Windows Server 2003 Technology Primer - Extending the Capabilities of Windows 2003 with Downloadable Tools
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In addition to Feature Packs, Microsoft has made available new and updated tools that help organizations with migration, administration, maintenance, and management tasks. These tools are freely downloadable to all Windows 2003 licensed organizations at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/downloads/default.mspx.
Active Directory Migration Tool v2.0
The Active Directory Migration Tool came with Windows 2000 as a version 1.0 release, and has undergone major renovations since then. ADMT v2.0, which is freely downloadable from the Windows Server 2003 Tools site, enables an organization to migrate user accounts, computer accounts, access control lists (ACLs), and trusts from NT4 or Windows 2000 to a Windows Server 2003 domain. Unlike previous versions of ADMT that migrated user objects but did not migrate passwords, ADMT v2.0 can migrate passwords from the source to destination domain.
Additionally, ADMT v2.0 can migrate objects between Active Directory forests, more commonly called the cross-forest migration of objects. This capability now allows an organization to set up a brand-new Active Directory forest and migrate objects to the new forest. This can be done when an organization wants to migrate all objects from an old forest to a new forest, or when an organization has a department, subsidiary, or remote location that accidentally created its own Active Directory forest and now wants to blend it into the main organization's forest.
ADMT v2.0 provides a variety of migration options for organizations, and is covered in detail in Chapter 17.
Domain Rename
When migrating from Windows 2000 to Windows Server 2003, many organizations choose to change their domain names in the process. When Windows 2000 first shipped, performing a domain rename was not possible, so this capability has been long awaited by organizations that might have set a domain name that they no longer want (such as a domain named after a television series or for a specific site that does not exist anymore), or whose name changed after a merger or acquisition. Windows Server 2003 enables an organization to rename a domain—both the NetBIOS name, as well as the fully qualified DNS domain name.
Although domain renaming is possible, it is not a simple task because a domain rename affects all domain controllers, servers, and systems attached to the domain. Effectively, every single system on the network will need to be reconfigured and rebooted. Although the domain rename tool helps to automate this process, certain systems might not successfully reconnect to the new domain and administrator intervention is required. If an organization has hundreds or thousands of systems connected to a domain, the need to clearly validate the requirement to change a domain name must be considered.
The domain rename utility is covered in detail in Chapter 17.
Application Compatibility Tools
Another pair of Windows 2003 tool downloads are the Application Compatibility Analyzer and the Windows Application Compatibility Toolkit. These tools help organizations test applications to confirm compatibility with Windows Server 2003, and to isolate problems with compatibility to either work around the problem or to decide that the application needs to be replaced. These application compatibility tools are covered in Chapter 18, "Compatibility Testing."
Log Parser Tool
Microsoft provides a pair of log-parsing tools on the Windows 2003 Tools download page. The tools allow an administrator to quickly search for patterns and data in the log files of multiple servers, without having to open and search each server's log files individually. The log-parsing tools also provide extensive reporting tools, as well as the capability to export data from the log files into a SQL database.
Although Microsoft has an extensive log-tracking, management, and reporting tool that it sells as a separate program called Microsoft Operations Manager, the Log Parser tools are free and provide basic functionality for log file administration. The Log Parser tools are covered in Chapter 22.
 This chapter is from Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Unleashed, by Rand Morimoto, et al. (Sams Publishing, 2004, ISBN: 0672326671). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today.
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