We are planning to setup an Exchange Server on our VM Servers, but first we have to change our FQDN from our exsiting one to a new FQDN, we are looking for the best solution with the least amount of down time. We are considering these two option: - Microsoft step by step guide to renaming our Domain Controller o Can we use this process with a single Domain Controllerin a single forest? Or - Rebuild our Domain Controller and Exchange under the new FQDN and use Active Directory Migration Tool. Any help or suggestion would be grateful.

The clean build is recommended It’s always not recommended to do that on the Exchange Server. Exchange Server 2000/2003 is highly integrated into AD, if the name has been renamed, it may cause unexpected result. For example, Exchange Information Store service cannot be started after renaming since the attributes of a lot objects in AD will use the name of the Exchange 2003 server; the second, Exchange Server will not identify this Exchange workstation after renaming so that mail flow will not work properlyJames Luo TechNet Subscriber Support (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/ms788697.aspx) If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com