My production system has two Windows Server 2003 R2 servers acting as domain controllers. Can I add a Windows Server 2008 DC to the existing domain without changing the schema? This is a similar question to Can a windows 2008 R2 server join a 2003 domain? but in that case, the 2008 server being added was not a domain controller.
1 Answer
No. The process for adding a 2008 DC requires schema updates. Member servers are not a problem, but a Domain Controller is another thing entirely.
That said, generally speaking schema updates like those that come with Server 2008 are harmless to lower versions. Do you have a specific problem with the schema updates that come with 2008?
-
I'm fairly confident that schema updates are always backwards-compatible. The only problem would stem from an application that checks for the domain level as an 'equals' ("=") rather than a 'greater-than-or-equal' ("<=") (as in 'domain level is 2003 native' rather than 'at least 2003').– gWaldoSep 10, 2010 at 19:40
-
@gwaldo It's schema version, not Functional Level. The Schema gets updated the moment the right 'adprep' call is made, so you can have a 2008-level schema but still 2003 functional level. If @Knox is concerned about schema issues, functional level doesn't matter.– sysadmin1138 ♦Sep 10, 2010 at 19:44
-
-
well, I was pretty sure that nothing would care if I did upgrade the schema, but if I could avoid it until I actually needed, I would probably hold off. We don't run any apps other than Windows clients that are aware of AD so fortunately it's very low risk to upgrade the schema.– KnoxSep 11, 2010 at 0:50