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SBS 2008 Migration - Cannot Raise the Functional Level of the Domain or Forest

We are in the midst of an SBS2008 migration (on our own server) - We ran the prep tools but apparently did not raise the functional level of the SBS2003 server. Now when I attempt to do this-- I am getting the message that "The domain functional level cannot be raised because the PDC cannot be contacted" -- the 2003 server already thinks that the SBS2008 server is the PDC! On the 2008 server we are getting the warning message about the functional levels not being raised.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in Advance

jorlando66

Can you raise from the 2008 server? What does AD show as who is holding roles?

biglabs

ASKER

Thanks Jorlando66 I will try that and post back results.

biglabs

ASKER

Jorlando66 -

We cannot raise it from the SBS08 server. I learned that the technican working on this wiped the 2008 server after the first attempt at migration produced a lot of errors. So at this point - we do not have a PDC even though the SBS2003 server thinks that there should be one.

Any ideas on how to make the SBS2003 server a PDC again.

Thanks.

jorlando66

Try running dcpromo on the 2003 machine. Post errors here.

Andrew Oakeley

Before you begin a migration you need to ensure that AD is in a health state and fix it if it is not. If AD has not properly replicated to the 2008 DC and you run dcpromo on the 2003 DC and demote it there is a chance that you could lose AD completely.

I would recommend that you
1. stop the migration
2. Seize the FSMO roles back to the SBS server
3. use ntdsutil to clean out any DC's that no longer exist (including your new SBS2008 server, if it is there)
4. run dcdiag on the sbs server and confirm it is now OK
5. raise functional levels
6. start migration again on clean SBS2008 build

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biglabs

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jorlando66

aoakeley: The migration was allready completed or so they thought...They migrated and then rebuilt the 2008 server leaving the 2003 box in limbo.

The restore would have been the next option had the promotion of the 2003 box not worked. THey not have lost AD as for all intents and purposes it was gone when the 2008 server was rebuilt. I was hoping on the fsmo roles having been transferred back to 2003 when the tech took the 2008 box down.

Glad it worked out for you biglabs. Good luck.

Cliff Galiher

While you cannot "get the FSMO roles back" (otherwise referred to as transferring roles) you can *SEIZE* FSMO roles and is a common practice, and quite necessary if, for example, a server holding said roles were to suddenly and unexpected suffer a catastrophic failure.
more info on seizing roles for a server that has vanished:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/255504
I would strongly encourage you to consider this route. Manually moving users introduces a *ton* of ACL overhead when it comes to preserving their personal data and profile information. Remenber that user accounts have unique SIDs so simply creating a user with the same name will not be sufficient. Long term, I've rarely found people that have chosen to go this route to end up being satisfied with the result. The frustration of the end users bleeds back on the technicians and overall confidence in technology is lost for a time.
-Cliff

Andrew Oakeley

Agreed. You should be able to seize the roles back quite happily.