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SBS 2011 server to Server 2019 replacement

Replacing a SBS 2011 DC (Physical) which also has a 2008 DC (physical).

Have installed a new physical host and plan on creating VMs to take all the roles from the SBS and then data.

Have created a 2019 DC VM - when trying to promote to DC in existing domain I get Verification of replica failed - . The forest functional level is not supported . To install a Windows Server 2019 domain or domain controller, the forest functional level must be Windows Server 2008 or higher.

So ive created a 2012 DC VM which does allow promoting to DC.

Can I now transfer all roles from the SBS 2011 Server to the 2012DC VM and then onto the 2019 ?? Or is there a better way to do it ? I'd like to retire the SBS2011 box with nobody losing logons or needing to rejoin the domain.

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NAZ1000

ASKER

Thank you - would there be any benefit in moving to a 2012VM first and then onto the 2019 ??

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-->Thank you - would there be any benefit in moving to a 2012VM first and then onto the 2019 ??
No

NAZ1000

ASKER

Sorry one thing to ask - If I was happy to use a 2016DC VM as the SBS2011 replacement rather than 2019 - would I still need to follow the FRS to DFSR migration ??

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-->If I was happy to use a 2016DC VM as the SBS2011 replacement rather than 2019 - would I still need to follow the FRS to DFSR migration ??
Yes bcz you will have issues if not migrated to DFSR.

Philip Elder

The mandatory DFSR replication topology was introduced with Server 2019 and now Server 2022.

Edit: The first link is Ned Pyle's methodology. It's the one we use for our SBS 2011 migrations.

NAZ1000

ASKER

So I can use 2016 without the DFSR migration ? I would prefer to do this than risk messing up anything on the production server.

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Philip Elder

Is there a known good backup?

If there is, then there's no risk.

Again, we've done it a lot. The risk is minimal unless folks didn't set up SBS using the SBS Wizards. Then there may be some risk. But, that's what a known good backup is for.

NAZ1000

ASKER

Thank you for your help - I'll go with the 2016DC VM route and then transfer all roles across (?) - the SBS 2011 was installed before my time so i have no idea of the history and its a bit flaky with users having to occasionally restart to see network shares - there are daily bare metal backups but even with a bare metal backup there would be considerable downtime if I had to restore.