Promoting a member server to DC

I need to promote a member server to a domain controller. It is currently configured as a File and Print server. There is another DC on the WAN at another location, and we need to be able to provide authentication at our site. If anyone has performed this task before I would appreciate any words of wisdom that you which you would have had before this venture.

OS: Windows Server 2003 Standard

Thank you,
Stephanie

My info is a bit outdated on this so I hope I'm not out of scope.

First make sure you set the server's primary DNS to the IP of the Active Directory enabled DNS server you have. (which is probably the other DC's IP). Then Dcpromo is the command you need to join or create a domain controller. If you run it without any parameters, a wizard will popup and guide you through it.

This is a step by step guide: www.petri.co.il/how_to_install_active_di..._on_windows_2003.htm

A few other things to keep in mind:

If you're operating on an Active Directory forest, you may want to designate this newly promoted domain controller as a global catalog.

If you're WAN physical topology is reflected in Active Directory Sites and Services, you'll want to make sure that the newly promoted domain controller goes into the appropriate site.

You may also want to do this during non-business hours as the replication traffic to the newly promoted domain controller may consume all of the bandwidth on the WAN point-to-point connection.