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In my environment, I currently have three domain controllers. My main DC is running on 2012R2 and the other two are running on 2016. The current domain functional level is 2008R2 and the Functional level is 2003. I don't know why it's this way as I just found this out today.

I read that all DCs need to be on the same version of Windows server but obviously, this is not happening in my environment. Can I raise my DFL and FFL to Windows Server 2012R2 while my other two DCs are running on 2016 with no issues?

mrlljones
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1 Answers1

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Yes you can without issue.

Raising those level will give you more options, please refer to that documentation

To quote the article;

Windows Server 2012R2

Supported Domain Controller Operating System:

Windows Server 2019
Windows Server 2016
Windows Server 2012 R2
yagmoth555
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    Thanks for the info. Also, once I change the DFL and FFL, is this going to cause me to have to restart the DC or no? If so, I may need to do this after hours. – mrlljones Dec 16 '20 at 15:30
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    I did it multiple time and it don't need any restart. Just make sure you are at the level of your lower DC, like for you it's 2012R2. – yagmoth555 Dec 16 '20 at 15:43
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    I went ahead and raised both the DFL and FFL raised to 2012r2 with no issues. – mrlljones Dec 16 '20 at 16:07