Migrating to the Prepared State

Article
07/21/2014

Updated: July 16, 2014

Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2

The first part of the process for migrating SYSVOL replication from File Replication Service (FRS) to Distributed File System (DFS) Replication is to raise the functional level of the domain to Windows Server 2008 and to set the global migration state to Prepared.

Migrating to the Prepared state includes the following tasks:

Verify the health of Active Directory Domain Services
Raise the domain functional level to Windows Server 2008
Migrate the domain to the Prepared state
Verify that the domain has migrated to the Prepared state

For more information about the SYSVOL migration states and the transitions between them, see SYSVOL Migration States. For information about the actions that the migration tool and the DFS Replication service perform during the migration to the Prepared state, see SYSVOL Migration Tool Actions.

Verify the health of Active Directory Domain Services

Before you raise the functional level of the domain, it is a good idea to verify that Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) is healthy and that the SYSVOL folder is properly replicating. If Active Directory replication is not working properly, other domain controllers could fail to migrate. This is especially important for remote domain controllers, because those domain controllers will only start migration after the migration directive replicates to the remote sites.

To verify the health of AD DS

On each domain controller in the domain that you want to migrate, open a command prompt window and type net share to verify that the SYSVOL shared folder is shared by each domain controller in the domain and that this shared folder still maps to the SYSVOL folder that FRS is replicating. Text similar to the following should appear as part of the command output:
```
Share name   Resource                        Remark

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[…]
NETLOGON     C:\Windows\SYSVOL\sysvol\corp.contoso.com\SCRIPTS
                                             Logon server share
SYSVOL       C:\Windows\SYSVOL\sysvol        Logon server share
```

Tip

To use the net share command on a remote computer, download and use the Windows Sysinternals PsExec tool (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=161328).

Check the amount of available disk space on the drive that stores the SYSVOL share. The server must have enough available disk space to create a copy of the SYSVOL share.
Use the FRSDiag tool to verify that FRS replication of the SYSVOL folder is healthy.

See the following blog post "Verifying File Replication during the Windows Server 2008 DFSR SYSVOL Migration – Down and Dirty Style" for a simple method to check SYSVOL replication using the FRSDIAG tool: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/ask-the-directory-services-team/verifying-file-replication-during-the-windows-server-2008-dfsr/ba-p/395317.

Note

(The FRSDiag tool provides detailed troubleshooting of FRS. To download FRSDiag, see https://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?id=8613. For information about using FRSDiag to evaluate FRS replication, see the FRSDiag Help.)

On a domain controller in the domain that you want to migrate, open a command prompt window and type repadmin /ReplSum to verify that Active Directory replication is working properly. The output should indicate no errors for all of the domain controllers in the domain.
Use Registry Editor on each domain controller in the domain to navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Netlogon\Parameters and verify that the value of the SysVol registry entry is [drive:\]Windows_folder\SYSVOL\sysvol, and that the value of the SysvolReady registry entry is 1.
On each domain controller, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
In the Services window, on the Extended tab, verify that the DFS Replication service is listed with the values of Started in the Status column and Automatic in the Startup Type column.
Fix any problems with replication before beginning the migration to the Prepared state.

If problems occur, see these KB articles:

Raise the domain functional level to Windows Server 2008

Before you begin the migration process, you must raise the functional level of the domain to Windows Server 2008. To do so, all domain controllers in the domain must be running Windows Server 2008. Upgrading the operating system on a domain controller does not automatically raise the functional level of your domain.

To raise the functional level of a domain, use the following procedure.

Important

Do not raise the domain functional level to Windows Server 2008 until all domain controllers in the domain are running Windows Server 2008. If the domain operates at the Windows Server 2008 functional level and you attempt to install AD DS on a Windows Server 2003–based server or a Windows 2000–based server, the installation will fail. After you raise the domain functional level, you cannot go back to a lower functional level.

To raise the domain functional level to Windows Server 2008

Open Active Directory Domains and Trusts from the Administrative Tools folder.
In the console pane of the Active Directory Domains and Trusts window, right-click the name of the domain for which you are migrating the SYSVOL folder, and then click Raise Domain Functional Level.
In the Raise domain functional level dialog box, in the Select an available domain functional level list, click Windows Server 2008, and then click Raise.
In the warning message that mentions that raising the domain functional level affects the entire domain and cannot be reversed, click OK.
In the confirmation message that indicates that raising the domain functional level succeeded, click OK.

Migrate the domain to the Prepared state

After you perform the procedures earlier in this topic, you are ready to migrate the domain to the Prepared state.

Tip

After beginning migration, avoid making any changes to Group Policy or logon scripts until all domain controllers are in the Redirected state. This ensures that client computers can obtain the most up-to-date policies and scripts from their local cache, even if the SYSVOL folder is temporarily unavailable while migrating between states.

To migrate the domain to the Prepared state

Save the state of your domain controllers so that if problems arise with the migration, you can restore the domain controllers to the premigration state. Use the Wbadmin start systemstatebackup command to back up the system state of the individual domain controllers. For information about the Wbadmin command, see (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=121860).
From a command prompt window on a writeable domain controller (not a read-only domain controller), type dfsrmig /setglobalstate 1 to set the global migration state to Prepared.
Type dfsrmig /getglobalstate to verify that the global migration state is Prepared. The following output appears if the global migration state is Prepared.
```
Current DFSR global state: ‘Prepared’
Succeeded.
```
Type dfsrmig /getmigrationstate to confirm that all of the domain controllers have reached the Prepared state. The following output should appear when all of the domain controllers reach the Prepared state.
```
All Domain Controllers have migrated successfully to Global state (‘Prepared’).
Migration has reached a consistent state on all Domain Controllers.
Succeeded.
```
This step can take some time. The time needed for all of the domain controllers to reach the Prepared state depends on Active Directory latencies and the amount of data that is present in the SYSVOL shared folder.

Important

You should not begin migrating to the Redirected state until migration reaches a consistent state on all domain controllers. Also, If you promote a new read-only domain controller during the migration before the domain is in the Eliminated sate, then you must manually create the AD DS objects for DFS Replication as discussed in the “Migration appears stalled at the Preparing transition state on a read-only domain controller” section of Migration appears stalled at the Preparing transition state on a read-only domain controller.

Verify that the domain has migrated to the Prepared state

Before you continue the migration and migrate the domain to the Redirected state, it is important to first verify that the domain has properly migrated to the Prepared state. Use the following procedure to verify the health of the migration.

After you are satisfied that migration to the Prepared state succeeded and that SYSVOL is still replicating properly, you can migrate to the Redirected state.

To verify that the domain has migrated to the Prepared state

On each domain controller in the domain that you want to migrate, open a command prompt window and type net share to verify that the SYSVOL shared folder is shared by each domain controller in the domain and that this shared folder still maps to the SYSVOL folder that FRS is replicating.
Use the FRSDiag tool to verify that FRS replication of the SYSVOL folder is healthy.

See the following blog post "Verifying File Replication during the Windows Server 2008 DFSR SYSVOL Migration – Down and Dirty Style" for a simple method to check SYSVOL replication using the FRSDIAG tool: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/ask-the-directory-services-team/verifying-file-replication-during-the-windows-server-2008-dfsr/ba-p/395317.
Verify that the [drive:\]Windows_folder\SYSVOL_DFSR folder was created on each domain controller, and verify that the contents of the [drive:\]Windows_folder\SYSVOL folder are successfully copied to the [drive:\]Windows_folder\SYSVOL_DFSR folder. The migration process copies only the contents of the Domain and SYSVOL folders under the [drive:\]Windows_folder\SYSVOL folder to the [drive:\]Windows_folder\SYSVOL_DFSR. This copying step can take some time, depending on the size of the SYSVOL folder.
Use the DFS Management snap-in to create a Diagnostic Report for the SYSVOL_DFSR folder by performing the following steps:

Note

You must be a member of the local Administrators group on each server for which you want to prepare a diagnostic report.

1.  Open **DFS Management** from the **Administrative Tools** folder.  
      
    If DFS Management is not already installed, from Server Manager, use the Add Features Wizard to install the **Remote Server Administration Tools** feature, and select the **File Services Tools** feature with the **Distributed File System Tools** option.  
      
2.  In the console tree, under the **Replication** node, click **Domain System Volume**.  
      
3.  Click the **Membership** tab, click **Membership Status**, and then for each domain controller in the domain, verify that the **Enabled** check box is selected for a **Local Path** of \[*drive*:\\\]*Windows\_folder*\\SYSVOL\_DFSR\\domain.  
      
4.  Right-click **Domain System Volume**, and then click **Create Diagnostic Report** to create a diagnostic report for DFS Replication of the SYSVOL\_DFSR folder. Follow the instructions in the Diagnostic Report Wizard and view the report that the wizard produces to verify the health of DFS Replication of the SYSVOL\_DFSR folder.  
      
    DFS Management in Windows Server 2008 includes the ability to run a propagation test and generate two types of diagnostic reports—a propagation report and a general health report. To verify that SYSVOL replication is working properly, perform the propagation test and examine both reports for problems.

Note

The amount of time necessary to generate a diagnostic report varies based on a number of factors, including DFS Replication health, the number of replicated folders, available server resources (for example, CPU and memory), WAN availability (connectivity, bandwidth, and latency), and the chosen reporting options. Because of the potential delay in creating diagnostic reports, you should create diagnostic reports for no more than 50 servers at a time.

Migrate SYSVOL replication to the Redirected state after you are satisfied that the migration to the Prepared state succeeded and that the replication of the SYSVOL shared folder continues to operate properly. For information about how to migrate SYSVOL replication to the Redirected state, see Migrating to the Redirected State.

If you need additional confirmation that the migration to the Redirected state succeeded or if you need additional troubleshooting information when migration to the Redirected state does not succeed, perform the additional verification steps in Detailed verification of migration to the Prepared state.