All,We are planning a migration to Exchange in our environment, and as part of that procedure, would it be possible to pre-install the schema updates to AD for Exchange 2003 or 2007? We have a maintenance window coming up, and we're trying to make sure that we take advantage of that window to perform any and all pre-Exchange installation steps. I know that with our past messaging solution, we pre-loaded the schema updates into the directory, and that gave us the leeway to then install the various components for testing outside of the standard maintenance window.And yes, schema updates to the AD forest are considered a primary/major maintenance window only option, and that comes once a month. So, its makes sense to do so if we can, and if the Exchange installer would even allow us to do so.Another item of which we are unsure regards the mode of our forest. Currently we are in a Windows 2003 transition mode level for our AD, and it appears that moving to Exchange 2007 will require a pure native mode forest. Can anyone confirm that to be the case?Thanks in advance!David Reagan

Hi David, Yes, you can update the schema and prepare your AD for Exchange 2007 deployment. Follow below article for further information... How to Prepare Active Directory and Domains http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb125224(EXCHG.80).aspx The ActiveDirectory domain functional level must be Windows2000Server-native or higher for all domains in the ActiveDirectory forest where you will install Exchange2007. Additionally, you can verify the checklist for your Exchange 2007 deployment Planning Checklist http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb125239(EXCHG.80).aspx

Thanks for the info. After posting my question, I found the answers I needed within the exact documentation that you described. Looks like I can do exactly what I need to once I obtain a native mode level within the forest.Thanks again!David Reagan

My pleasure David