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How can I upgrade the ADC to SP1?

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In order to to Exchange 2003 SP1 Site Consolidation (ie - cross-site/cross-administrative group moves), we require that the Active Directory Connector (ADC) be upgraded to Exchange 2003 SP1 level. In the webcast I did on Tuesday, I talked a bit about why we have this requirement, but the short version is: if your ADC was not SP1 or better, it would munge all of the great “special-case-for-site-consolidation” work that was included in the SP1 ADC.

The question occasionally arises then: how do I get the ADC to SP1 so I can get past this prereq? Here are a couple of facts you may want to be aware of:

  • The ADC does not automatically get upgraded to SP1 when you run the Exchange 2003 SP1 “Update.exe“
  • There is no “Update.exe“ for ADC
  • ADC is actually slipstreamed in each service pack (meaning you don't have to install the Exchange 2003 release version and then upgrade it if you're starting fresh with Exchange 2003 SP1 ADC)

The steps to get the ADC upgraded are covered as “Method #2” in KB.841667 , but here they are modified for SP1:

  1. Insert the Exchange 2003 SP1 CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive (or navigate to the downloaded and extracted files) on all domain computers where any version of the ADC program that is earlier than the Exchange 2003 SP1 version is installed.
  2. Open the ADC\i386 folder, and then double-click Setup.exe.
  3. When the Active Directory Connector (ADC) Installation Wizard starts, click Next.
  4. Click Reinstall to upgrade to the Exchange 2003 SP1 version of the ADC program.

The important consideration here is the option to “Reinstall“ within the ADC setup. Don't choose Remove All or the ADC will be uninstalled (and your ADC Connection Agreements will be disconnected as described in KB.319486 ).

Edited (Nov29,2004): I notice in reviewing the referrer logs that a lot of folks are hitting this page looking for information on Exchange 2003 slipstreaming. Sadly, I have to report that while SOME of the components (like the ADC) are slipstream - meaning that you can just install it freshly with the SP1 version and be running SP1 ADC -- the core Exchange 2003 product cannot be slipstreamed. In order to get to Exchange 2003 SP1, you have to install Exchange 2003 and then upgrade it to SP1 version. Sorry!

I also talked about KB.841659 in my webcast on Tuesday. It's now been made available:

KB.841659  - Overview: Issues to know about during Site Consolidation to an Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 1-based site - This KB is a monster (probably 30 pages printed) article that covers the known issues for each of the object move types (public folder, mailboxes, distribution lists, custom recipients). Very comprehensive and useful in preparing both yourself and your users for cross-site moves.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    August 17, 2004
    Hello,

    Do we need to deploy the ADC code upgrade to e2k3 SP1 version before we can apply e2k3 SP1 to the Exchange servers or can we apply e2k3 SP1 on our servers and then upgrade the ADC to SP1?

    Thank you,

    Anthony
  • Anonymous
    August 17, 2004
    Anthony -

    You will need to upgrade the ADC to SP1 if you're doing cross-site moves, but there's no prereq for SP1 ADC that will block the upgrade to SP1 on the server. That said, there's little harm in doing the ADC upgrade first, so I'd recommend it.

    Evan