Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of vegas588
vegas588

asked on

Migrate Away from Single Label Domain Name

Walked in to a bit of a disaster at a new place of work. They have a single label domain name. It is basically ABCNET Running 2003 DC's and Exchange 2003.

Although I see that upgrading to 2008 R2 is supported for SLD's, it is certainly not recommended. Exchange 2010 support for it is also not decided yet. I'm not sure about OCS R2.

If you can, please give me a high level overview of what it would take to migrate to a new domain. I would setup a new subnet, new domain and create a two-way trust between the two. Now what?
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Avatar of PeteJThomas
PeteJThomas
Flag of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland image

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
Oh and I didn't say so in the previous post, but once the migration is complete using the tool, I would wait for a while to ensure that absolutely everything is working in the new domain, then break the trust, ensure there are no follow up problems from doing that, and finally, demote the DC(s) in the old domain to delete the domain completely.

Then you can do whatever you want with the old DC(s), promote them in the new domain, use them as coasters, whatever you like! :)

Pete
Avatar of vegas588
vegas588

ASKER

Thanks for the info. It seems that we may actually try a domain rename procedure instead.
Renaming the domain is not something I would suggest with Exchange involved. I have never seen it work successfully. There is only one recommendation I would make here and that is a completely new domain.

If a single name domain has been used, then it would make me wonder what else has been done that is against best practises.

Simon.
Good Points. Based on the documentation, domain renames are supported with Exchange 2003. I'm not happy with the situation, but that's what it is. I would prefer to go with a new domain too. I think I still need to convince them.
While it is supported, you will find 100s of posts on the Internet where it has gone wrong. If it was a straight forward thing then it would be done more often.

If you do decide to do it, then ensure that you have good backups, because it makes a mess.

Simon.
SOLUTION
Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
I talked with the guys about it and so far it seems that they are on board with a creating a new forest and domain. The best part is they already have the new hardware! But now I have to convince the boss. I agree that a domain rename should work, but I feel like it could lead to a disaster. Safer bet is to migrate to a new domain in which we will use 2008 R2.
Just be sure not to call your new domain something like "domain.int". Then you run into problems with your SSL certificate. I think Mestha has written a blog entry about domain naming(?)
Ok. I think we will use a .local domain name.
I wrote a blog about the names used in an SSL certificate.
The key thing with domain naming is to either use a domain that you own (which can be .com or whatever) or a domain that hasn't been issued - .local for example.
Don't use a public domain that you don't own. That will cause problems.

Simon.