of CSE’s KB943729 to all XP clients using WSUS update (include standby engineering for any failed updates) - .5 day x1
Migration of Policy’s from policymaker items to Group Policy Preference settings using GPPMIG tool – .5 day x1
General Standby work and emergency planning – 2 days x1

Anyone think I am undercutting the time involved and I should pencil more in? I am doing some labs this week to nail these steps but I am just wondering if anyone has any useful gotchas to share? One of my concerns is that none of our current 2003 dc's have sp2 installed, which is the only release supported on the CSE's updates.

Cheers,

Pash

tenrou

Hey,

Sorry this is slightly off topic but until you posted them there I'd never heard of PolicyMaker, so I had to go google them. Are they a 3rd party Group Policy solution that were bought by Microsoft?

Back on topic when we went from 2003 r2 to 2008 there were a few issues with replication between sites so keep an eye on it with repladmin and replmon. We ended up deleting and recreating the site links and this fixed it.

Pash

tenrou wrote: »

Hey,

Sorry this is slightly off topic but until you posted them there I'd never heard of PolicyMaker, so I had to go google them. Are they a 3rd party Group Policy solution that were bought by Microsoft?

Back on topic when we went from 2003 r2 to 2008 there were a few issues with replication between sites so keep an eye on it with repladmin and replmon. We ended up deleting and recreating the site links and this fixed it.

Hi Mate,

Yes thats right, policymaker was idd 3rd party until MS acquired them.

Thank you for mentioning about the site links. We do have DC's based offsite at our DR site. This is also 2003 stanard to 2008, no sp's anywhere, although I havent said no to adding sp's should we need to.

tenrou

Thanks for the info. I'm always worried when terms pop up and I don't know them.

The no service pack thing is a bit of a conundrum. Just my personal opinion but I'd install them before doing the upgrade. I'd say you have more to lose by not installing them. Any problems you come across could be difficult to troubleshoot because it's an uncommon upgrade path.

Hyper-Me

I would make sure after the move that you are using DFSR rather than FRS. I've found DFSR to just be much more reliable overall.

Are you removing all 2003 DCs and moving to a 2008 functional level?

BradH

If you are moving over to 2008 function level for your DC don't forget your adprep before you migrate from 2003 to 2008 Domain controllers. Your Schema and Forest needs to be updated before migration takes place.

Windows Server 2008 ADPREP

While I am sure you are aware of this anyway, might assist some others looking to do this type of migration or assist with a 640 exam.

blargoe

origdav wrote: »

SP1 is a requirement as far as I was aware...

That's what I was thinking. If you're doing R2 it might require SP2. I don't remember for certain thought... I had notes on this on a thumb drive but I lost it..

Hyper-Me

I dont know if there is a 2003 requirement or not.

2000 DC's must be at SP4.

The Domain Functional level must be at 200 native or Server 2003. 2000 mixed mode and 2003 interim upgrades arent supported.

BADfish10

This is not as hard or as daunting as it sounds.
I would update everything first to latest SP as if somthing dose go wrong you have removed MS first step to fix
i would run DCdiag and netdiag well in advance of doing anything so you dont feel flustered and you have time to read any problems through in advance and then set your plan up from there.
when you come to the schema update remember to take a ntbackup of the systate on a DC before you do it "yes that is right a NTbackup"
After you run the Schema update "sat morning after backup @ a guess"
leave time for it to replicate before doing any thing else probably a good idea to call it quits and commision the 2008 server during the next week.

You will be fine this is fairly straight forward as upgrades go

Thanks

J

desiredforsome

I just migrated our Server2003 to Server 2008 R2, easy did it all in about 4 hours. Then demoted the old controller and installed exchange 2010 on another w2k8R2 Controller.

Peice of Cake