Computer and Software Support


Adprep 

Updated: January 21, 2005

Adprep

Prepares Windows 2000 domains and forests for an upgrade to Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition; Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition; or Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition. Among its tasks, adprep extends the schema, updates default security descriptors of selected objects, and adds new directory objects as required by some applications.

Syntax

Adprep {/forestprep | /domainprep | /gpprep}

Notes

  • When you upgrade Windows 2000 Server to Windows Server 2003 without a service pack installed, prepare the forest using adprep /forestprep and prepare each domain using adprep /domainprep. Adprep /domainprep prepares the domain for upgrade and adds inheritable access control entries (ACEs) to the Group Policy objects (GPOs) in the SYSVOL shared folder, which causes domain-wide replication to occur. The amount of replication traffic that is generated by this operation might affect network conditions adversely.
  • When you upgrade Windows 2000 Server to Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1), prepare the forest using adprep /forestprep and prepare each domain using adprep /domainprep. Adprep /domainprep in Windows Server 2003 with SP1 does not add inheritable ACEs to the GPOs in the SYSVOL shared folder and does not cause domain-wide replication to occur.

    When network conditions are optimal or if a full synchronization of the SYSVOL share will not affect network bandwidth adversely, run adprep /domainprep /gpprep to add the inheritable ACEs to the GPOs in the SYSVOL shared folder.

    Parameters

    /forestprep
    Prepares a Windows 2000 forest for an upgrade to a Windows Server 2003 forest.
    /domainprep
    Prepares a Windows 2000 domain for an upgrade to a Windows Server 2003 domain.
    /domainprep /gpprep
    Available only when you prepare a Windows 2000 domain for an upgrade to a Windows Server 2003 SP1 domain.Adds inheritable ACEs to the GPOs that are located in the SYSVOL shared folder, and synchronizes the SYSVOL shared folder among the domain controllers in the domain.
    /?
    Displays Help at the command prompt.

    Remarks

  • You can find Adprep.exe in the \i386 folder of the Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition; Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition; and Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition CD-ROMs. For more information about using adprep, see the topics under "See Also."
  • To run adprep /forestprep, you must be a member of the Enterprise Admins group and the Schema Admins group in Active Directory, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to run this command. For more information, see Default local groups , Default groups , and Using Run as .
  • To run adprep /domainprep, you must be a member of the Domain Admins group or the Enterprise Admins group in Active Directory, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to run this command. For more information, see Default local groups , Default groups , and Using Run as .
  • To run adprep /domainprep /gpprep, you must be a member of the Domain Admins group or the Enterprise Admins group in Active Directory, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to run this command. For more information, see Default local groups, Default groups , and Using Run as.
  • You should run adprep from Windows Server 2003 installation media, such as a CD-ROM or a shared network resource.
  • All domain controllers in the forest should be upgraded to Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 or later before preparing the forest for an upgrade to the Windows Server 2003 family.
  • Adprep /forestprep must be run on the schema master.
  • Adprep /domainprep must be run on each infrastructure master in each domain, and only after adprep /forestprep has been run successfully for the forest.
  • Adprep /domainprep /gpprep must be run on the infrastructure master of each domain. It can be run anytime after adprep /forestprep and adprep /domainprep have been run, when network bandwidth permits the replication of all GPOs among the domain controllers in the domain.
  • You must wait for the changes made by adprep /forestprep to replicate from the schema master to the infrastructure masters before running adprep /domainprep. If you try to run adprep /domainprep on an infrastructure master before the adprep /forestprep changes have replicated, you will receive notification that the forest preparation has not finished.
  • After you prepare your forests and domains with adprep, you can leave your domain controllers running Windows 2000 for an indefinite length of time, or you can begin the domain controller upgrade immediately.
  • After running adprep, the adprep log files can be found in systemroot\System32\Debug\Adprep\Logs.
  • For more information about the enhancements to Adprep.exe in Windows Server 2003 with SP1, see article 324392, “Enhancements to Adprep.exe in Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and in hotfix 324392,” in the Microsoft Knowledge Base .
  • For more information about how to prepare your forest and domains using Adprep.exe, see "Overview: Upgrading Windows 2000 Domain Controllers to Windows Server 2003" in article 325379, “How to Upgrade Windows 2000 Domain Controllers to Windows Server 2003,” in the Microsoft Knowledge Base .

Examples

To prepare a Windows 2000 forest for upgrade to the Windows Server 2003 family, type:

adprep /forestprep

To prepare a Windows 2000 domain for upgrade to the Windows Server 2003 family, type:

adprep /domainprep

Note

  • If you are preparing a Windows 2000 domain for upgrade to Windows Server 2003 without SP1, this command will cause inheritable ACEs to be added to the GPOs in the SYSVOL shared folder, and the SYSVOL share will synchronize, which might cause significant network delays.
To prepare a Windows 2000 domain for upgrade to Windows Server 2003 with SP1, by adding inheritable ACEs to the GPOs in the SYSVOL shared folder and synchronizing the SYSVOL shared folder among the domain controllers in a domain, type:

adprep /domainprep /gpprep

Formatting legend

Format Meaning
Italic Information that the user must supply
Bold Elements that the user must type exactly as shown
Ellipsis (...) Parameter that can be repeated several times in a command line
Between brackets ([]) Optional items
Between braces ({}); choices separated by pipe (|). Example: {even|odd} Set of choices from which the user must choose only one
Courier font Code or program output

 

Some of these terms may be the same or similar to DOS commands. For information on DOS Commands, click here