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Win2K Server install on NT domain

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by shanghai sam

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Most of the articles I reviewed refer to upgrading an existing NT PDC to Windows 2000 Server - however we want to replace the existing PDC and BDC with new servers that have Windows 2000 Server installed. Our network is currently running Exchange 5.5, File Server, Proxy, and a few other stand alone servers on Windows NT 4.0. In addition, I have just introduced an IIS standalone server running Win2K server. The current PDC also acts as our print server and the BDC acts alone.

I know I should take a BDC offline in case their is a problem with the Win2K upgrade, and I have full backups of all the servers. I want to find out the proper procedure for replacing the existing NT domain controllers with Win2K (without upgrading the actual NTmachine with Win2K, if possible). We plan to go to Win2K on the PDC and BDC soon, and eventually upgrade the rest of the NT servers, so I figure we would have to run in mixed mode until that time.

Lastly, how does the Win2K server DNS naming scheme fit into our current domain name? For example, if our current domain is called ALPHA, how do I name the Win2K server (I was under impression it would be called something like alpha.org, and so forth with child domains, although I dont see how itwould communicate with existing NT servers under ALPHA domain). I installed the Win2K web server under the ALPHA domain, and I get an error message in Event Viewer stating the domain name isn't DNS type and some Win2K features won't be fully utilized with the current naming convention.

I appreciate your help,

Dan

3 replies

by curlergirl

One issue at a time:
1. I've never done this, but I think there is a way to do it by creating a completely separate Win2K domain and then using the Active Directory Migration Wizard to migrate account and computer information from the old to the new domain. However, I can't describe the details. There is a document on the MS website called the Domain Migration Cookbook, and this has a chapter (I think it's Ch. 9) about migrating an NT 4.0 domain to Active Directory.
2. As for server names, each machine will still have a NetBIOS name (i.e., Server1) and a DNS name (i.e., server1.alpha.com). So, your servers will be part of the ALPHA domain, which has a DNS name (registered or not), of alpha.com or alpha.org or whatever you decide to call it. The reason you are probably getting that event viewer message is that you don't have a local DNS server that is providing name resolution for that Win2K server.
3. Be sure to read up on the issues involved with installing Exchange 5.5 and Proxy 2.0 on a Win2K server. Both have special procedures that you have to follow.

Hope this helps!

by timwalsh

First, a couple of rules about migrating an NT 4 domain to a Win2K Active Directory (AD) domain:
1. Win2K Domain Controllers (DCs) CANNOT exist in a NT 4 domain (Win2K member servers can coexist).
2. Win2K requires AD to become a DC.
3. To migrate a NT4 domain to a Win2K domain, Win2K (and AD) MUST be installed on a NT4 PDC.
4. NT4 BDCs can coexist in a Win2K AD domain.

With those 4 rules as a given, we can go from there. In your situation, you have 3 options:

Option 1: Rebuild/recreate your domain (probably not the best route if you have very many users).

Option 2: (NOTE: Before starting this procedure, force synchronize your BDC(s) with your PDC). (If your present NT4 PDC meets the hardware requirements for Win2K) Install Win 2K on your present PDC. When the setup program detects that it is being setup on a PDC, it will automatically invoke AD installation. Once setup is complete, you can take one of the new Win2K servers and run dcpromo. This program runs AD installation (which automatically makes the computer a DC). Once this is done, force replication between DCs. Then you can transfer all server roles to the new server and remove the old server.

Option 3: Uninstall Win2K on one of the new servers and install NT4 (upgrading to at least SP4) as a BDC. Once setup is complete, force-synchronize the BDC with your PDC and then promote the BDC to PDC. You can then reinstall Win2k on this new PDC as in option 2.
(continued)

by timwalsh

You are correct to take a BDC offline for contingencies. You are also correct that you will have to remain in mixed mode for as long as there are NT4 BDCs in the domain (you can have NT4 stand-alone servers in a Win2K native-mode domain.

AD domains follow the DNS domain naming convention (abc.org). To maintain compatibility with pre-Win2K clients, a NetBIOS domain name is also created. If you are migrating a domain, the NetBIOS name will be the same as your NT4 domain name. One note here: if you do not have a registered Internet domain name, do not give your AD domain name a top-level Internet domain extension (.com, .org, .net, etc.), but use something like .local, or .internal. If you do have a registered Internet domain name, your AD domain name can certainly be the same. Using your example, if you own the Internet domain "ALPHA.org", you can also name your AD domain "ALPHA.org". If your NT4 domain name was "ALPHA", "ALPHA" will become the NetBIOS domain name.

NOTE 1: At the log-on screen, only the NetBIOS domain name is shown, no matter which client you use.
NOTE 2: When joining computers to the domain, pre-Win2K clients require you to input the NetBIOS domain name to successfully join. Win2K and later clients require the AD domain name to successfully join.

Hope this helps. Good Luck!

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