2K3 domain - Last NT4 BDC - How to remove ?

[JVKAdmin]

Hi all,

We are looking at removing the last NT4 BDC server from our network. We then want to format it and reinstall windows 2003 on it and rejoin it as a domain controller (rather then do an upgrade and clear off the junk).

My questions are:
1) What are the steps to remove the BDC from the domain ?

2) Are there any hidden places where I should look to find references to this server as an NT 4 server that I need to delete before reinstalling it ?

3) What client issues would I have (if any) when removing this BDC ?

4) After removing the BDC from the network (assuming no other domain controllers are windows 2000 or NT4 servers) what domain functional level does the domain revert to or do you have to manually set this ?

5) Can Windows 2000 Member servers still work okay in an all native Windows 2003 server functional role ?

Thanks

Kevin.

 

[precioustony]

Is this the last NT4 DC in your domain? What of the PDC?, has it been decommissioned already?

 

[JVKAdmin]

Hi,

Yes we have gone through the entire upgrade process for the PDC and are now on a mixed mode domain with 1 win2K3 DC and 1 win 2000 DC.

The last NT4 BDC server is not a major functioning piece of the network now but I'd like to remove it and reformat it for a fresh install of Windows 2003.

One other thing is that we intend on keeping the server name the same once reinstalled.

The rest of my questions are in the original post.

Kevin.

 

[precioustony]

Follow this steps:

1) Synchronize the NT domain by selecting Synchronize entire domain in server manager. Unplug bdc from network, promote it to PDC, and upgrade using Win 2003

2)complete the AD wizard to promote the server to a dc in a new AD domain. In the wizard, the options CREATE A NEW DOMAIN TREE and CREATE A NEW FOREST OF DOMAIN TREES must be selected. A temp name for the domain can be used, for example, workgroup. complete the wizard by accepting defaults. If you receive an error msg regarding DNS, click OK to continue. the computer will restart

3)Next, run dcpromo again to demote the bdc to a member server. when running dcpromo to demote the server, select the option: THIS SERVER IS THE LAST DC IN THE DOMAIN

continue to let the wizard accept defaults. Enter local admin pwd specified during the 1st wizard. after u restart, the bdc is part of a workgroup, u can then join it to ur Ad domain

 

[JVKAdmin]

Hi,

I'ma little confused by your post. All I really want to do is get the NT4 BDC out of our current Win 2003 mixed domain without any "leftover" problems after doing it. I would then format the machine and then install a fresh copy of 2003 on it and then re-add it to our current domain (as a fresh new server ready for use). The current NT4 BDC doesn't have anything functionally usefull on it right now except acting as a BDC.

After a little more searching I read this tek-tips article describing what I was asking about:

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=933979

I'm going to test this out today by shutting off the BDC and see if their are any errors generated in the event log.

Let me know what your thoughts are on this

Seems simple enough.

Kevin.

 

[JVKAdmin]

I also just noticed that in Windows 2003 Active Directory you get prompted when trying to remove a domain controller to select an option/reason why you are removing the domain controller under active directory Users and computers. I believe the correct answer is the 3rd one which says something about the machine already being offline and that you simply want to remove it from the domain.

Kevin.

 

[MTVW]

just remove it like you would any other server. Disconnect from the network and remove. Then reformat re-install. You can even give it the same name if you want.