Active Directory, 3rd Edition

Upgrade Process

The upgrade process to Windows Server 2003 should be straightforward for most deployments. No forest restructuring is required, no user profile or workstation changes are necessary assuming you are running the latest service pack and hotfixes, and there should be no need for political turf battles over namespace usage and ownership like there might have been with your initial Active Directory deployment.

We are going to outline five high-level steps that you should follow to upgrade to Windows Server 2003. They include performing an inventory of your domain controllers and clients to determine if there will be any compatibility showstoppers. You are then ready to do a trial run and perform extensive testing to see what impact the upgrade may have on functionality. Next, you have to prepare your forest and domains with ADPrep, which we've already discussed in some depth. Finally, you'll upgrade your domain controllers to Windows Server 2003. In the Post-Upgrade Tasks section of this chapter, we will describe what to do after you've upgraded your domain controllers as far as monitoring, raising functional levels, and taking advantage of new features goes.

Tip

Prior to running your adprep process, fully read and understand Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 555040. It details all of the known issues with the adprep process. Also review 309628, which details the operations adprep performs.

Inventory Domain Controllers

A good first step before you start the upgrade process is ...