Evaluate the New Active Directory Forest Structure

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2

Applies to: Active Directory Migration Tool 3.2 (ADMT 3.2)

Evaluate the domain structure of your existing Active Directory forest, and then identify the domains that you want to restructure by consolidating them with other domains. You will also need to:

  • Identify the source domains from which you will migrate objects.

  • Identify and evaluate the organizational unit (OU) structure of the target domain where you will place those objects.

Identify the source domains

The source domains are the domains that you want to migrate objects from and that you plan to decommission. When you restructure Active Directory domains, it is best to migrate the smallest possible number of objects. When you select source domains, identify the domains that have the fewest objects to migrate.

Identify and evaluate the OU structure of the target domain

Identify the OUs from the source domain that you need in the target domain, and then determine whether you have to create new OUs in the target domain.

If you are using the Active Directory Migration Tool (ADMT) in command-line or scripting mode, you can migrate the OU structure when you migrate users, groups, or computers. The OUs are always copied between the domains, and they are not deleted in the source domain. To successfully migrate an OU, you must specify a source OU and a target OU in ADMT, and the target OU must exist. All objects in the source OU and all subordinate OUs are migrated to the target OU. The specified source OU itself is not migrated.

For more information about creating an OU structure, see Designing Organizational Units for Delegation of Administration (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=76628).