P2V Server 2003R2 DC?

[Blue_Cookeh]

Hey,

 

Finally getting around to updating our primary domain controller running 2003R2 up to 2008R2. I was going to P2V it over to our Hyper-V setup, then wipe and install 2008R2 on the physical server and gradually migrate roles across but I'm just wondering about doing a hot P2V of a domain controller? If I do this, am I likely to come across issues with replication and USN rollbacks?

 

How would others do this? The machine in question is our first domain controller that serves primary DNS, DHCP and our main file server.

 

I guess the other, more reliable, option is to setup a new third DC on our Hyper-V setup, migrate everything to that and then migrate everything from that to the new 2008R2 physical server.

 

Thanks

Edited July 12, 2012 by Blue_Cookeh

[glennda]

Personally I would build another as a DC install DHCP and configure and then change the IP of the old one and to the new one and migrate files over after.

 

But normally I wouldn't use a DC as a File Server

[Mcshammer_dj]

build a server in hyper and attach to the domain and make it a domain controller. move all the roles across etc, then p2v the original

[tmcd35]

I wouldn't P2V a DC. You shouldn't really run a DC in a VM, and if you do then definately do not try snapshoting it! If I understand what you are after correctly the best solution might be to build a new domain control in Hyper-V and migrate the roles from the existing DC. Demote the the existing DC, rebuild and migrate the roles back.

 

We run 1 physical and 1 virtual DC here without any problems, but like I say we don't snapshot or other whys back up the VHD. If it came to it we would rebuild the virtual DC from scratch rather than use any VM backups.

[Blue_Cookeh]

I wouldn't P2V a DC. You shouldn't really run a DC in a VM, and if you do then definately do not try snapshoting it! If I understand what you are after correctly the best solution might be to build a new domain control in Hyper-V and migrate the roles from the existing DC. Demote the the existing DC, rebuild and migrate the roles back.

 

We run 1 physical and 1 virtual DC here without any problems, but like I say we don't snapshot or other whys back up the VHD. If it came to it we would rebuild the virtual DC from scratch rather than use any VM backups.

 

Sounds like your setup is quite to our's. We have a virtual 2008R2 DC, which isn't included in our Hyper-V backups, the only thing we'd lose with it is our WSUS updates, which isn't worth a lot.

 

I was going to P2V it to try and minimise the risk of Offline Files screwing up on our client machines, hopefully there won't be a problem if they can't sync for a while though. I don't like using a DC as a file server by any means, but we're a primary with a limited budget and it was here before I arrived!

Edited July 12, 2012 by Blue_Cookeh

[Blue_Cookeh]

OK, because this DC is a file server too, anyone got any ideas how I can go about migrating the shares information easily?

 

All the shared data is on a separate partition to the 2003R2 OS, so (of course, I'll still have backups!) I'm hoping to just leave those partitions as is and recreate the shares and permissions after 2008R2 is installed. So far all the FSMO roles have been migrated (along with DHCP) and the server is now just a member server.

[tmcd35]

Personally I'd P2V the data partition and attatch the resulting vhd to the newly built dc vm as a second drive. Depending on how good your backup software is at retaining permissions a second option is to restore the most recent backups to the vm. If all else fails Robocopy will do the job.

 

Also, this is not a job to rush. Personnally I'd leave the two dc's on the network for a couple of days to make sure replication has happened correctly before demoting the old file server.

 

Also, when you demote the old physical do you want to make sure it is completely removed from DNS and all your scripts, dns entries, dhcp and other setting are pointing to the new server either by name or ip. You don't want users trying to access resources from a server that is no longer there.

Edited July 12, 2012 by tmcd35

[bart21]

Double take will p2v DC's no problem. I have done it.

 

Nick

[Blue_Cookeh]

I didn't bother P2Ving it so I didn't risk the USN rollback, I just built a new virtual DC, transferred all the roles and made a VHD of our data partitions as backups and did a clean 2008R2 install on our physical server, transferring all the roles back and setting up printers/shares again... in fact, the hardest part was getting the damned x86 printer drivers to cooperate under 2008R2.

 

Microsoft's technet articles are very helpful in this kinda situation and everything is replicating just fine etc.