hi there i'm about to set up a new server which should replace an existing domain controller. the problem i have is, that i dont knwo what kind configurations, installations and references have been made on the system. so, anyone got an idea how to find out those things? i thought, i'm on a good way with dcdiag, netdiag, software-list, inventory scanner. but does this reach all the points i have to know? thanks for any input. adrian

hi there, I have the following suggestion which you can read through for replacing / updating your exiting dC to new DC =============================================================================First Method ( thanks to meinolf) On the old server open DNS management console and check that you are running Active directory integrated zone (easier for replication, if you have more then one DNS server)- run replmon from the run line or repadmin /showrepl, dcdiag and netdiag from the command prompt on the old machine to check for errors, if you have some post the complete output from the command here or solve them first. For this tools you have to install the support\tools\suptools.msi from the 2003 installation disk.- run adprep /forestprep and adprep /domainprep and adprep /rodcprep from the 2008 installation disk against the 2003 schema master, with an account that is member of the Schema admins, to upgrade the schema to the new version (44), you can check the version with "schupgr" in a command prompt.- Install the new machine as a member server in your existing domain- configure a fixed ip and set the preferred DNS server to the old DNS server only- run dcpromo and follow the wizard to add the 2008 server to an existing domain, make it also Global catalog.- if you are prompted for DNS configuration choose Yes. If not, install DNS role after promotion.- for DNS give the server time for replication, at least 15 minutes. Because you use Active directory integrated zones it will automatically replicate the zones to the new server. Open DNS management console to check that they appear- if the new machine is domain controller and DNS server run again replmon, dcdiag and netdiag (copy the netdiag from the 2003 to 2008, will work) on both domain controllers- Transfer, NOT seize the 5 FSMO roles to the new Domain controller (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324801 applies also for 2008)- you can see in the event viewer (Directory service) that the roles are transferred, also give it some time- reconfigure the DNS configuration on your NIC of the 2008 server, preferred DNS itself, secondary the old one- if you use DHCP do not forget to reconfigure the scope settings to point to the new installed DNS server- export and import of DHCP database for 2008 choose "netshell dhcp backup" and "netshell dhcp restore" command (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc772372.aspx)- for printer migration see here: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;938923and http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc722360.aspx- for moving IIS see here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc754138.aspx and http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/mscomops/cc424869.aspx- for the SQL part, maybe post to SQL newsgroups, also see here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb677619.aspx============================================================================Method 2 some info based on migration from windwos 2003 to windows 2008 In-place upgrading Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2 can both be upgraded in-place to Windows Server 2008, as long as you keep the following in mind: The Windows Server 2003 patchlevel should be at least Service Pack 1 You can't upgrade across architectures (x86, x64 & Itanium) Standard Edition can be upgraded to both Standard and Enterprise Edition Enterprise Edition can be upgraded to Enterprise Edition only Datacenter Edition can be upgraded to Datacenter Edition only Thismightbe your preferred option when: Your ActiveDirectory Domain Controllers can still lastthree to fiveyears (economicallyandtechnically) You worked hard to get your Active Directory in the shape it's in. Your servers are in tip-top shape. Transitioning Migrating this way means adding Windows Server 2008 Domain Controllers to your existing Active Directory environment. After successfully moving the Flexible Single Master Operations (FSMO) roles you can simply demote the previous Domain Controllers, remove them from the domain and throw them out of the window. Transitioning is possible for Active Directory environments which domain functional level is at least Windows 2000 Native. I feel transitioning is the middle road between the two other ways to migrate to Windows Server 2008: Restructuring means filling a new Active Directory from scratch In-place upgrading means you're stuck with the same hardware and limited to certain upgrade paths Transitioning means you get to keep your current Active Directory lay-out, contents, group policies and schema. Transitioning also means moving to new machines, which can be dimensioned to last another three to five years without trouble. Transitioning is good when: You worked hard to get your Active Directory in the shape it's in. Your servers are faced with aging. In-place upgrading leaves you with an undesired outcome (for instance 32bit DC's) You need a chance to place your Active Directory files on different partitions/volumes. When done right your colleagues might not even suspect a thing! The downside is you need to know exactly what you're doing, because things can go wrong pretty fast. that's why I wrote this useful piece of information. Restructuring A third way to go from Windows Server 2003 Domain Controllers to Windows Server 2008 Domain Controllers is restructuring your Active Directory environment. This involves moving all your resources from one (Windows Server 2003) domain to a new and fresh (Windows Server 2008) domain. Tools like the Active Directory Migration Tool (ADMT) are priceless in these kind of migrations. Restructuring is good when: Your current Active Directory environment is a mess or is uncontrolable You want to build a new Active Directory environment and import (pieces of) your existing Active Directory environment. You need to merge (information from)(domains from) two Active Directory forests together You need to split (information from)(domains from) two Active Directory forest=================================================================After installation, join the new machine to the existing domain as a member server. This procedure is exactly the same as joining a workstation to the domain. Since you are upgrading the Operating System on the new Domain Controller, you will need to add some values to the existing Active Directory schema, in order for the new server to become a Domain Controller. Windows Server 2008 supports more functionality than before, so a schema upgrade for the domain and forest is required to facilitate this and make this new feature set fully functional on the domain. To make the necessary changes, you must be logged on as the built-in Administrator user account, or a user with Domain, Schema and Enterprise Admin privileges. Insert the Windows Server 2008 media into your current server . Open a command prompt and browse to sources\adprep folder within the Windows Server 2008 DVD media. Execute the command adprep /forestprep. Next, execute adprep /domainprep . You must be logged on as a Domain Admin user for these steps to work correctly. Once these commands have run your Active Directory schema will have been extended to support Windows Server 2008 as a Domain Controller. Promote the new server as a Domain Controller for the domain. Enter dcpromo at a command prompt and follow the wizard. When prompted, select the option for an additional domain controller in an existing domain. After the wizard completes, the new server will be acting as a Domain Controller for your domain. It is necessary at this point to restart the server for these changes to be applied. In a single-domain Active Directory forest, all servers should also be Global Catalog servers. The Global Catalog is a required component of Active Directory which is used during logins to establish universal group membership for a user account. To promote the new server as a Global Catalog, open Active Directory Sites and Services from the Administrative Tools container within Control Panel or on the Start Menu. Double-click Sites, then Servers, followed by the name of the new server. Next, right-click "NTDS Settings" and select Properties. On the General tab, check the Global Catalog checkbox. Restart the new Domain Controller for changes to take effect. Since you intend on removing the old Domain Controller from the domain, you need to transfer all the Operations (FSMO) roles to the new Domain Controller. The current FSMO role configuration for your network can be found by running the command "netdom query fsmo" at a command prompt on a Domain Controller. To transfer these FSMO roles to the new domain controller, follow the information detailed in the following Microsoft Support article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324801. Please ensure any other information you follow is information regarding the TRANSFER of FSMO roles. Seizing FSMO roles is an emergency operation which should not be performed during this procedure. DNS is a critical component of your Active Directory network. The easiest way to install the DNS role onto the new server is to follow the instructions outlined at http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer2008/en/library/3cf4d1b1-7a6e-4438-bf4f-22d9468c17321033.mspx You should be already using Active Directory-integrated DNS zones, which is the easiest method of allowing DNS replication to occur - DNS information is stored in Active Directory and replicates with Domain Controller replication traffic. To check if your DNS zones are AD-integrated (and convert them if not), please follow http://support.microsoft.com/kb/227844. You probably want to enable DNS forwarding in the DNS console on the server, too. This forwards lookups for external domains to a DNS server at your ISP, which allows the server to effectively resolve DNS for external domains. More information on forwarders can be found at http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/Library/ee992253-235e-4fd4-b4da-7e57e70ad3821033.mspx. To move DHCP to the new server, you will need to first install the role. To install the role in Windows Server 2008, check the DHCP Server role option within the Add Roles wizard in the Server Manager. To correctly configure DHCP after the role is installed on your new server, you will need to ensure you configure it to distribute IP addresses which are in a different range to the IP scope defined on the other DHCP server. You should also ensure the correct DNS and WINS servers are entered into the scope options. Remember that the only DNS servers which should be configured on workstations are the Domain Controllers which are also acting as DNS servers - no ISP DNS server should ever be set through DHCP. Once all of these steps have been completed, you should have successfully transferred all of the Active Directory roles to the new domain controller. At this stage, I would suggest you shut down the old domain controller and check to ensure all services on workstations and servers are working correctly - including logins. If they are, you should be safe to switch the old DC back on, run dcpromo and demote it from its Domain Controller role. This will remove the DC as a Domain Controller, leaving it as a member server on the network. To completely remove the DC from the network, you will need to remember that any other data - including folder redirection folders and user profiles - should be replicated or otherwise transferred to either the new server or another location on the network. ROBOCOPY can be used to do this, and it can copy the NTFS ACLs with the files which is a bonus as much as a requirement in most cases.Once the old DC is fully removed through dcpromo and then disconnected, the new DC can have its name and/or IP address changed to that of the old one.========================================================================= sainath !analyze

Hello,First since you only have one domain controller, all the FSMO roles are in the same domain controller. If you are trying to setup the new AD server and decomissioned the old one, then you don' t have to worry much about the changes..all you need to do is setup the new server and promote as a domain controller in the same domain as the existing server after successfull promotion, then move FSMO roles to new DC, install DNS etc and all data/changes will be mirror in new domain controllerIsaac Oben MCITP:EA, MCSE