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Question about replacement of a single DC in a small network

Chris Claessens 20 Reputation points
2023-06-11T10:24:10.6133333+00:00

Hello everyone,

I have to replace a single domain controller in a small business network. Since the network is very small, instead of promoting a new DC in the network and then having to demote the original DC and deal with the whole cleanup and migration of services, I was wondering if it could be done like this.

I was wondering if I could prepare a new DC with the same name and IP address, and install it with the exact same domain name, users, shares, printers, ... preparing it exactly the same as the current DC is now. Then onsite I could make all user profiles local, temporarily remove the workstations from the current domain into a workgroup, shut down the old DC, boot up the new DC, and then join the workstations again to the domain on the new DC.

Would the workstations reuse the former domain profile from the old DC when they are joined to the 'new' domain with the same name, thus saving time because all user settings would be preserved this way (would save a lot of time)? Or would they still see this as a different domain (although the domain name is exactly the same)? Might this be causing any problems?

I've never done it like this myself. Anyone who did this before?

Kind regards,

Chris

Windows for business | Windows Server | User experience | Other
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  1. Anonymous
    2023-06-11T13:04:19.8133333+00:00

    Would the workstations reuse the former domain profile from the old DC

    No, it doesn't work like that. Even though the domain name is the same under the hood it is a new domain. One option here is logon to the new domain once then logon to the pc with another account that has local administrative rights, navigate to
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

    find the new profile and point the Reg_Expand_Sz string named ProfileImagePath to the old domain profile.

    and deal with the whole cleanup and migration of services

    Not sure what is meant here.

    The two prerequisites to introducing the first 2019 or 2022 domain controller are that domain functional level needs to be 2008 or higher and older sysvol FRS replication needs to have been migrated to DFSR

    I'd use dcdiag / repadmin tools to verify health correcting all errors found before starting any operations. Then stand up the new 2019 or 2022, patch it fully, license it, join existing domain, add active directory domain services, promote it also making it a GC (recommended), transfer FSMO roles over (optional), transfer pdc emulator role (optional), use dcdiag / repadmin tools to again verify health, when all is good you can decommission / demote old one.

    --please don't forget to upvote and Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--

    1 person found this answer helpful.

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