Migrate 2003R2 DCs to 2008 R2

[techie08]

Hi Everyone

 

Im about to migrate a DC from 2003R2 to 2008R2 and it has has DHCP and DNS on it.

 

Is there a specific process I MUST follow for a successfull migration? Would i get the 2008r2 server setup with AD, DNS and DHCP first and then simply uninstall those roles from the old server?

 

Many Thanks

[plexer]

Yes, allthough you can leave the old 2003 DC in place if you wish and it can still be a dns server.

 

Or are you wanting to move 100% to 2008?

 

Ben

[ChrisH]

Are you migrating or upgrading? What I mean is are you migrating all your users to a new domain or do you want to upgrade to 2008 R2?

If you are upgrading then you need to first run adprep /forestprep and adprep /domainprep to prepare for the 2008 schema.

Install the new 2008 R2 server (I am assuming a seperate server).

Make the new server a DC, transfer all the FSMO roles over.

You can backup DHCP from the DHCP console I don't know if it will import straight into 2008 though.

Then once you are happy you can demote the old server and reinstall it (if it is worth it).

 

This is a very simplified version of events at at each step there is the chance you can mess everything up. Make sure you do further reading before attempting this or get someone who is familiar with the process to help you.

[techie08]

Thanks Chris / Plexer

 

Still in the same domain but moving completely from from one server to the other and decommisioning the old server. What would happen with DNS? is it just a case of adding the role on the new server then once setup, just uninstalling it from the 2003 server?

 

Thanks

Edited November 8, 2010 by techie08

[SYNACK]

DNS as long as it is AD integrated (default) will just replicate over with no hassel once you make the new one a DC.

 

You will want to:

Upgrade the AD schema on the old server so the new one can be made a DC

Make the new Server a DC and wait for it to replicate

Move the FSMO roles from the old server to the new one.

Install DHCP and then either recreate or migrate the settings from the old one to the new one then switch DHCP off on old one

 

Then if you want to remove the old one:

Demote it to a member server using DCpromo

delete it from AD

[techie08]

Thank Synack

 

Would the DNS role remove itself when i run dcpromo on the old server or would i have to remove this First/Last?

[timzim]

Active Directory Domain Services and DNS Server Migration Guide

[SYNACK]

Yes DNS should be removed by DCpromo automaticly

[techie08]

Just out of intrest, would it be fine fine to migrate all DCs to 2008R2 even though at present im still running all XP clients? Im not sure as 2008R2 is 64 bit this may cause problems elsewhere.

 

Many Thanks

[SYNACK]

Just out of intrest, would it be fine fine to migrate all DCs to 2008R2 even though at present im still running all XP clients? Im not sure as 2008R2 is 64 bit this may cause problems elsewhere.

 

Many Thanks

 

Should be fine as long as you can get the printer drivers, you will need to put both the 32bit and x64 drivers on the server for it to handle it. Not to difficult in many cases but it just takes one iffy printer to ruin your day.

[timzim]

No, should be fine. Follow the various guides for migrating services in the link I gave above - there's quite a lot to do if you want to move DHCP, etc - don't know what you've got on your current DCs. I'm just doing the very same now and my eyes/brain are sore from all the Powershell stuff. Works a treat though, once you've worked out what syntax to leave out!

[SYNACK]

No need to use the powershell tools, you are right they are quite fidely for certain things as they are designed to deal with all sorts of networks. Just export the scope with netsh and import it to the new server, works great and you get a text file output of your settings as a backup:

How to use the Netsh utility to export and import DHCP scopes

or

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

[oxide54]

Just out of intrest, would it be fine fine to migrate all DCs to 2008R2 even though at present im still running all XP clients? Im not sure as 2008R2 is 64 bit this may cause problems elsewhere.

 

Many Thanks

 

i've been running 2008 r2 DC's with XP clients for about a year now.

 

its worth installing group policy client side extensions on the XP machines.

 

for example if you want to make registry changes to machines you don't need write custom ADM files, the new group policy management has a built in registry editor, you will need the group policy extensions on the xp clients though.

[PiqueABoo]

would it be fine fine to migrate all DCs to 2008R2

 

YMMV but I haven't had any problems at all with that.

 

If you're putting print queues on 2K8R2 the the x64 and x86 driver thing can be a pain sometimes. If I had a spare old box I'd hang on to that until after I'd sorted the printers i.e. if you hit trouble you could make it 2K3 member print-server.

[oxide54]

YMMV but I haven't had any problems at all with that.

 

If you're putting print queues on 2K8R2 the the x64 and x86 driver thing can be a pain sometimes. If I had a spare old box I'd hang on to that until after I'd sorted the printers i.e. if you hit trouble you could make it 2K3 member print-server.

 

funny i never had any problems putting the x86 driver on, straight on the server.

[timzim]

No need to use the powershell tools, you are right they are quite fidely for certain things as they are designed to deal with all sorts of networks. Just export the scope with netsh and import it to the new server, works great and you get a text file output of your settings as a backup:

How to use the Netsh utility to export and import DHCP scopes

or

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

 

This line in the TechNet migration guide put me off using netsh:

Note: The Windows Server 2003 operating system does not support Netsh-based backup.

Also the DHCP database structure in W2003 also appears to be different from that used in W2008 R2 - caused me some problems until I removed the DHCP folder contents entirely and then used the recommended Import-SmigServerSetting -featureid DHCP -Force -path command to copy the settings across instead.

[oxide54]

depends how complicated your scope is?

 

if you dont have any reservations, and just a scope assigning a range it would be easier to recreate it.

 

btw

 

we don't have any reservations on the "real" dhcp servers as the print server runs dhcp as well purely for the printers as they are on a different vlan

[SYNACK]

This line in the TechNet migration guide put me off using netsh:

Also the DHCP database structure in W2003 also appears to be different from that used in W2008 R2 - caused me some problems until I removed the DHCP folder contents entirely and then used the recommended Import-SmigServerSetting -featureid DHCP -Force -path command to copy the settings across instead.

 

Ah, was sure I had used that before but it must have been 2003 to 2003, used the migration tools the last time but they were mass involved in comparison to the netsh route.