Copy/clone my virtual DC from one cluster to another

Question

I’m trying to get some answers here even though the underlying architecture is VMware. We have two separate VMware clusters, each with its own vCenter, and they don’t communicate with each other. Now, I need to copy the current domain controller from one cluster to the other.

The plan is not to "clone" it in the traditional sense but rather to power it off, copy/clone it to the other cluster, and power it on again with the same IP and hostname, the source i copied it from will never be turned on again.

I’ve come across documentation about cloning domain controllers, which mentions adding the server to the AD group for domain controller cloning. However, is that necessary in this case? The original DC will never be powered on again. Additionally, there’s another physical DC that holds the FSMO roles, and several others DC`s on the network.

DC`s er 2022

I know i can decommission the server, and create a new one with the same hostname and ip, but was hoping not... what would you do ?

Thanks for any reply

/R

Andreas

Answer 1

Hey,

Shutdown the VM and copy/move it to a new cluster. Boot the VM and test that everything works as it should. You should not face any issues.

You can also try to configure cross-vCenter vmotion to move your DC without downtime. https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/com.vmware.vsphere.vcenterhost.doc/GUID-DAD0C40A-7F66-44CF-B6E8-43A0153ABE81.html

As another option, you can use StarWind V2V Converter to move the VM to another cluster.
https://www.starwindsoftware.com/starwind-v2v-converter

Cheers,

Alex Bykovskyi

StarWind Software

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Answer 2

This should work - assuming that this is the only domain controller in a single domain forest.

Microsoft DC cloning is meant to be used in different scenarios (deploying an additional DC in the existing domain).

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hth

Marcin

Answer 3

Thanks for reply @Marcin Policht

Its not the only DC in the single domain forest.

So does it work just to shutdown the machine, do a clone and boot it up on the other vcenter cluster ? Or will the DC get issues and force me into dsrm and cause issues with the domain ?

/R

Andreas