Changing Domain Name

[fiza]

Not sure if this is the right forum - MODs please move if its not.

 

We are looking to change our external domain name from "school.borough.sch.uk" to "school.org.uk". Our internal domain has always been (way before my time) "domain.school.borough.sch.uk". Is it possible to change internal domain names? or would we have to start from scratch? Is there any need?

[Norphy]

Domains can be renamed:

 

Domain Rename Technical Reference: Active Directory

 

However, there is no need for your external domain name to reflect your internal one. Unless you're really obsessive about these things, I really wouldn't bother.

[CapnPugwash]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I'm in the same boat. Our current domain is SchoolName.County.sch.uk & we are in the process of changing the school name. If I understand this correctly I will need to:

 

* Buy new domain names (for the website, Moodle and Exchange OWA)

* Buy new SSL's for all three new names

* Sort it out with our ISP re: redirecting traffic to the new sites

 

The post above suggests I might not have to change my internal domain name... ?

I think I'd rather it matched the name change but if it's a mountain of bother then I might not be so keen!

[Norphy]

You will need to buy a new domain name (e.g. goat.com) unless you want each service to under separate ones (sheep.com, llama.com)

 

For your website/moodle/OWA, you will need to create three A records in there (www, moodle, owa) and have them point at the IP address of each respective service or at the IP address of your website publisher/load balancer.

 

You can either buy a certificate per service or buy a wildcard certificate (*.goat.com). Getting a wildcard means you won't have to buy another certificate if you publish another service but it does cost considerably more to buy so you need to look at what's better value.

 

In theory, renaming your internal active directory domain is supposed to be a straightforward process but at the same time, I take the philosophy of "Why create work for yourself?". It depends on how much you want it all to match I suppose.

[sonofsanta]

Our internal and external domains have never matched. There's no need at all for them to match, and given that no-one really sees your internal domain name except you, why risk breaking anything?

 

New external address is easy: purchase the domain name from a reseller of your choice (GoDaddy, whoever). You will have access to DNS records for this domain where you can create lots of A records, as @Norphy says.

 

SSL cert: instead of getting a wildcard certificate, you can get a UCC certificate that allows you to cover up to five/ten/however-many-you-pay-for subdomains in one certificate. It's not quite as flexible as a wildcard, as you're limited on numbers and everytime you add a new service to need to update the certificate everywhere it's used, but it is cheaper than a full wildcard cert. We use one, and the only time it's changed is when we installed HAP+ and needed a new files.school.org subdomain on the certificate.

[CapnPugwash]

Our internal and external domains have never matched. There's no need at all for them to match, and given that no-one really sees your internal domain name except you, why risk breaking anything?

 

That's great. I'll leave that be. Everything else looks easy enough, I think we can buy our domain names & certs through the County, who are also our broadband suppliers, so it *should* be plain sailing

[maark]

It is possible to change internal domain name though a bit nerve wracking - did it here ok. If you do so then it would be school holiday time as there is a bit involved cleaning up dns etc.