2003 R2 to 2012 Migration?

[CHR1S]

I currently have a two server setup on one domain. PDC and SDC that DFS replicate to each other.

 

My idea was to pass all the GC and roles to the SDC - wipe the PDC and fresh install 2012 with some minor HW upgrades to the server.

 

My issue comes when deciding where to go from there, do I add the 2012 to the domain and promote it taking over the PDC role again?

Can I have the 2012 functionality with a 2003 SDC or will I have to strip its roles?

 

I will eventually be virtualising the SDC then going through the same process on the other server hardware to remove 2003 from the domain, this way I get no downtime.

 

Any ideas would be welcome.

 

Thanks

[Michael]

Firstly you need to update the schema on 2003 to 2012's version which is 56, up from 47 for 2008 R2 and 31 for 2003 R2.

 

Then make sure the forest and domain functional level is Windows Server 2003.

 

dcpromo is no more, so you need to run Server Manager to promote it to a DC.

 

You need at least one GC in your domain. I would recommend you make the 2012 DC a GC, but also the FSMO roles.