Boswell's Q&A
Windows 2003 Migration, in a Nutshell
Reader wants the simplest path to upgrade to Windows Server 2003 and Exchange 2003.
- By Bill Boswell
- 08/24/2004
Question: We're thinking of moving into a Windows Server
2003 environment. Currently, we're running Windows 2000 along with Exchange
2000.
I have two scenarios for doing the upgrade, and I'm trying to decide
which one would be the most beneficial for the company. We're going to
work out any bugs in the lab by installing a new Windows Server 2003 domain
and new Exchange 2003 servers.
Once we're done testing, my boss wants me to join this lab domain to
the production domain and then upgrade the production domain. I'd like
to work out the bugs in the lab, as well, but then I'd like to upgrade
the production domain rather than merge it with the lab domain. Am I being
too careful?
Also, we're thinking of deploying Outlook 2003 at the same time as the
Exchange 2003 upgrade. Should we wait until we've finished the deployment
or do both jobs at the same time?
— Wilson
Get
Help from Bill |
Got a Windows or Exchange question or need troubleshooting
help? Or maybe you want a better explanation than provided
in the manuals? Describe your dilemma in an e-mail
to Bill at mailto:[email protected];
the best questions get answered in this column.
When you send your questions, please include your
full first and last name, location, certifications (if
any) with your message. (If you prefer to remain anonymous,
specify this in your message but submit the requested
information for verification purposes.)
|
|
|
Answer: The sequence of events outlined by your boss has
one fatal flaw: You can't "join" one Active Directory domain
to another regardless of the Windows Server version you're running. There
is no merge and purge capability in Active Directory.
To introduce the lab domain into production, you would have to migrate
all user, group and computer accounts to the lab domain and re-permission
all servers and do other work involving desktop profiles and so forth.
That's too much work for a simple e-mail migration.
Here's a sequence of operations that would get you to your goal of upgrading
the production domain:
- Make sure that all your applications (including but not limited to
antivirus, antispam, backup agents, monitoring agents) and storage interfaces
(SCSI, SAN, NAS, iSCSI) work with Windows Server 2003 and Exchange Server
2003. Windows 2003 includes quite a few security upgrades, so make sure
you test any applications that rely on Windows authentication.
- Apply the Inetorgperson hotfix as described in Knowledge Base article
314649,
"Windows Server 2003 adprep /forestprep Command Causes Mangled
Attributes in Windows 2000 Forests That Contain Exchange 2000 Servers"
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314649.
- Run Windows 2003 forestprep and domainprep.
- Introduce a new Windows 2003 domain controller in production.
- Migrate the remaining domain controllers to Windows 2003. Don't upgrade
existing DCs. Demote, reformat and reinstall.
- Run Exchange 2003 forestprep and domainprep.
- Install the new Exchange 2003 servers. Once again, don't upgrade the
existing Exchange 2000 servers. You get the best mix of performance
and security by installing newly configured servers.
- Move mailboxes, connectors and public folders to the Exchange 2003
servers. The improved, multithreaded "Move Mailbox" feature
in Exchange 2003 will help speed the transition, and there's a public
folder migration utility in the suite of tools associated with Exchange
2003 SP1 that helps to migrate public folders.
- Decommission the Exchange 2000 servers. This is relatively straightforward.
Once you're sure that you've moved all the public folders and mailboxes,
take it off the wire for a few days to make sure you got everything,
then put it back on the wire and remove Exchange using Add/Remove Programs.
This removes the server from the Organization.
As for the Outlook 2003 deployment, you can do the work any time that's
convenient for users. Outlook will determine the new location of the user's
mailbox following a move, so there's no reason why you can't start the
Outlook 2003 upgrade today. You won't get all the cool benefits (MAPI
compression, drizzle downloads) until you upgrade to Exchange 2003, but
you won't hurt your current Exchange servers by using Outlook 2003.
About the Author
Contributing Editor Bill Boswell, MCSE, is the principal of Bill Boswell Consulting, Inc. He's the author of Inside Windows Server 2003 and Learning Exchange Server 2003 both from Addison Wesley. Bill is also Redmond magazine's "Windows Insider" columnist and a speaker at MCP Magazine's TechMentor Conferences.