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Office 365 Domain Controller Upgrade Server 2003 to 2012

We currently use an on-site server with Active Directory and dirsync to sync our AD to Office 365. We are looking to upgrade from Server 2003 to Server 2012. This server is also our domain controller. We only have around 25 to 30 clients, but we would like to migrate and not re-build from scratch.

So far I've found this guide in order to migrate the DC from Server 2003 to Server 2012, http://blogs.technet.com/b/canitpro/archive/2013/05/05/step-by-step-adding-a-windows-server-2012-domain-controller-to-an-existing-windows-2003-network.aspx

What other requirements would we need to know in order to transfer our Domain Controller from Server 2003 to 2012 in an Office 365 environment? I just want to make sure we aren't leaving any crucial steps out. Also, we aren't upgrading from Server 2003 to 2012 on the same server, we currently have a separate server with Server 2012 installed.

Thanks

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Jian An Lim

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Vardata

ASKER

Also, with the Windows Azure Active Directory Sync tool, will I need to change anything so that it syncs the new server as opposed to the old server, or will it just default to the Domain Controller in the domain?

Jian An Lim

to make sure it work without it
you can just shutdown it to confirm it has no impact to the sync.
my understanding it is not required

Vardata

ASKER

This answer helped guide us in the right direction. The 2 guides below are the guides that got us on the right track and really helped us with migrating from a Windows Server 2003 DC to a Windows Server 2012 DC. We had to promote the 2012 DC, then demote/remove the 2003 DC. After that, we had to transfer the FSMO roles.

1. http://blogs.technet.com/b/canitpro/archive/2013/04/29/step-by-step-migration-of-dhcp-from-windows-server-2003-to-windows-server-2012.aspx

2. http://blogs.technet.com/b/canitpro/archive/2013/05/27/step-by-step-active-directory-migration-from-windows-server-2003-to-windows-server-2012.aspx

Thank you for your help and guidance with this, limjianan.