Re: Upgrading to AD2008, what do our developers need to know?

Meinolf Weber

Hello -,

Virtual server is that what we use for testing. I think you do not need the
complete domain rebuilded, prepare a similar one with the same security setup
and policies same patch level for servers. So one DC should be enough, ans
just one server with the apps you are using. If you like to rebuilt the complete
domain, you can use Virtual Server 2005 Migration Toolkit:


Can convert physical machine to virtual.

Best regards

Meinolf Weber
Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers
no rights.
** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
** HELP us help YOU!!!

> We were in fact planning on doing it as you recommend, 2008 member
> servers to DC's, then demote the existing 2000 DC's. I wish we could
> throw in a test version of all our app/dev servers into a fully
> parallel environment but we lack the equipment resources to get the to
> make it possible. We intend to space the schema extensions and any
> "prep" commands at least a week apart, taking backups all the while,
> such that sufficient time can pass at each checkpoint to handle any
> arising issues.
>
> "Meinolf Weber" <meiweb(nospam)@gmx.de> wrote in message
> news:ff16fb66a269f8caa911f1117f90@msnews.microsoft .com...
>
>> Hello -,
>>
>> You can not inplace upgrade the 2000 DC's. You have to add the 2008
>> server as member to the domain, upgrade the schema and then promote
>> it to additional DC.
>>
>> Upgrading the domain is one part, that you can find here:
>>
>>
>> b3f-4b0d-9d31-410598278f6e1033.mspx?mfr=true
>>
>> Hardware:
>>
>> For the application part i would strongly recommend to prepare a test
>> domain and check out your special needs for the applications.
>>
>> Best regards
>>
>> Meinolf Weber
>> Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
>> confers no rights.
>> ** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
>> ** HELP us help YOU!!!
>>> Greetings,
>>>
>>> I'm going to be writing a one page "What You Need to Know" brochure
>>> for our internal developers and application owners that bind to our
>>> AD to provide security and other meta for their applications. We
>>> will be going direct from 2000 to 2008 (we will do the forestprep in
>>> two steps 20K to R2, R2 to 08) and we will be conduct a hardware
>>> replacement which will complete the upgrade's DC swapout.
>>>
>>> I have the following bullet points so far:
>>>
>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> -- --------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> - Schema Extension -
>>>
>>> This will only add attributes to the AD database schema, it will not
>>> deactivate any attributes you are currently using. However, your
>>> application performance may decrease while the Schema Extensions are
>>> replicating. This will be done after-hours.
>>>
>>> - Hardware Replacement -
>>>
>>> We will conduct a one-for-one domain controller demotion/promotion
>>> and will preserve the existing IP address. This will relieve the
>>> network administrators from having to update the DHCP scopes and DNS
>>> zone sharing settings. the NAMES, however, will change, thus if you
>>> are binding to the directory using a fixed host name, we advise you
>>> to take this opportunity to follow best practices and update your
>>> code to reference the domain name directly. The downtime period for
>>> each replace domain controller will be one day, and will be
>>> performed after-hours.
>>>
>>> - Domain Controller Security policies
>>>
>>> Base changes in the local security policy of the Windows Server 2008
>>> operating system may have an effect on your bind to Active
>>> Directory. The key changes that may affect you are .....
>>>
>>> - Global Catalog placement
>>>
>>> In the below chart please find the names of the servers which will
>>> host the Global Catalog role. Please note some DC's replaced will
>>> no longer hold the role. {add chart}
>>>
>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> -- --------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> That's all I can think of, if anyone else has suggestions I would
>>> appreciate any input I can get.
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>