Question : Domain Controller Upgrade from 2003 to 2008

Hi All,

I am planning to upgrade our 2003 domain controllers to 2008.

Currently there are two DCs at the main site and 3 others in remote sites.  We are looking at just upgrading the main site initially.  There is a forest trust that exists with a partner.

pre checks:
1. Verified that all zones are AD integrates
2. Checked what was installed on the DC's.  They are DNS, AD, licensing, DHCP

The plan is:
1.  Decommission the secondary DC (because we have 32 bit and I am giong to R2 which is 64 so cant upgrade directly)
2. Setup a new 2008 R2 with the same name and IP settings, dc promo & setup DNS
3. Transfer the FSMO roles
4. migrate DHCP
5. Configure WINS (setup a pull replication from the old DC)
6. Reconfigure the DNS forwarders
7. Setup Network Time service
8. Reconfigure DHCP scope options
9. Transfer licensing server.
10. Install backup agents.

Post Checks:
1. Check event logs after dcpromo
2. Check Ad replication


Am I missing anything? any suggestions?  thanks in advance.

Answer : Domain Controller Upgrade from 2003 to 2008

you're almost there

forward port 25 tcp in your router, to the inside ip of your mail server...

and of course wait 24-48 hours for dns propegation to happen - it's not instant.

you can test it by telneting to your ip address from an outside connection, at port 25:
telnet 123.123.123.123 25

if you get a line that starts with 220, you're good