Migrate a domain controller to a new site

100 XP
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Managing sites and subnets is a critical part of managing any corporate domain. Anytime a company expands or alters its footprint, sites may need to be created or adjusted. Imagine that a new location is getting launched soon – What steps might be necessary to hit the ground running?

Creating a new site allows for grouping objects by their physical location. Adding a subnet keeps all of the resources at the new site on the same network (or parts of the network). Finally, migrating a domain controller to the new site helps reduce internet traffic and lag associated with reaching out to a distant site for authentication and authorization queries.

Create a new site

The first step of setting up the new location is creating a new site, so all of the computer, user, and other objects may be associated to the new location.

To create a new site in the Active Directory Sites and Services console:

  1. Open the Active Directory Sites and Services console.
  2. In the console tree, right-click Sites, and then select New Site.
  3. Name the new site, associate it with the appropriate site link, and then click OK.

Alternatively, you can create a new site using the PowerShell command as follows.

PowerShell 
New-ADReplicationSite -Name "Ludington" -Description "Site for new facility in Ludington MI."

Map the new site to a subnet

To assign the newly created site to a subnet:

  1. In the Active Directory Sites and Services console, expand the Sites folder to see the list of sites.
  2. Right-click Subnets and select New Subnet.
  3. Enter the subnet address and mask, and then select the site you created from the drop-down list.
  4. Select OK to associate the subnet with your new site.

To use PowerShell to map a new site to a subnet, you can use the following command.

PowerShell 
New-ADReplicationSubnet -Name "192.168.1.0/24" -Site "Ludington"

Move a domain controller to a new site

To move a domain controller to the new site:

  1. In the Active Directory Sites and Services console, expand the site that currently contains the domain controller you want to move.
  2. Expand the Servers folder, and then expand the server that represents the domain controller.
  3. Right-click the domain controller's NTDS Settings object, and then select Move.
  4. In the Move Server dialog box, select the new site to which you want to move the domain controller, and then select OK.

Just as you can use PowerShell to create a new site and map it to a subnet, you can use PowerShell to move a domain controller.

PowerShell 
Move-ADDirectoryServer -Identity "DC2.WestMI" -Site "Ludington"

Next unit: Manage Active Directory Domain Services operations masters

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