IT Employment

Ask something
Discussion Locked

NT4 to 2003 Upgrade help

0 helpful
2 replies

by sostermann 1 view

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.

My company wants to upgrade our Domain Controller from NT4 to 2003 in about 4-6 weeks. I have been reading over many pages of MS Tech Notes lately trying to put together and upgrade plan. I just can't seem to find any help outlining our specific situation.

We have one DC running NT4, one member server (file server) running NT4, and one member server (file server, domino server) running Windows 2000.

We want to upgrade the DC first (from NT4 to 2003). We are installing 2003 on a completely new box. How do I perform this migration? I can't seem to find any help docs detailing this process.

We only have about 20 users in our company and the DC's only other function is DHCP, so I wouldn't even mind re-setting up the users manually on the new box. Is this an option? If so, how would the two member servers be incorperated into the new domain?

One other consideration -- We really need to keep the current DC (NT4) in it's current state when we bring it offline. There is an application on there that won't run on the new domain and we may need to access it in the future. I would want to be able to just bring up the server in a stand-alone envirorment.

THank you for any insight!

2 replies

by bfilmfan

TechRepublic offers a downloadable project plan for migrating from NT to Windows 2003, which is available here: https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5138-1035-5220582.html and the budget plan is here: https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5138-10634-5495802.html

Now, for some practical advise.

Plan your Active Directory DNS namespace IN ADVANCE.

If you are going to run Exchange, plan to make the schema modifications prior to migrating accounts, etc.

You can use the Active Directory Migration Tool to migrate the NT accounts.

I advise leaving the NT domain alone and simply have the old domain trust the new AD forest. Note that the AD forest SHOULD NOT trust the old domain.

And I advise you to read over the suggestions on Get A Clue's site: http://www.networkclue.com/os/Windows/server/nt-2003-migration.aspx

by sostermann

Thank you kindly for you response.

I am still trying to get my head around the options before us in the upgrade process and have some questions.

I read through the link on Get A Clue's site. They have two upgrade options.

1-Build new domain-create trust-use AD migration tool.

2-Promote an upgrade box to NT4 PDC-then upgrade to 2003

I like senario #1 but only senario #2 is detailed on the page. I can't find much info on building a new 2003 domain.

With the info from my original post, does #1 seem like a good senario?

If so, how are the two member servers incorporated into the new domain on the new box?

Is there any detailed information on how to perform this?

Also, thanks for the links for the TechRepublic downloads.

This discussion is closed to new replies.