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Demote a domain controller

George Ntavelis 66 Reputation points
2021-08-02T20:28:11.56+00:00

Hello!

We have 4 domain controllers in total (2 production site / 2 disaster recovery site). One of the two that they are located to DR stopped out of the blue to install the windows updates. I tried almost everything that i could found over the internet and nothing help me to solve it. So i took the decision to create a new virtual machine with the role of a domain controller and demote the one that is broken.

My question is this... If i will demote the dc can i reuse its name and ip for the new virtual machine or i will have issues with the AD or AD site and services? Could you please let me know?

Thank you in advance

Active Directory
Active Directory
A set of directory-based technologies included in Windows Server.
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  1. Fan Fan 15,326 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2021-08-02T23:34:38.92+00:00

    Hi,

    Yes, we can reuse the name and IP address for the new DC.
    This method is used in many situations

    Let's name the old DC： DC1,
    To rename DC to preserve OLD Name and IP address, following steps for your reference:

    Removing AD and Domain Services Role from DC1
    Rename to DC1-OLD
    IP change
    Turn Off

    Rename New DC to DC1
    Assign the old IP to this new DC1.
    Install the Domain Services role and promote it to DC.

    Best Regards,

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  1. George Ntavelis 66 Reputation points
    2021-08-03T07:44:35.05+00:00

    Thank you FanFan :) I will try this today and i will let you know! Do i have to do something with the metadata of the dc that i will demote?

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