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in place upgrade of a windows 2016 DC and file server to windows 2019

Indy Silva 20 Reputation points
2026-02-13T00:12:38.4+00:00

We are looking to carry out an in place upgrade of a windows 2016 DC and file server to windows 2019

Windows for business | Windows Server | User experience | Other
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  1. Harry Phan 15,910 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-02-13T00:36:01.4366667+00:00

    Hello Indy,

    An in‑place upgrade of a Domain Controller from Windows Server 2016 to 2019 is technically supported, but it carries risk and is not the recommended approach. Microsoft’s best practice is always to stand up a new DC, transfer FSMO roles, and demote the old one, but since you don’t have the storage capacity, you’ll need to prepare carefully. Before starting, ensure the 2016 DC is fully patched, run adprep /forestprep and adprep /domainprep from the 2019 media, and confirm replication health with dcdiag and repadmin /replsummary. Disable or remove any third‑party agents that hook into AD or the file system, as they often break upgrades. Make sure SYSVOL is healthy and using DFSR replication, not FRS, since FRS is deprecated and will block the upgrade. Finally, take a full system backup and snapshot if possible, because if the upgrade fails, rollback is the only recovery path. With those checks complete, you can proceed with the in‑place upgrade, but be aware that any corruption in AD or replication issues will be magnified during the process.

    You can refer to this article: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/identity/ad-ds/deploy/upgrade-domain-controllers

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  1. Q&A Assist
    2026-02-13T00:12:48.6633333+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    To perform an in-place upgrade of a Windows Server 2016 Domain Controller (DC) and file server to Windows Server 2019, you can follow these general steps:

    1. Backup Your Data: Ensure that you have a complete backup of your server, including system state and important data.
    2. Check Compatibility: Verify that your applications and server roles are compatible with Windows Server 2019.
    3. Prepare for Upgrade: Make sure that your Windows Server 2016 is fully updated with the latest patches and updates.
    4. Download Windows Server 2019: Obtain the installation media for Windows Server 2019.
    5. Run the Setup: Open File Explorer, navigate to the Windows Server 2019 setup media, and run setup.exe.
    6. Follow the Setup Wizard: During the setup, choose the option to keep your files, settings, and applications. This will ensure that your existing configurations are preserved.
    7. Complete the Upgrade: Follow the prompts to complete the upgrade process. The server will restart several times during this process.
    8. Post-Upgrade Verification: After the upgrade, verify that the server is functioning correctly by checking the server roles and applications. You can use PowerShell to confirm the version: 
         Get-ComputerInfo -Property WindowsProductName
    9. Test Functionality: Ensure that all services are running as expected and that client connections are successful.

    It's important to note that in-place upgrades might not be supported for certain configurations, such as servers configured to boot from VHD. Always check the specific requirements and limitations before proceeding with the upgrade.

    References:

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