Transitioning a very old AD to a current version.
Hi,
I have been running an Active Directory server for a very long time without any updates. It is time to upgrade it, or more accurately, to abandon it. By that I mean to install a new AD, hopefully synchronize to the old one, and then retire the old one. This is one area I've never had to become particularly competent in and that has come home to roost.
I'm looking for advice on how to do this gracefully so stuff doesn't break all over the place. While I have very few users, I do have lots of servers and services that depend on that to work.
I have access to Windows servers vintage 2008 R2, 2012 and 2016.
Thanks!
--Ben
I have been running an Active Directory server for a very long time without any updates. It is time to upgrade it, or more accurately, to abandon it. By that I mean to install a new AD, hopefully synchronize to the old one, and then retire the old one. This is one area I've never had to become particularly competent in and that has come home to roost.
I'm looking for advice on how to do this gracefully so stuff doesn't break all over the place. While I have very few users, I do have lots of servers and services that depend on that to work.
I have access to Windows servers vintage 2008 R2, 2012 and 2016.
Thanks!
--Ben
Mahesh
what is your current ad version ?
And what version you want to upgrade?
ASKER
Technically it is running on a 2008 R2 server but I -believe- it is emulating a 2000 AD. How can I verify that?
The only thing I use it for is for machine authentication and dns resolution. I have another non-Windows server I use for domain names we host. I have a half dozen or fewer users but the issue will be the services that run on each server. I have about 8 servers that tie in to it and 3-4 workstations.
I could probably migrate to a 2008 R2 AD but don't know what the pros and cons are for each variant.
These are all VMs running under VMWare vSphere, so I could test things in isolation if that would be helpful.
--Ben
The only thing I use it for is for machine authentication and dns resolution. I have another non-Windows server I use for domain names we host. I have a half dozen or fewer users but the issue will be the services that run on each server. I have about 8 servers that tie in to it and 3-4 workstations.
I could probably migrate to a 2008 R2 AD but don't know what the pros and cons are for each variant.
These are all VMs running under VMWare vSphere, so I could test things in isolation if that would be helpful.
--Ben
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ASKER
Ok, the Domain functional level is: Windows 2000 native. The Forest functional level is Windows 2000.
This is the only AD I have running in the network.
Tried to raise the active level and got the following error:
You cannot raise the domain functional level because this domain includes Active Directory Domain Controllers that are not running the appropriate version of Windows.
Doing a 'Save As' on that screen produced a file with the server in question, which was wwpdc.local.webworldinc.co
--Ben
This is the only AD I have running in the network.
Tried to raise the active level and got the following error:
You cannot raise the domain functional level because this domain includes Active Directory Domain Controllers that are not running the appropriate version of Windows.
Doing a 'Save As' on that screen produced a file with the server in question, which was wwpdc.local.webworldinc.co
--Ben
SOLUTION
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ASKER
Thanks to all for helping straighten this out. I should have asked how to do this years ago. Much appreciated!!
--Ben
--Ben