After you prepare the schema (by using the SchemaPrepaction), your next step is to prepare the Active Directory forest for Office Communications Server. All forest preparation actions require forest Enterprise Admins or root Domain Admins credentials.

If connectivity to the root domain is unreliable, when you run the ForestPrepaction, specify the configuration partition as the value for the /Globalparameter, because activation of server roles requires access to the root domain (where the global settings are stored). Access to the root domain is also necessary for the server to function properly, unless you select Configurationas the Globalvalue.

Note:
For details about preparing forests, see Preparing Active Directory Domain Services for Office Communications Server 2007 R2in the Deployment documentation.

Preparing the Forest

You prepare the forest by specifying the ForestPrepaction. If the /GroupDomainparameter is not specified, the value defaults to the local domain.

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LCSCmd.exe /Forest[:<forest FQDN>] /Action:ForestPrep

Such as:

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LCSCmd.exe /Forest /Action:ForestPrep

Use the same command, but with the /Globalsyntax, to specify global settings as follows.

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LCSCmd.exe /Forest /Action:ForestPrep
[/Global:{system|configuration}] [/GroupDomain :<FQDN of the
domain to create the universal groups in>]

Such as:

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LCSCmd.exe /Forest /Action:ForestPrep /Global:system

Check the Forest Preparation

After preparing the forest, check that the ForestPrepaction was successful by running the following action.

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LCSCmd.exe /Forest[:<forest FQDN>]
/Action:CheckForestPrepState

Such as:

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LCSCmd.exe /Forest /Action:CheckForestPrepState

Before the forest has been prepared, the log generated by CheckForestPrepStatewill show a Forest Setting of Not Ready. After the forest has been successfully prepared the Forest Setting will be Ready.

You must have Forest Enterprise Admins or root Domain Admins credentials to perform this task.

Unprep a Forest

The ForestUnprepaction removes prior Office Communications Server forest preparations such as objects, containers, and extended property rights. The following command runs the ForestUnprepaction.

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LCSCmd.exe /Forest[:<forest FQDN>] /Action:ForestUnprep

Such as:

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LCSCmd.exe /Forest:contoso.com /Action:ForestUnprep

By default, ForestUnprepwill not proceed if any previously prepared child domains exist on the forest root. However, you can use the /Forceswitch to make ForestUnprepproceed; this causes all deployed Office Communications Servers to stop functioning. Use the following syntax and parameters to force a ForestUnprepaction.

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LCSCmd.exe /Forest[:<forest FQDN>] /Action:ForestUnprep
[/Force[:{TRUE|FALSE}]]

Such as:

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LCSCmd.exe /Forest:contoso.com /Action:ForestUnprep /Force

For details about forest actions, such as adding pools or creating global settings, see Preparing Enterprise Pools for Office Communications Server.

Check Domain State Within a Forest

The CheckAllDomainsPrepStateaction verifies that all domains within a forest—and their respective connections, objects, groups, permissions and so forth—were successfully prepared. Run the LCSCmd.exe action as follows.

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LCSCmd.exe /Forest[:<forest FQDN>]
/Action:CheckAllDomainsPrepState

Such as:

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LCSCmd.exe /Forest /Action:CheckAllDomainsPrepState