Migrating Domain Controller from 2008 to new 2012 virtual machine

I am not really familiar with migration or virtualization so this will be a first for us.

We currently have a 2008 Domain Controller running Exchange.  We want to move it to a 2012 virtual environment on a completely different server and put Exchange on yet another virtual machine on another separate server.

I'm pretty sure the Exchange just needs to be moved separately and doesn't have anything to do with the DC and just follow exchange migration rules.

But I'm not sure how to handle the DC part without breaking the domain link to the machines.

Does anyone know of a link or any information on a step by step process for this or a guideline perhaps?
joeshinallAsked:
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it_saigeConnect With a Mentor DeveloperCommented:
It's fairly straightforward.  You are not doing a migration per se, rather you are adding an additional domain controller to your existing domain.  One prerequisite is to ensure that your current Active Directory Domain And Forest Functional Levels are at least set to Windows Server 2003.  If you started with Server 2008 then they are most likely at Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2, depending on the version of 2008 you started with.

In a nutshell, what you will want to do is this -

1.  Create Virtual Machine.
2.  Install Server 2012.
3.  Run DCDIAG to address any existing issues in your domains infrastructure.
4.  Add Active Directory Domain Services Role
5.  Ensure that replication is working properly.
6.  Perform a post-op DCDIAG to again gauge the health of your domain.

One potential issue that may arise deals with the consistency of your existing FRS database.  Check for any events related to FRS errors and look specificially for recent entries concerning JRNL_WRAP_ERROR.  If these are occuring, then you will want to perform an authoritative restore of your FRS database before adding the 2012 server.

For more information regarding adding a 2012 DC to an existing 2008 domain - http://www.techworld.com/tutorial/operating-systems/how-add-windows-server-2012-domain-controller-existing-windows-2008-domain-3410261/

For more information regarding FRS database errors - http://blogs.msmvps.com/acefekay/2013/08/28/how-to-recover-a-journal-wrap-error-jrnl_wrap_error-and-a-corrupted-sysvol-from-a-good-dc-what-option-do-i-use-d4-or-d2-whats-the-difference-between-d4-and-d2/

-saige-
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joeshinallAuthor Commented:
Thank you Saige!
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