My company has 2 servers, server one, which is the Primary DC, is running Windows Server 2003 STD and server two has Windows Server 2008 Enterprise already on it. My company now is on the verge of purchasing Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and wanting the Windows Server 2003 upgraded to Server 2008. Not only is this server the Primary DC it also is running a Quickbooks database on it along with SQL Express for PCLaw, our billing software. Is there any material that I can read that can help me with the upgrade of this server? Or is there any advice someone can give me?

You don't upgrade. You replace. Join a 2008 machine into the Domain Run the Prep tools to adjust the schema (Domain Prep, Foprest Prep) DCPromo the 2008 machine to a DC after adding the Directory Services Role. Adjust all Clients to now point to the correct DC/DNS in their TCP/IP specs DCpromo the old DC down to a member Server. It can be left that way if other Apps are being run from it (Quickbooks, PCLaw) and you intend to keep running them from it. Uninstall DNS Services from it.

Hi, Is there any secondary domain controller in the domain? If yes, you can either install the new DC in a separate server or the existing Windows Server 2003 server. The key in your case is not on the directory service but on the PCLaw, billing software and other LOB applications. If you want to in-place upgrade the Primary DC server from Server 2003 STD to Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, you may have to move/backup the LOB application data on the server and move back once you finish the upgrade.

Sorry I meant that I was replacing it. I'm not upgrading but doing a clean install of Server 2008. thanks for the advice.

Yes there is a secondary domain controller. The one that needs the OS replaced is the primary DC but the one box that already has Server 2008 on it is the secondary domain controller. So to make sure I fully understand I'll have to move the LOB application data to the other server while upgrading the primary DC to Windows Server 2008 Enterprise. But I won't upgrade I'll do a clean install of the OS. Once that is done I can move the LOB applications back to this server. I know I'll have to reconfigure my directory services but is there something that I should do before I take the primary offline? Should I DCpromo the secondary DC to the primary DC before taking the primary offline or will it not matter?

Hello, see my blog about adding the new OS DC to the domain: http://msmvps.com/blogs/mweber/archive/2010/02/10/upgrading-an-active-directory-domain-from-windows-server-2003-to-windows-server-2008-or-windows-server-2008-r2.aspx There is no need to reconfigure AD itself, adding a new DC will also copy the complete AD database content to the new server, you have to take care about DNS/GC and FSMO roles, ths must also be on the new OS DC before you can demote the previous from you called primary DC. You CAN NOT MAKE THE SECOND DC WITH DCPROMO TO A PRIMARY, this will REMOVE AD FROM IT, so don't do it. Follow my blog to move FSMOs etc. For 3rd party applications make sure with the vendor that it is capable to run on the new OS version. Also DCs should not be used for applications by default, they should only provide AD/DNS/GC and if not running on a member server DHCP, that's it. Also it is recommended to have at least 2 DC/DNS/GC per domain and all clients should use them on the NIC also for failover and redundancy.Best regards Meinolf Weber Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights.