AD domain controller upgrade requirements
Retained observation
Source metadata changed; retained article content is unchanged.
Read the current Microsoft source · Link to this observation · Compare any two versions
Observation details · observed 23 Oct 09:55 UTC
- Observed by ChangeIntel
- 23 Oct 09:55 UTC
- Source update metadata
- 16 Sep 17:33 UTC
- First observed on this installation
- 5 Oct 17:50 UTC
- Last successful check
- today 05:02 UTC
- Next check due
- today 11:02 UTC
Observation time is not publication time, and a comparison does not establish an effective date. Full source bodies are not published; this page holds generated summaries, section headings and, as the page's license allows, Microsoft's changed wording. A documentation edit does not confirm feature availability in an environment.
Watch this page to review its changes in My radar.
Timeline
From the capture of 23 Oct 09:55 UTC- 6 undated sections
- 6 with conditions
- 54 recorded changes
Requirements, exceptions and scope
The recommended way to upgrade a domain is to use a clean OS install to promote new servers to DCs that run a newer version…
Extracted automatically from Microsoft's wording. Confirm dates, conditions and whether they apply to you in the source before acting; a month or quarter is a window, not a day.
How this timeline changed
Changes between ChangeIntel's readings of the page, between commits of its source file where Microsoft publishes it, in Internet Archive copies of pages that keep no other history, and entries from Microsoft's own change log (dated as Microsoft dates them). Edits between readings that neither records are unknown.
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Requirement added Install another DC in an existing domainin Installation actions and required administrative levelsMicrosoft's source, commit d1f9ff7
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No longer on the page Install an additional DC in an existing domainin Installation actions and required administrative levelsMicrosoft's source, commit d1f9ff7
42 earlier changes
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No longer on the page Install an additional DC in an existing domainin Installation actions and required administrative levelsMicrosoft's source, commit 62c6c45
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Requirement added Run adprep /forestprepin Installation actions and required administrative levelsMicrosoft's source, commit 62c6c45
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Requirement added Run adprep /domainprepin Installation actions and required administrative levelsMicrosoft's source, commit 62c6c45
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No longer on the page Run adprep /domainprepin Installation actions and required administrative levelsMicrosoft's source, commit 62c6c45
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Requirement added Install a new forestin Installation actions and required administrative levelsMicrosoft's source, commit 62c6c45
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No longer on the page Install a new domain in an existing forestin Installation actions and required administrative levelsMicrosoft's source, commit 62c6c45
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Requirement added Run adprep /rodcprepin Installation actions and required administrative levelsMicrosoft's source, commit 62c6c45
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No longer on the page Run adprep /domainprep /gpprepin Installation actions and required administrative levelsMicrosoft's source, commit 62c6c45
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Requirement added Run adprep /domainprep /gpprepin Installation actions and required administrative levelsMicrosoft's source, commit 62c6c45
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No longer on the page Run adprep /rodcprepin Installation actions and required administrative levelsMicrosoft's source, commit 62c6c45
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No longer on the page Run adprep /forestprepin Installation actions and required administrative levelsMicrosoft's source, commit 62c6c45
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Requirement added Install an additional DC in an existing domainin Installation actions and required administrative levelsMicrosoft's source, commit 62c6c45
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No longer on the page Install a new forestin Installation actions and required administrative levelsMicrosoft's source, commit 62c6c45
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Requirement added Install a new domain in an existing forestin Installation actions and required administrative levelsMicrosoft's source, commit 62c6c45
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Observed history and review priority
Captured 23 Oct 09:55 UTC; extracted 23 Oct 09:55 UTC. Extractor: microsoft-1/9/d9863eb412f92fa5ec3a8ca32e2dd7cfe8095530f456ecb1866608d1166a435d.
Review priority. Previously extracted guidance is missing from a later capture · Extracted assertions require review · Applicability or exceptions require review
0 date changes and 0 condition changes across 2 compared revisions. Suggested check interval: 6 hours.
Earlier unavailable versions and edits between checks are unknown. A missing statement requires review; it does not mean the policy was cancelled. Recovered historical statements are not original revision snapshots.
Retained observations · 17
Compact evidence remains available after full document bodies expire. Earlier extractions can have different vocabulary or capture limitations.
- 23 Oct 09:55 UTC · 26 candidates
- 12 Oct 19:50 UTC · 26 candidates
- 6 Oct 17:57 UTC · 17 candidates
- 5 Oct 17:50 UTC · 17 candidates
- 16 Sep 09:54 UTC · 26 candidates
- 27 Apr 09:37 UTC · 26 candidates
- 28 May 2025 19:52 UTC · 26 candidates
- 6 Jan 2025 16:31 UTC · 26 candidates
- 11 Dec 2024 16:59 UTC · 26 candidates
- 22 Oct 2024 16:23 UTC · 26 candidates
- 5 Jan 2022 19:46 UTC · 26 candidates
- 3 Jan 2022 23:21 UTC · 26 candidates
- 3 Jan 2022 23:10 UTC · 26 candidates
- 17 Dec 2021 17:05 UTC · 28 candidates
- 17 Dec 2021 15:57 UTC · 28 candidates
- 17 Dec 2021 15:45 UTC · 27 candidates
- 17 Dec 2021 15:37 UTC · 27 candidates
Microsoft's edits
History on GitHubCommits to the page's source in MicrosoftDocs/windowsserverdocs, with Microsoft's own messages. Commit dates can be hours or days before Learn publishes the change. ChangeIntel keeps a copy of each diff, so an edit stays readable here if GitHub stops serving it. Read today 00:34 UTC.
Related public evidence
- Community source · 23 Oct 20267 Best Active Directory Change Auditing Tools
- Community source · 22 Oct 2026Active Directory Explorer: Find Hidden AD Changes Faster
- Community source · 19 Oct 2026Should You Install Certificate Authority on a Domain Controller? PKI Design Best Practices
- Public source · 19 Oct 2026Retiring NTLM: Frequently asked questions
- Public source · 13 Oct 2026Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) Spoofing Vulnerability
- Public source · 13 Oct 2026Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) Spoofing Vulnerability
Retained observations
- 23 Oct 09:55 UTC · shown above
- 12 Oct 19:50 UTC
1 removed passage (18 words). The changed wording mentions dates and deadlines. Review the source to confirm the effect.
- 6 Oct 17:57 UTC
Source metadata changed; retained article content is unchanged.
- 5 Oct 17:50 UTC
Baseline for retained history; no earlier retained text to compare.
What changed
First observed 18 Oct 2026No field changes are shown for this selection.
Cite this recorded revision to keep the same title, summary, facts and links when the page changes.
A day selects the latest observation by the end of that UTC day; today's selection can change until midnight. History starts when this installation records it.