| Step | Reference | |
|---|---|---|
| Carefully plan the changes you want to make. | The Active Directory Programmer's Guide at the Microsoft Web site | |
| Verify that these changes are really necessary. | When to extend the schema | |
| Fully understand the issues involved in extending the schema. | Issues in extending the schema | |
| Fully understand how these new objects and attributes will be managed. | Issues in extending the schema | |
| Determine the proper names for any new schema objects. | Schema object names | |
| Obtain a valid object identifier for each new schema object. | Obtaining valid object identifiers | |
| Understand single master operations. | Single master operations | |
| Join the Schema Admins group. | Add a member to the Schema Admins group | |
| Install the Active Directory Schema snap-in. | Install the Active Directory Schema snap-in | |
| Locate the current schema master. | Identify the schema master | |
| Enable schema modifications on that computer. | Enable this computer to extend the schema | |
| Verify that any previous schema changes have been fully replicated to all domain controllers. | Active Directory support tools | |
| If possible, when testing unproven schema changes, test them in a separate test forest. | ||
| Review the information about extending the schema. | Extending the schema; The Active Directory Programmer's Guide at the Microsoft Web site |