Upgrading Active Directory

For the few who are still working with Windows 2000 Domain, I would like to share with you a few articles I collected that can help with the process of upgrading your Domain to Windows Server 2003.

You should also know that besides the benefits of Windows Server 2003 Active Directory (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/overview/technologies/activedirectory.mspx), An 2003 forest level is essential for the full functionality and advanced features of Exchange Server 2007.

Here are the articles -

 How to upgrade Windows 2000 domain controllers to Windows Server 2003:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;325379

In this article, there is a part talking about upgrading environment with Windows 2000 Forest when there is Exchange 2000 present. This part explains how to manually update Exchange Attributes before the upgrade.

Access is denied when you run Dcpromo.exe to create a replica domain controller, you receive the "Failed to modify the necessary properties for the machine account”:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/232070

You will probably encounter this error if you hardened your servers using Group Policy and changed the permissions for the Enable Computer and User Accounts to be trusted for Delegation value.

How to Enable Schema Modifications for a Windows 2000 Server Domain:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb632955.aspx

On Windows Server 2003 domains the schema is enabled for updates by default. For Windows 2000 Server domains, you must manually enable updates on the schema master.

Steps for Extending the Schema:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc773360.aspx

This article will guide you through the steps of checking Active Directory functionality, how to extend the Schema and how to verify the schema extension.

How to move a DHCP database from a computer that is running Windows NT Server 4.0, Windows 2000, or Windows Server 2003 to a computer that is running Windows Server 2003:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325473

I most cases, the domain controller is also functioning as the DHCP server. When upgrading Windows 2000 Server DHCP to Windows Server 2003 DHCP, you should use DHCPExim to export the DHCP database from Windows 2000 and use NETSH to import the database to Windows Server 2003.

Common Mistakes When Upgrading a Windows 2000 Domain To a Windows 2003 Domain:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555040

Very good article that will give you guidelines and links that will help you with the upgrade.

Hope it Helps…

Thanks for Reading!