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Prepare a Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 Forest Schema for a Domain Controller That Runs Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012

Before you can add a domain controller that is running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 to an Active Directory environment running Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003, you must update the Active Directory schema. To update the schema, you must run Adprep.exe from the Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 installation DVD on your existing domain controller that hosts the schema operations master role. In Windows Server 2008, Adprep.exe is located in the /Sources/adprep folder of the operating system installation DVD. In Windows Server 2008 R2, adprep.exe is located in the /Support/adprep folder.

Review the list of operations that are performed by Adprep.exe, and test the schema updates in a lab environment to ensure that they will not conflict with any applications that run in your environment. There should not be any conflicts if your applications use Request for Comments (RFC)–compliant object and attribute definitions. For a list of specific operations that are performed when you update the Active Directory schema, see Windows Server 2008: Appendix of Changes to Adprep.exe to Support AD DS and Windows Server 2008 R2: Appendix of Changes to Adprep.exe to Support AD DS.

After you prepare the forest, prepare any domain where you plan to install a domain controller that runs Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2. For more information, see Prepare a Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 Domain for a Domain Controller That Runs Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

If you are creating a new forest, you do not have to prepare the schema or any of the domains in the forest.

Use the following procedure to update the Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 Server Active Directory schema for Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

Administrative credentials

To perform this procedure, you must use an account that has membership in all of the following groups:

  • Enterprise Admins

  • Schema Admins

  • Domain Admins for the domain that contains the schema master

To prepare the forest schema for Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2

  1. Log on to the schema master as a member of the Enterprise Admins, Schema Admins, and Domain Admins groups.

Note

If you are unsure which domain controller hosts the schema master role, you can run netdom query fsmo on any domain controller.

  1. Insert the Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 DVD into the CD or DVD drive.

  2. Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

  3. If you are using the Windows Server 2008 DVD, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    D:\sources\adprep\adprep /forestprep

    If you are using the Windows Server 2008 R2 DVD, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

Important

Windows Server 2008 R2 includes a 32-bit and 64-bit version of Adprep.exe. The 64-bit version runs by default. If you want to run one of the Adprep.exe commands on a 32-bit computer, use the 32-bit version of Adprep.exe (Adprep32.exe). 

`D:\support\adprep\adprep /forestprep`
  1. Allow the operation to complete, and then allow the changes to replicate throughout the forest before you prepare any domains for a domain controller that runs Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2. For more information about running adprep /domainprep, see Prepare a Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 Domain for a Domain Controller That Runs Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

Note

If you plan to add a read-only domain controller (RODC) to the forest, you can run adprep /rodcprep right after you run adprep /forestprep and then verify that both operations have replicated throughout the forest. Both commands require Enterprise Admin credentials; therefore, you might prefer to run them consecutively.

For more information about how to troubleshoot Adprep errors, see Troubleshooting errors with Adprep.exe. For more information about running adprep /rodcprep, see Prepare a Forest for a Read-Only Domain Controller.