Upgrading Active Directory Domains to Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 AD DS Domains

Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2

Upgrading your network operating system requires minimal network configuration and typically has a low impact on user operations. The upgrade process is straightforward, efficient, and allows your organization to take advantage of the improved security that is offered by the Windows Server® 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems.

About this guide

This guide is intended for use by system administrators and system engineers. It provides detailed guidance for upgrading Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 Active Directory domains to Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domains that have domain controllers running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2. For a seamless deployment experience, use the checklists that are provided in this guide and complete the tasks in the order in which they are presented.

To obtain a copy of this guide in .doc format, see Upgrading Active Directory Domains to Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 AD DS Domains on the Microsoft Download Center (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=178585).

In this guide

• Overview of Upgrading Active Directory Domains

• Planning to Upgrade Active Directory Domains

• Performing the Upgrade of Active Directory Domains

• Completing the Upgrade of Active Directory Domains

• Finding Additional Information About Upgrading Active Directory Domains

• Appendix A: Background Information for Upgrading Active Directory Domains

• Upgrade Domain Controllers: Microsoft Support Quick Start for Adding Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 Domain Controllers to Existing Domains

Related information

• For more information about the AD DS logical structure and the Domain Name System (DNS) infrastructure that is necessary to support AD DS, see Designing the Logical Structure for Windows Server 2008 AD DS.

• For more information about AD DS functional levels, see Enabling Advanced Features for AD DS.

• For more information about installing and configuring a DNS server, see Deploying Domain Name System (DNS) (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=93656).