I have a customer who is running a Windows Domain with a Windows Small Business Server 2011.
Now I want to "update" (or downgrade?) to a 2008 R2 Domain.
For two reasons.
- The customer has nearly reached the SBS user limit
- The customer now has a XEN-Server for virtualisation and I want to seperate the services (Exchange, WSUS, Active-Directory) to different virtual machines.
Is there a recommended migration path?
Is this even possible?
Best Answer
Well, I would absolutely not attempt to migrate an SBS 2011 to Server 2008, even if it wasn't a Domain Controller. So, don't try that.
But, what your customer wants can be done. Just don't try to do it directly.
Basically, you want to add a second Domain Controller to the domain, and then get rid of the SBS server as a Domain Controller.
(Before following the below instructions, it's a good idea to make sure you have a current backup of the Domain Controller. Always a good idea, just saying it explicitly.)
Forest and Domain Functional Levels
. By default, SBS 2011 creates and uses a2003 Domain and Forest Functional Level
. There's no 2011Functional Level
, so you're not actually migrating/downgrading the domain. I'd link how to do this, but I have no freaking idea how to check yourFunctional Levels
on an SBS server.Functional Level
. If you plan on installing Server 2008 R2, you can even skip step 1.DCPromo
to make it a Domain Controller, making sure it's aGlobal Catalog.
FSMO roles
to your new Domain Controller.Optional, but additional advisable steps: