AD domain name change

[HodgeHi]

Hello all,

As most of you know by now i have an Active Direct 2003 domain with an OS X 10.5.5 Server in the mix. I have dual booting iMac systems running XP with SP3 and OS X 10.5.5.

My AD has the DNS and DHCP roles. I have two DCs and the sims.net server is a member server. All servers are running server 2003 r2.

We are in the middle of having a new school built for us and will be ready for the new academic year. But the school is changing name as well.

So how would i go about changing over the domains as well including the DNS zones?

I have found a site mentioning the AD domain renaming tools but as yet have to find out more info on the DNS. I think that this will be the hardest bit? I'm not too sure.

TIA

[Michael]

This should help you out. On the right are step by step documents how to make the change.

As for DNS what (if anything) do you need to change?

[HodgeHi]

Sorry i haven't responded sooner. Do I not need to change the DNS records for the SOA and NS entries or will these change as part of the AD rename procedure? I confess that i have not read the docs yet. But i will be doing so very soon.

Just would like to clarify the general method before i read the docs as i don't like reading MS guides much. I find them difficult to grasp sometimes

[Michael]

If it's simply a domain rename you shouldn't have to touch DNS. Only if you were physically moving the server to another site or changing the server role.

[HodgeHi]

The server is being moved to a different location as well as having the domain renamed.

[Michael]

So does this new site have an existing DC?

[HodgeHi]

No. All the servers that are currently here are being moved to the new location. Our whole school is re-locating.

[Michael]

You shouldn't have to adjust anything in DNS from what you're saying. The recommended approach would be to get all servers in place (and initially, as many workstations as possible) and test the configuration. I'd worry about renaming the domain later once things are settled.

[ChrisH]

Read the docs. It is not simply a case of changing the DNS entries. You will be using an extra tool to do this as well as creating new zones with your new domain name.

[apeo]

No done it myself but from what ive read changing the Domain name isnt a good idea. Its doable but can cause strange errors. Its not something that is recommended.