SBS2008 Migration: Source Tool may fail to ADPREP on Source Server (SBS 2003).

[Today’s post comes to us courtesy Girish Rajan and Ketan Upgade.]

During migration, one of the most important steps on the source server is running the Source Tool also know as Migration Preparation Tool. The Source Tool does the following things;

1> Runs Adprep.exe, which extends the AD DS schema and updates permissions as necessary to prepare a forest and domain for a domain controller that runs Windows SBS 2008. The AD DS schema in Windows SBS 2008 is not the same as the AD DS schema in Windows SBS 2003 or in Windows Server 2003. To successfully complete the migration process, you must update the AD DS schema on the Source Server if it is running Windows SBS 2003 or Windows Server 2003.

Important : You should back up your Source Server before you run the Migration Preparation Tool. All changes that the Migration Preparation Tool makes to the schema are irreversible. If you experience issues during the migration, the only way to return the Source Server to the state before you ran the Migration Preparation Tool is to restore the system backup.

2> Installs an update that extends the time limit for finishing the migration. Normally, only one server running Windows SBS 2008 or Windows SBS 2003 is allowed to be a domain controller on your network, but there is a limited exception for a migration. The update extends the time limit for the exception to 21 days.

3> Prepares the server to migrate from Exchange Server 2003. For the migration to succeed, Exchange Server must be in native mode, not mixed mode. For more information about converting from mixed mode to native mode, see “How to convert from mixed mode to native mode in Exchange” at the Microsoft Web Site (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=104943).

The Source Tool may fail to complete successfully because ADPREP fails.

You may see the following error in the SourceTool.log;

01/14/2009 10:50:53 Adprep returned: UnableToModifyError(6)
01/14/2009 10:50:53 Skipping domain prep, since ADPrep failed.

If you run adprep manually you may get the following error message;

Error message: C:\WINDOWS\debug\adprep\logs\20080923153448\LDIF.log The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.
(0x80070020).
[User Action]
Check the log file ADPrep.log, in the C:\WINNT\debug\adprep\logs\2008092315344 8 directory for more information.

You may also see the following errors in adprep.log;

[Status/Consequence]

Error message: Error(110) while running ""C:\WINDOWS\system32\LDIFde.exe" -o ObjectGuid –d "CN=interSiteTransportContainer-Display,CN=404,CN=DisplaySpecifiers,CN=Configuration,DC=BrinkerTechnology,DC=local" -u -f "C:\DOCUME~1\ADMINI~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\TMP2BA2.tmp" -j "C:\WINDOWS\debug\adprep\logs\20090114112842" -s bt-1.BrinkerTechnology.local". Could not move file C:\WINDOWS\debug\adprep\logs\20090114112842\LDIF.err to C:\WINDOWS\debug\adprep\logs\20090114112842\DisplaySpecifierUpgradeLdifError.001.txt. The system cannot find the file specified.

(0x80070002).

At this point, even if you run DCDIAG and NETDIAG they might not show any obvious errors.

RESOLUTION:

Important: To run the Migration Preparation Tool, you must be a member of the Enterprise Admins group, the Schema Admins group, and the Domain Admins group. Check this first!

If you have any Antivirus Software Running, its likely that the AV might be using these files. Disable them completely, as in stop the services. If that does not help, try uninstalling them.

The Source Tool should run successfully now.

Related KB: SBS 2008 Migrations Fail When The Migration Preparation Tool Has Not Been Run
https://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2008/12/19/sbs-2008-migrations-fail-when-the-migration-preparation-tool-has-not-been-run.aspx