Migration Requirements
For optimal performance and reliability, it is recommended that you migrate the following features of Active Directory® Domain Services (AD DS) from your existing servers to Windows® Essential Business Server:
Tools that logon or other scripts call, such as asset tracking, support, and auxiliary tools
Roaming profiles
Remote home folders
Redirected folders
Important
These migrations are optional—you do not need to perform them for Windows EBS to be fully operational. If AD DS is not present in your environment, or if you do not use these features in AD DS, you do not need to perform these migrations.
If you are not familiar with AD DS, or if you are not sure whether AD DS is present in your environment, see Background Information later in this document.
If you already understand what these migrations include, advance to Step-by-Step Migration later in this document.
Preparing for the migration
These AD DS features are not automatically migrated to Windows EBS by the Windows EBS installation wizards. You need to perform these migrations if you plan to decommission the server that hosts these tools and folders. The migrations will not take any of your domain controllers offline, prevent users from logging in, or cause interruptions of service.
You can only migrate the AD DS features that you are using. The features have no dependencies on each other, so you can choose to migrate them in any order. If you are unsure whether you are using AD DS features, Step-by-Step Migration later in this document explains how to find out.
Time estimates
Logon, logoff, startup, and shutdown scripts: Two hours—the time needed depends on the number of scripts and tools that you want to migrate.
Roaming profiles: One hour
Remote home folders: One hour
Redirected folders: 30 minutes
It is recommended that you perform these migrations when:
The installation is complete on all three servers that are running Windows EBS (Management Server, Security Server, and Messaging Server).
Users will not be logging on (such as an evening or weekend). If there is an issue during the migration, the users may not be able to access files in their user profile, redirected folders, or drives mapped by logon scripts.
Overview: Migrating logon, logoff, startup, and shutdown scripts
Logon, logoff, startup, and shutdown scripts run automatically when certain events occur (such as when a computer starts or a user logs on). These scripts can be used for many purposes including asset tracking, software installation, and drive mapping. They can be stored in any shared directory on any computer that networked computers can access.
You might need to edit your scripts to change references to the computer names. For instance, a logon script may reference \\adventure-works-crm\scriptshare\tools to launch an asset tracking tool, but you are planning to migrate that shared folder to the Windows EBS Management Server. This article helps you change references in your scripts to point to the new shared folder location.
If your scripts are not stored in SYSVOL, this migration assists you in moving them to SYSVOL.
| Target State | Benefit | Start State | Action | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Scripts and the files that the scripts use are stored in SYSVOL |
Added reliability and future migrations are automatic |
Scripts are stored in a network share on your network |
See Step-by-Step Migration later in this document |
|
|
Scripts are stored in SYSVOL |
None |
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|
Scripts do not reference the names of any servers for resources (such as files). Instead, they reference resources stored in SYSVOL by using the domain in the file location, for example: \\domainname\SYSVOL\... |
Can decommission existing servers in the future if necessary |
Scripts reference names of existing servers |
See Step-by-Step Migration later in this document |
|
|
Scripts do not reference names of existing servers |
None |
|||
Important
If something goes wrong with this migration, revert all the changes that you made in AD DS to your original set of scripts and files. This requires that you copy files instead of move them (as instructed in Step-by-Step Migration later in this document).
Overview: Migrating roaming profiles, remote home folders, and redirected folders
Roaming profiles allow users’ settings to follow them from one computer to another. Remote home folders are a legacy feature designed to make the upgrade from the Windows NT® Server 4.0 operating system easier. Folder redirection allows users to have their documents and other files follow them from one computer to another.
The data stored by roaming profiles, remote home folders, and redirected folders can be stored anywhere in your server environment. This migration moves these files to Windows EBS and updates AD DS to point to the new location.
| Target State | Benefit | Start State | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
|
All files for roaming profiles, remote home folders, and redirected folders are stored on the Windows EBS Management Server |
Windows EBS integration benefits (such as monitoring and security) |
Files are stored on an existing server on your network |
See Step-by-Step Migration later in this document |
|
Not using AD DS features (no such files exist) |
None |
||
|
User and Group Policy objects reference the files on the Windows EBS Management Server |
Windows EBS integration benefits (such as monitoring and security) |
Objects in AD DS reference data on existing server |
See Step-by-Step Migration later in this document |
|
Not using AD DS features (no such objects exist) |
None |
Important
If something goes wrong with the migration of roaming profiles, remote home folders, or redirected folders, revert all the changes you made in AD DS to your original set of scripts and files.