Windows Server Cookbook

15.4. Upgrading from Windows 2000 to Windows Server 2003

Problem

You want to upgrade your existing Windows 2000 Active Directory domain controllers to Windows Server 2003. Before doing this, you must run the ADPrep tool, which extends the schema and adds several objects in Active Directory that are necessary for new features and enhancements.

Solution

First, run the following command on the Schema FSMO domain controller with the credentials of an account that is in both the Enterprise Admins and Schema Admins groups:

> adprep /forestprep

After the updates from /forestprep have replicated throughout the forest, run the following command on the Infrastructure FSMO domain controller in each domain with the credentials of an account in the Domain Admins group:

> adprep /domainprep

If the updates from /forestprep have not replicated to at least the Infrastructure FSMO servers in each domain, an error will be returned when running /domainprep. To debug any problems you encounter, see the ADPrep log files located at %SystemRoot%\System32\Debug\Adprep\Logs.

Tip

adprep can be found in the \i386 directory on the Windows Server 2003 CD. The tool relies on several files in that directory, so you cannot simply copy that file out to a server and run it. You must run it either from a CD or from a location where the entire directory has been copied.

To determine if adprep /domainprep completed, check for the existence of the following object, where <DomainDN> is the distinguished name of the domain:

cn=Windows2003Update,cn=DomainUpdates,cn=System, ...