Domain preparation is the third step in preparing Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) for Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

The domain preparation step adds to universal groups the necessary access control entries (ACEs) that grant permissions to host and manage users within the domain. Domain preparation creates ACEs on the domain root and three built-in containers: Users, Computers, and Domain Controllers. If your organization uses custom containers instead of these three built-in containers, see Preparing Active Directory Domain Servicesfor details about how to grant the required permissions.

Domain preparation must be performed once in each domain where you plan to deploy Office Communications Servers and where your Office Communications Server users reside.

Note:
If permissions inheritance is disabled or authenticated user permissions must be disabled in your organization, you must perform additional steps during domain preparation. For details, see Preparing a Locked Down Active Directory Domain Services.

For detailed steps and user rights required to perform domain preparation, see Preparing Active Directory Domain Services.

For details about the ACEs created on the domain root and in the Users, Computers, and Domain Controllers containers, see Changes Made by Domain Preparation.