How do I verify that my forest and domain has been successfully prepared for Windows Server 2003

This is a frequently asked question the Active Directory newsgroups, so I thought it was worth a blog post.

To determine if adprep successfully have prepared the forsest and the domain (/forestPrep and /domainPrep) look for the objects below:

CN=Windows2003Update,CN=ForestUpdates,CN=Configuration,DC=X (Should exist if the forest has been successfully prepared)

CN=Windows2003Update,CN=DomainUpdates,CN=System,DC=X (Should exist in each domain that has been successfully prepared)

If you know/have the DC that adprep was executed on left, You can check those log files, they give a more detailed explanation of the adprep process. C:\Windows\debug\adprep.

In fact running adprep again can be used as a verification process, as the tool itself will notify you that the process has only been run once and doesn't need to be rerun.

By the way, it's about time to move away from Windows 2000 DCs these days J