tricky upgrade from nt server to 2003

[digitalman]

i am trying to upgrade a new server from NT to 2003. here is the catch - i don't have the nt server, just a ghost image of its hard drive. the old server is still being used and i don't want to do anything to it. i want to use its settings and domain info to upgrade to windows server 2003. Incedently i don't have access to the NT Server as it is at the other office.

the old server was a compaq proliniat and the new one is a custom built dual-xeon. my hope was that even though nt is plug and manually configure, that it would let me in long enough to just start the upgrade installation. Unfortunitly, i just get the blue screen that the system couldn't finish loading.

I tried reloading NT on it but had problems as the drive is too big plus i don't think it liked some of the new hardware.

I then tried booting with a different OS on one drive and the old server info on another drive to see if i could upgrade to a different disk. Apprarrently the installation doesn't allow that (as far as i can tell). I know i could do a clean install but i don't want to loose my existing setting.

The last thing that i was going to try was boot from the CD and then load 2003 on top of the existing settings, but there was a notice that things may not run correctly. After reading that i wasn't sure if that would affect system stability.

So basically i want to perserve and carry over my NT setting to the Windows 2003 box. Any insight or tips would be a huge help!

Thanks
Eric

 

[spyordie007]

Find your NT 4 media, what you are doing is not worth the hassle.

-Spy

 

[digitalman]

i have the NT 4 CD. As i said above, i tried to install it on but the drive is too big and it gave me a few errors as it also didn't like the dual processor machine.

 

[spyordie007]

maybe I'm missing something than, why not just install 2K3 server and leave NT 4 off altogether?

-Spy

 

[digitalman]

becouse all of the domain users and data are on the image. i know i could just manually set that up, and that is what i am guessing i will have to do. but if at all possible i think that things would run smoothest (from the users perspective) if i could just upgrade the system to 2003.

 

[owensdj]

digitalman, what you're trying to do is a very, very bad idea. You should be doing a fresh install of Windows Server 2003 on the new server machine, not trying to put an NT 4 Server install from an old server on the new one so you can upgrade that to Windows Server 2003. Even if it appears to work, you'll probably have stability problems in the long term. A fresh install is always the best way to go, especially for a production server.

You should be able to get the domain and the data transferred from the old NT 4.0 Server to the new Server 2003 while still doing a fresh install of Server 2003 on the new machine. This is a single-server domain, right? You'll need to upgrade NT 4.0 Server to Server 2003 on the old machine using the Server 2003 install CD. This will convert the NT 4.0-style domain into an Active Directory domain. You can then add the new Windows Server 2003 machine into your domain as another domain controller. Transfer all of the data you need to keep from the old to the new server. Make sure that your domain has synched. Demote the old server from being a domain controller and then remove it from the domain. Now you'll have a Windows Server 2003 with the same domain, domain users, and data as before.

I've done this before replacing NT 4.0 Servers with new Windows 2000 Servers. I assume it works the same way with Server 2003. Also keep in mind that you'll have to run the DNS service for Active Directory to work.

The tricky part is going to be whether or not Windows Server 2003 will work on that Compaq server machine long enough to make the change. You'll probably want to make sure you have at least a few verified backups of the data and then create an image of the whole Compaq server system before you try the NT 4.0 Server to Server 2003 upgrade. That way you can always go back if Server 2003 doesn't support the hardware.

 

[spyordie007]

what I would do would be to get your NT 4 image loaded on another server, than setup 2K3 Server fresh on the "new" server and join it to the domain, raise it to a DC (I'm assuming you are running an NT Domain now) and switch server roles so that the 2K3 server is your PDC. That way you could than safely remove the NT4 server and upgrade the domain without losing any user/computer information that may be in that domain.

-Spy

 

[digitalman]

thanks, i had a feeling that this would be the route i'd end up going, but wanted to at least try upgrading from the image as it wouldn't hurt. Thanks again

 

[igiveup]

Here are a few resources from Microsoft....

NT 4.0 to 2003 Migration Page

NT 4.0 to 2003 Migration Document (located on that page)

This tool here will probably be your most valuable tool in your transition to 2003. Its called the Active Directory Migration Tool (ADMT).

Here is the link...

 

[mobogasm]

I'm not sure why you guys think it is necessary to upgrade the old server to 2k3 server. You can just install a fresh 2k3 server on the new server then migrate the old domain information over from the nt4 server to the new 2k3 server using tools available from msft or better ones that are available from third party providers (albeit expensive for the latter)

 

[digitalman]

it isn't just the domain info that i want and need to move over. it is also some apps running on the server. by doing an upgrade it would be easier to reset up all of the apps and data with out moving it all over the place and re configuring the apps.

 

[igiveup]

In that case have you checked to find out if your apps will work on 2003? Somehow I highly doubt it. Hell, Microsoft can't even manage to get Exchange 2000 to work on it (intentionally or otherwise), not to mention SQL 2000 barely works, and these two products are important to businesses.

 

[digitalman]

Yes the apps are supported, Goldmine is the big one. Exchange and SQL are not being used. As i said earlier, i know it is possible to manually move the data over after installing 2003, sync the domain, move the data over and then reinstall all of the network apps. i was just hoping that an upgrade would expedite the process. but it looks like there isn't a fesible way to do it without having an anurism and suffering the new server through one too.

 

[igiveup]

Well, in the end it might turn out that way anyway. Honestly, looking at your situation and putting myself in your shoes I would go the clean install route. That way if something happens you can always keep running your 4.0 box and work on the new server.

 

[digitalman]

I never intended on changing the os on the NT4 server for that very reason.

 

[mobogasm]

you're running networked apps on the PDC...ouch....hope it's purely because of budget reasons

 

[owensdj]

mobogasm, I didn't know there were tools available from Microsoft that would migrate a NT 4.0-style domain to an Active Directory domain. Do you happen to have an links to them?

 

[digitalman]

they are listed above