Active Directory Cookbook

2.13. Raising the Functional Level of a Windows Server 2003 Domain

Problem

You want to raise the functional level of a Windows Server 2003 domain. You should raise the functional level of a domain as soon as possible after installing a new Windows Server 2003 domain or upgrading from Windows 2000 to take advantage of the new features and enhancements.

Solution

Using a graphical user interface

1. Open the Active Directory Domains and Trusts snap-in.

2. In the left pane, browse to the domain you want to raise, right-click it, and select Raise Domain Functional Level.

3. Select the new functional level and click OK.

After a few seconds you should see a message stating whether the operation was successful.

Using a command-line interface

To retrieve the current functional level, use the following command:

> dsquery * <DomainDN> -scope base -attr msDS-Behavior-Version

Or you can use the enumprop command found in the Windows 2000 Resource Kit.

> enumprop /ATTR:msDS-Behavior-Version "LDAP://<DomainDN>"

To change the functional level to Windows Server 2003, create an LDIF file called raise_domain_func_level.ldf with the following contents:

dn: <DomainDN>
changetype: modify
replace: msDS-Behavior-Version
msDS-Behavior-Version: 2
-

Next, run the ldifde command to import the change.

> ldifde -i -f raise_domain_func_level.ldf

Using VBScript

' This code changes the functional level of the specified domain to 
' the Windows Server 2003 domain functional level
' ------ SCRIPT CONFIGURATION ------
strDomain = "<DomainDNSName ...