Theguru1 Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Hi All, We are planning the dreaded upgrade of all our servers 2008, one question that springs to mind our exchange server 2007 is hosted on server 2003, Obviously we need to upgrade the DC first. When we do that will exchange 2007 on the 2003 be ok until we upgrade it? will everyone still be able to logon to there mailboxes etc?? Also we have other DC'S on another site under the same domain will they be ok until we upgrade them??? Sorry for the noob questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BudMan MVC Posted January 21, 2015 MVC Share Posted January 21, 2015 question why not move to 2012, 2008 and even r2 main stream support ended 1/13/2015, while 2012 mainstream support is 3 more years till 2018 http://support2.microsoft.com/lifecycle/search/default.aspx?sort=PN&alpha=Windows+server&Filter=FilterNO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theguru1 Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 Thanks Budman, all of our servers are 2003...a lot of them support upto 2008R2 a few 2012....stepping stones... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BudMan MVC Posted January 21, 2015 MVC Share Posted January 21, 2015 You can mix your server in your AD for sure that is not a problem, comes down to what schema your using and what leverages the schema where you could run into problems. So the plan is to get everything to 2012 I would think/home? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binaryzero Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 As long as you dcpromo your 2008 (R2?? hopefully..) servers, you shouldn't have a problem with Exchange 2007. I suggest not updating your schema level until you've decommission the 2003 box. Tip: For future proof, build the domain controllers using 2012R2 and raise the functional level to 2008 (2012 functional level is not supported\recommended with Exchange 2007). At some stage you should\will move to a later version of Exchange and this setup will be kick ass! Probably gives you a chance later on to upgrade schema level to 2012. Zing. Plan for updating DCs - Add new 2008 boxes to domain, promote to domain controllers, move fsmo roles from old to new servers, validate success migration (turn off 2003 boxes and let it run for a few days - if problems, boot em back up and troubleshoot). How do you plan on upgrading your Exchange server? My suggestion - build a new 2008R2 box, install Exchange 2007 (SP3 I think is required for 2008R2 - good chance to get the latest SP\CU updates). Add this to the exchange farm, and then local copy (migrate) all the mailboxes and move roles to the new server. Once you've done that, read the technet articles on how to decomission an Exchange server. Once you've successfully migrated both DCs and Exchange servers then go ahead and upgrade the schema level to 2008. Tip: Give it a good week between turning off the 2003 box and updating the schema level. Let your Exchange environment run for a period of time to make sure the migration was successful. If any problems, turn the 2003 box back on and trouble shoot until you've moved all mailboxes\roles to the new server. Once you're 100% sure the migration was successful, dejoin the 2003 box from the domain. Also I suggest having multiple Exchange servers, having 1 server with all the roles is only supported in a lab environment. Good luck, I've done this migration many times. Edit: http://www.msexchange.org/articles-tutorials/exchange-server-2007/management-administration/deploying-exchange-server-2007-service-pack3.html < basic idea, of course adapt to your environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted January 22, 2015 Veteran Share Posted January 22, 2015 "As long as you dcpromo your 2008 (R2?? hopefully..) servers, you shouldn't have a problem with Exchange 2007." What??? I am not sure exactly what you are saying here. This really doesn't make any sense. You don't need to dcpromo a 2008 server to have it and exchange server on the domain...they can be standalone servers on the domain without a dcpromo. When adding a new 2008 dc, frorestprep and adprep the 2003 domain. Then you can dcpromo a 2008 member server to be a dc. http://www.petri.com/windows-server-2008-adprep.htm There is no direct upgrade path for exchange, you must make a new server or farm/cluster to move to. https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj898581%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx Exchange 2013 does require you to prepare the schema prior to installing exchange. https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb125224%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx For that matter, there is no direct upgrade path for servers unless you are currently on 2008, then you can upgrade to 2012. There is no upgrade path from 2003 to 2008 or for that matter 2003 to 2012 http://blogs.technet.com/b/askperf/archive/2012/10/22/windows-8-windows-server-2012-upgrade-paths-and-editions.aspx Edit: Here are the fsmo roles you need to move from one server to another to promote it to a DC http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324801 Don't forget to make a new dc a global catalog server. Only one is needed per forest. http://www.elmajdal.net/Win2k8/Setting_a_Windows_Server_2008_Domain_Controller_as_a_Global_Catalog.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theguru1 Posted January 23, 2015 Author Share Posted January 23, 2015 Guys, Thank you very very much for your assistance its always scary doing an upgrade especially as so many things can go wrong. The biggest concern for me is when I upgrade the primary DC based in the UK is the other sites still authenticate as New York has a DC there with 2003..and of course as stated exchange 2007 still works with 2003. Obviously the sensible decision would be to go straight to 2012..but quite a lot our servers don't support 2012...which is a shame...I think it wont be too long and we will anyway... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted January 23, 2015 Veteran Share Posted January 23, 2015 Just go slow. The thing that fails most commonly is replication. If you are worried, take it one step at a time. adprep, forestprep and then add the new dc. Wait a day and check to make sure that all servers see the new dc, make sure dns has replicated properly (check the entries). Then migrate your fsmo roles and change the global catalog the next day. Check your dfs replication, file replication, and dns event logs each day for errors that do not clear. You should check your event logs prior to starting this process so that you make sure you start with a clean/no error ad site. If you have errors, fix them before proceeding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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