Upgrade Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008

There are a few things you should be aware of before starting the upgrade process:

1. 2003 Servers should be patched to at least SP1
2. Small Business Server 2003 and 2003 R2 upgrades are not supported
3. You can’t upgrade to Server Core
4. Exchange Server 2007 will not take an in-place upgrade. This is very important, because if you try it will break things. What you need to do is a Mailbox Migration to do this kind of upgrade with Exchange 2007

Preparing Your Server for Upgrade

1. Login to your Domain Controller on the server you are upgrading. First we are going to prepare the Domain Controller Database for upgrade.

2. Go ahead and insert the Server 2008 CD in your CD/DVD-ROM drive.

3. Open My Computer and right-click on CD/DVD-ROM. Then selectExplore.

4. Double-click on Sources.

5. Right-click on the adprep folder and select Copy.

6. Now go over to your server’s hard drive and paste the folder on your C:\ drive. In this example, we are going to paste it in the root of C.

7. Next, select Command Prompt on your start menu.

If you do not see Command Prompt, select Run, type in cmd and hit theEnter key.

8. When in Command Prompt, type in cd\ and hit Enter.

9. To verify that the adprep folder is on your hard drive, type in dir and hitEnter.

10. Next, type in cd adprep and hit Enter. This will put you in the adprep folder.

11. Once you are in that folder we are ready to run the two commands. The first command you should type is adprep /forestprep, then hit Enter.

12. Make sure you do not have any Windows Server 2000 machines on your network.

If you do not, type in C and hit Enter.

13. Once the process is done you are going to receive a quick confirmation as shown below.

14. Next we are going to type in the second command which is adprep /domainprep and hit Enter.

15. Domainprep will now run and once it is done you will receive a confirmation.

16. You can now close the Command Prompt.

Now we are finally ready for the upgrade.

Quick note for administrators with multiple Domain Controllers that need to upgrade to Server 2008:

The steps above need to be performed only once on your network. Once you run forestprep and domainprep on your network, all your Domain Controllers are now ready for the upgrade. All you need to do is wait for the Active Directory database to replicate to all your DCs and you are ready to go.

Upgrading from Server 2003 to Server 2008

1. Make sure your Server 2008 CD is in the CD/DVD-ROM drive. On your machine, go to Windows Explorer and select CD/DVD-ROM. In this example it is the D:\ drive.

2. Double-click on the setup.exe file from inside your Server 2003 machine.

3. When the Install Window opens click the Install Now button.

4. In this window you will have an option to check for the latest updates from Microsoft. If you choose so, please select the first option.

In this example we are going to skip them for now, so we will select the second option.

5. It’s now time to select the Server 2008 version that you want to install.

In this example we are installing the Enterprise (Full Installation) version. Once you make your selection, click Next.

6. Go ahead and check the box to accept the license terms agreement and when ready click next.

7. The upgrade option should now be available for you. When ready selectUpgrade Option to continue.

8. You will receive one last warning letting you know to make sure all your applications and 3rd party software can run on windows 2008 as well as of potential issues that you might have.

Make sure to read it and pay close attention to any issues that are listed on the bottom. Once you are ready, click Next.

9. Your Server is now being upgraded.

One last thing to keep in mind is that the upgrade process may take a lot longer than the installation as it has to upgrade the Active Directory and other services that are already on your Server.