To prepare Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) for your Office Communications Server deployment, you must perform three steps in sequence.

Important:
Before you begin the steps to prepare AD DS for your deployment, it is important to consider where you want to store the global settings for Office Communications Server, because the location can affect performance. You select the location for global settings in the forest preparation step. For details about making the selection, see Deciding Where to Store Global Settings.

The following table describes the steps required to prepare Active Directory Domain Services for Office Communications Server.

Active Directory Preparation Steps

Step Description Where run

1.

Schema Preparation

Extends the Active Directory schema by adding new classes and attributes that are used by Office Communications Server

Against the schema master in the root domain of each forest where Office Communications Server will be deployed

Note:
You do not need to run this step in the root domain if you have permissions on the schema master. In a resource forest topology, run this step only in the resource forest, not in any user forests. In a central forest topology, run this step only in the central forest, not in any user forests.

2.

Forest Preparation

Creates global settings and universal groups that are used by Office Communications Server

In the root domain of each forest where Office Communications Server will be deployed

Note:
You do not need to run this step in the root domain if you have the proper user rights. For details about the user rights required for this procedure, see Preparing Active Directory Domain Services. In a resource forest topology, run this step only in the resource forest, not in any user forests. In a central forest topology, run this step only in the central forest, not in any user forests.

3.

Domain Preparation

Adds permissions on objects to be used by members of universal groups

On a member server in each domain where Office Communications Server will be deployed

Changes for Office Communications Server 2007 R2

In Office Communications Server 2007 R2, you run the same Active Directory preparation steps that you did for Live Communications Server 2005 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) and for Office Communications Server 2007. However, there are some changes in the steps. This section identifies the changes for Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

Forest Preparation Changes

The forest preparation step includes the following changes:

  • New containers are added under the RTC Service object:

    • Application Contacts

    • Location Contact Mappings

    • Conference Directories

  • New presence policies and settings are added to Global Settings:

    • Default Policy

    • Service: Medium

  • The default location for global settings is changed from the System container to the Configuration container.

  • The minimum supported forest functional level is changed from Windows 2000 native to Windows Server 2003.

Domain Preparation Changes

The domain preparation step includes the following changes:

  • Permissions are granted to the new resources added in the forest.

  • The minimum supported domain functional level is changed from Windows 2000 native to Windows Server 2003.

See Also