Moving Domain

[kmcallister]

Hello everyone, I have a client who's admin just left on bad terms and hosed the win2k3 server really bad. I have one night to replace the current DC with a new one but I need some guidance.

Current Domain is abc.com and new domain is abc.local
I have to move about 55 users and exchange 2003 mailbox over to the new domain.

Is there an easy way to move the users and mailbox over to the new domain in bulk?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

KM

 

[ShackDaddy]

You may be able to "swing" this situation and not have to touch the desktops at all, but to do so will require you to stick with the old domain name. You would set up the new server as an additional DC to the existing, and once AD info is replicated, you would disconnect it and migrate the Exchange store and file shares separately.

Your ability to successfully do a swing will depend on how badly the existing server is screwed up though.

The mail may end up being the most difficult part because your organization names are different. Could you just use 'abc.com' for your new domain name too? That could save you a lot of work, and using the public name internally is actually a better practice than using .local, no matter what all the certified "experts" say, as long as you understand basic DNS.

Dave Shackelford
MCSE, CCNA, Microsoft MVP: Exchange
Shackelford Consulting

 

[kmcallister]

AD on the existing server was totally trashed. Just went ahead and created the new domain and started over from scratch. Took some time but it is done.

Thanks for your assistance.

KM