Changing to a COMPLETELY new domain name : Microsoft, SBS, 2003

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04.17.2008 at 10:05PM PDT, ID: 23333274

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9.1

Changing to a COMPLETELY new domain name

Zone: SBS Small Business Server

Tags: Microsoft, SBS, 2003

I have a client that has had its domain, email, etc. on SBS 2003 under one domain name. However, they have recently been told by another company's legal department that they cannot use that name any longer. So now, they have 6 months to change their whole name to something else.

I am now served with the daunting task of changing this. Externally, I know switching domain names won't be that difficult, it is changing everything internally. Anyone have experience with this or recommend a good whitepaper to follow? I can't start from scratch as there are tons of files, email, etc. stored.

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Question Stats

Zone: OS

Question Asked By: kirk_lesser

Solution Provided By: RobWill

Participating Experts: 4

Solution Grade: A

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04.17.2008 at 10:31PM PDT, ID: 21383493

SonnyHood:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/bb405948.aspx
Here is a microsoft domain rename tool.
And theres a few instruction files on the right hand pane.

04.17.2008 at 10:59PM PDT, ID: 21383559

Rank: Sage

RobWill:

You cannot rename the domain, or the server name with SBS. I am afraid this requires a complete rebuild.
This is due to the fact that SBS integrates so many components such as Sharepoint, Exchange, external services, as well as active directory and DNS.

04.17.2008 at 11:00PM PDT, ID: 21383562

Rank: Sage

RobWill:

ps- should you require confirmation.
http://www.howtonetworking.com/sbs/sbsdomainname1.htm

Accepted Solution

04.17.2008 at 11:05PM PDT, ID: 21383573

Shedding:

I agree with RobWill. What services are you running on these servers (IIS, Exchange, file server, etc). This way we can figure out how time consuming this will be (notice I didn't say difficult.. this won't be as hard as you think. It will just take time)

04.17.2008 at 11:32PM PDT, ID: 21383645

Rank: Sage

RobWill:

>>"It will just take time"
Sorry but no, it wil 'break' the server.

04.18.2008 at 01:13AM PDT, ID: 21383978

Shedding:

Well.. right rob, his old server is gone. What I was thinking is the amount of time he will have to invest to get a new domain up and running with the current services. If he has a lot of people joined to the domain (20+ people) he is in for a LONG weekend.

04.18.2008 at 03:03AM PDT, ID: 21384443

Rank: Master

kieran_b:

I agree with Rob, do a complete rebuild from scratch and manually port your data over.

Building an SBS domain is remarkably easy - you could have it all done in 2 days, if you take your time (and are by yourself)

04.18.2008 at 03:04AM PDT, ID: 21384448

Rank: Master

kieran_b:

but I gotta ask, who is this other company that can decide what your internal domain name is? I mean, I could make my internal domain google.com if I really wanted to, and they could spin if they think I would change it (i would just have ALL kinds of name resolution issues, but you get the point)

04.18.2008 at 02:37PM PDT, ID: 21389838

kirk_lesser:

Ok, I will check out the articles, thanks. But if the internal domain name is the same as external... let's just say it is acme.com externally and acme.local internally, but if the external changes, I will then need to change all the internal email addresses to be the newacme.com addresses. Is this just as easy as switching the recipient policy to have newacme.com included? I would think it would raise a bunch of issues that way.

They just need to change their company name for legal reasons, but I am not sure if this covers internal use of the old name (non-public facing).

04.18.2008 at 02:38PM PDT, ID: 21389845

kirk_lesser:

In answer to your other question..They are using Exchange, Sharepoint, RPC over HTTP, VPN. The only thing not hosted internally is their website.

04.18.2008 at 02:47PM PDT, ID: 21389893

Rank: Master

kieran_b:

There is no link between external and internal domains, you could modify the recipient policy and that would sort out Exchange. What else that would break in SBS, I don't know - but it can't be much.

04.18.2008 at 02:58PM PDT, ID: 21389956

Rank: Sage

RobWill:

>>"recently been told by another company's legal department that they cannot use that name any longer."
What exactly does that mean? Can you continue to use it, but not make it visible for any public services? You can run a second domain under exchange, and change the external domain name as you said, for web, sharepoint, VPN, etc. However, if you can no longer use it internally for the LAN, you have no choice but a re-build with SBS. If it were standard 2003 you can change it.

@ kieran_b where were you this week?
I had hoped to meet you in Seattle :-) Maybe next year ?
Sorry to hijack your post Kirk.

04.18.2008 at 03:02PM PDT, ID: 21389986

kirk_lesser:

Robwill,

Hijack this post again and it will viewed as an act of terrorism :)

I talked with the company and they said it looks like the other company just wants any public facing names changed. SO, I can rename the external domain names to point to the same IP addresses as before, redo the certificate for RPC o/ HTTP, and then just setup a new recipient policy for the new company name or is there anything else? With the policy changed, they can then have their primary email addresses be the new company name for when they send outside the company, right?

04.18.2008 at 04:02PM PDT, ID: 21390261

Rank: Sage

RobWill:

Basically yes to all of the above. That will work fine. Working with 2 e-mail domains with SBS can be a little different, so you may want to review the following article by Sean Daniel; "Hosting multiple domains on SBS 2003"
http://sbs.seandaniel.com/2004/10/hosting-multiple-domains-on-sbs-2003.html

04.19.2008 at 10:36PM PDT, ID: 21395118

Shedding:

Here is another one for you. You will probably have to move your sharepoint database.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894164/en-us

Assisted Solution

05.08.2008 at 12:59PM PDT, ID: 21527954

kirk_lesser:

Ok, so they want to completely wipe the server and start fresh. I am ordering another SBS server to get it built up.

Questions:

1) Can I just backup (through Retrospect) the mailbox store and copy it over, or should I have them copy their mail to a PST or would an Exmerge be best?
2) I know I will be able to restore their data (without the security rights) to the new server and recreate the rights, correct?
3) They have a BES server on here as well. I will reinstall on the new server, but I should be able to redo the Activation code for them to reconnect or is there more?
4) Certificate will be redone with the new domain name. I know they will have to install the new one for the RPC o HTTP services. (Ok not a question)

05.08.2008 at 01:08PM PDT, ID: 21528030

Rank: Sage

RobWill:

1) I don't think so but someone else would be better qualified to comment. Regardless I'd have them copy the e-mail to a pst and/or use exmerge to export it.
2) Correct.
3) Copy your BES user licenses before destroying the old server. Is it a free version? If so, if you can't re-activate just get a new copy & probably new version.

Assisted Solution

05.13.2008 at 01:08PM PDT, ID: 21558803

Rank: Sage

RobWill:

Thanks kirk_lesser.
Cheers !
--Rob

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