Consolidating and Migrating Domains Using the Active Directory Migration Tool v2.0

The development of Windows Server 2003 coincides with improvements in the Active Directory Migration Tool, a fully functional domain migration utility included on the Windows Server 2003 CD. ADMT version 2.0 allows Active Directory and NT domain users, computers, and groups to be consolidated, collapsed, or restructured to fit the design needs of an organization. In regard to Windows 2000 migrations, ADMT v2.0 provides for the flexibility to restructure existing domain environments into new Windows Server 2003 Active Directory environments, keeping security settings, user passwords, and other settings.

Understanding ADMT v2.0 Functionality

ADMT is an effective way to migrate users, groups, and computers from one domain to another. It is robust enough to migrate security permissions and Exchange mailbox domain settings; plus, it supports a rollback procedure in the event of migration problems. ADMT is composed of the following components and functionality:

• ADMT migration wizards ADMT includes a series of wizards, each specifically designed to migrate specific components. You can use different wizards to migrate users, groups, computers, service accounts, and trusts.

• Low client impact ADMT automatically installs a service on source clients negating the need to manually install client software for the migration. In addition, after the migration is complete, these services are automatically uninstalled.

• SID history and security migrated Users can continue to maintain network access to file shares, applications, and other secured network services through migration of the SID History attributes to the new domain. This preserves the extensive security structure of the source domain.

• Test migrations and rollback functionality An extremely useful feature in ADMT v2.0 is the capability to run a mock migration scenario with each migration wizard. This helps to identify any issues that may exist prior to the actual migration work. In addition to this functionality, the most recently performed user, computer, or group migration can be undone, providing for rollback in the event of migration problems.