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Windows 2000 Server Upgrade

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by cybercity

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Windows 2000 Server Upgrade:
(1) I have one PDC & several BDCs. I am planning to do an in-place upgrade on my PDC which is also a DNS, DHCP & WINS server. I am wondering if anybody has encountered any problems with that.

(2) If I want to upgrade a PDC which is not a DNS server, what is the best way to configure the DNS? Do I have to key in all the info (e.g. zone names) in the new DNS? Would there be any conflicts with the existing primary & secondary DNS servers on NT? Do I have to install & configure DHCP & WINS manually on the new AD domain controller if I want to use them?

(3) Should I assign a different FQDN (not the one registered with InterNIC) during the upgrade for security reasons?

(4) Is it true that if there is noPDC on the NT network (before the upgrade), users cannot logon to the domain?

(5) I ran an upgrade before on a test environment, I click OK when it asks me to restart my machine (Upgrade is done), but then it doesn't do anything. There is no "Shutdown or Restart" option available, it only allows me to logoff. Why's that?

3 replies

by timwalsh

(1) There is always a potential for problems. One "Best Practice" is to take one of your BDCs completely offline (disconnect from the network). In a "worst case" scenario, you could promote this BDC to PDC and have your network running again in a short time. Having said that, usually, a migration/upgrade such as this should present no problems.

(2) While things tend to go a little smoother when DNS is either running on the PDC being upgraded, or at least on a Win2K member server, It is not a necessity. You can use a DNS server running in NT4. The only requirement for Active Directory is that the implementation of DNS being used must be capable of dynamic updates. The latest NT4 service packs enable this capability. Assuming yourAD domain name will be the same as your current DNS domain name, there should be no additional configuration you need to do. There will be no conflicts because AD will use your present NT-based DNS servers. If you are currently running DHCP and WINS within your domain, they will continue to function properly once your domain becomes AD-based. Unless your new AD DC is already running DHCP and WINS, you will have to manually configure these services, although you can import the appropriate databases from the present servers. If you are running DNS on a DC, and you enable the Active-Directory integrated mode, ALL DNS information will reside within and be replicated by Active Directory. All DCs with DNS installed will be able to act as a primary DNS server.
(continued)

by timwalsh

(3) Unless you are creating a private domain behind a NAT firewall, there really is no need to do this. It is not even a necessity for a private network. Assuming your domain is behind a properly configured firewall, there would be no added security benefits.

(4) You must upgrade a PDC to migrate users. If you don't have a PDC, either you are running a peer-to-peer network (in which case you will need to create accounts for all users on your DC), or your PDC crashed/was removed from the domain (in which case you need to promote one of your BDCs to PDC). Upgrading a BDC as the first DC in your domain will not migrate users.

(5) Sorry, without some more details, I can't answer this question.

Hope this gives you what you need to get started.

by cybercity

Can you explain to me in more details how you can import the databases (DNS,DHCP,WINS) from NT4 to W2K? Is it better to install DHCP on a W2K member server?

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