Setting the Forest Functional Level

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012

This topic explains how to use the Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell to set the forest functional level.

Example

The following example demonstrates how to set the forest functional level to Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2:

Set-ADForestMode -Identity fabrikam.com -ForestMode Windows2008Forest

or

Set-ADForestMode -Identity fabrikam.com -ForestMode Windows2008R2Forest

Additional information

You can use the following parameters when you set many of the common values that are associated with raising the forest functional level in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS):

  • -Windows2003InterimForest

  • -Windows2003Forest

  • -Windows2008Forest

  • -Windows2008R2Forest

  • -Windows2012Forest

For a full explanation of the parameters that you can pass to Set-ADForestMode , at the Active Directory module command prompt, type Get-Help Set-ADForestMode –detailed , and then press ENTER.

In some cases, a forest functional level can be set to a lower value. For more information, see Understanding Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) Functional Levels.