Important:
If Active Directory replication of the schema preparation changes has not completed, an error occurs. Wait for replication to complete or force replication before performing the forest preparation procedure.

You might want to decide where to store global settings before starting this procedure. If connectivity to the root domain is unreliable, select the Configuration partition. For details about selecting the location, see Deciding Where to Store Global Settings.

You must be a member of the EnterpriseAdmins group for the forest root domain to perform this procedure.

Tip:
For a description of the universal groups and the global settings and objects created by forest preparation, see Changes Made by Forest Preparation.
Important:
If you are currently using Office Communications Server 2007 and the forest preparation for Office Communications Server 2007 R2 fails, the rollback might remove access control lists (ACLs) that are required for Office Communications Server 2007 to work properly. If this problem occurs, run Office Communications Server 2007 forest preparation again to restore the missing ACLs, and then run forest preparation for Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

To prepare the forest

  1. Log on to a computer that is joined to a domain, and open the command prompt.

  2. At the command line, run:

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    LcsCmd.exe /forest /action:ForestPrep 
    /global:[system|configuration] 
    [/groupdomain:<FQDN of the domain to create the universal groups
    in>]
    

    Where /globalspecifies the location where you want to store the global settings for Office Communications Server.

    If you do not specify the /groupdomainparameter, the value defaults to the local domain. For example:

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    LcsCmd.exe /forest /action:ForestPrep /global:configuration
    

To verify that forest preparation was successful

  1. Log on to a computer that is joined to a domain and on which you have the appropriate administrative rights.

  2. At the command line, run:

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    LcsCmd.exe /forest /action:CheckForestPrepState
    
  3. Wait for Active Directory replication to complete, or force replication to all domain controllers listed in the Active Directory Sites and Servicessnap-in for the forest root domain controller, before running domain preparation.