How to migrate windows server 2012 domain controller to windows server 2022 domain controller which is at 2003 domain and forest function level.

Question

Hi Team,

I have an environment hosting Windows 2012 Domain Controller which i need to How to migrate windows server 2022 Domain Contoller. As first step of the migration i tried to check whether its using FSR or DFSR for Sysvol replication. Unfortunately when i run the command it failed to execute as the domain and forest function level is still 2003.

Could you please help me with the steps to achive this task :How to migrate windows server 2012 domain controller to windows server 2022 domain controller which is at 2003 domain and forest function level.

Appreciate your response in advance.

Regards,

Vinod

Answer 1

Hello Vinodkumar Vallur,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community forum.

Do you have only one 2012 R2 Domain Controller in the forest?

Step 1

Before we do any changes to our AD environment, we had better to check our AD environment health. So we can try the following steps:

1.We need to check if all the DCs works fine, we can run Dcdiag /v on each DC to check.
2.Run commands below on PDC to check AD replication status if you have multiple DCs in your domain.

repadmin /showrepl >C:\rep1.txt
repadmin /replsum >C:\rep2.txt

repadmin /showrepl * /csv >c:\repsum.csv

Step 2Had better back up all DCs using built-in Windows server backup role.

Step 3

Raise forest functional level and domain functional level to Windows server 2012 R2.

How to raise Active Directory domain and forest functional levels:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/322692/how-to-raise-active-directory-domain-and-forest-functional-levels

Step 4

You should check SYSVOL replication type. If it is FRS or DFSR.

Here is checking method via registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\DFSR\Parameters\SysVols\Migrating Sysvols\LocalState registry subkey. If this registry subkey exists and its value is set to 3 (ELIMINATED), DFSR is being used. If the subkey does not exist, or if it has a different value, FRS is being used.

If it is DFSR, that is OK.

If it is FRS, you should migrate from FRS to DFSR first.

For how to migrate SYSVOL from FRS to DFSR, we can refer to the following article.

qUICKLY Explained: Migrate Your SYSVOL Replication from FRS to DFSR
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/qzaidi/2012/01/16/quickly-explained-migrate-your-sysvol-replication-from-frs-to-dfsr/

Step 5
1.Add new 2022 server to the existing domain.

2.Promote this new 2022 server to Domain Controller (add AD DS role and DNS role).

3.Also make this new 2022 DC as GC.

4.Check the health status of new DC and old DC and AD replication status.

5.After all DCs have migrate from lower OS to higher OS (2022), transfer FSMO roles to the new 2022 DC if needed.

6.We can check whether you have successfully transferred the FSMO roles by running the command as administrator on any DC: netdom query fsmo

7.If old 2012 R2 DC was also a DNS server, update the DNS client configuration on all member workstations, member servers, and other DCs that might have used this DNS server for name resolution. If it is required, modify the DHCP scope to reflect the removal of the DNS server.

8.If old 2012 R2 DC was also a DNS server, update the Forwarder settings and the Delegation settings on any other DNS servers that might have pointed to the old 2012 R2 DC for name resolution.

10.Migrate all other roles on old 2012 R2 DC to new 2022 DC (or other member servers) if you have or if you need.

11.After you transfer FSMO roles and update all DNS settings and migrate other roles if you have. And after a period of time, if everything is OK, we can consider demoting the old 2012 R2 DC if needed.

Tip: At last, you can raise forest functional level and domain functional level to Windows server 2016 if you need.

I hope the information above is helpful.

If you have any question or concern, please feel free to let us know.

Best Regards,
Daisy Zhou

Answer 2

Hi Daisy,

Appreciate your quick response. I have tried to check whether the sysvol uses FSR or DFSR for replication. Below is the screenshot from Regedit.

Also i tried to check the Sysvol replication through commnd line and see below error:

What does the above screen shots specify about Sysvol replication. Does it use FSR or DFSR for replication?

Please provide your comments.

Answer 3

Hello Vinodkumar Vallur,

Good day!

DFS can only be used at the least 2008 functional level (or higher).

It should be FRS in your case.

Best Regards,
Daisy Zhou