What do you have to do if you did rename a windows 2012 r2 essentials server, than you saw it was not supported?

So Figured, rename it back to the old name:

so added the old computer name with netdom /add

then tried to make primary and get

"Unable to make newname.samedomain.local the primary name for the computer"

"The Error is:" but does not list error

on system properties computer rename is not allow with certificate server installed

is there any other option to get the old server name back I need to avoid a complete reinstall

Hi

 Rename of Essentials does not recommnded you're right,the point is Essentials is the root dc,and also is the Certificate authority (CA).and Domain Controllers configured as a Certificate Authority(CA) cannot be renamed.

https://mizitechinfo.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/simple-guide-how-to-rename-server-2012-ad-host-name/

If you have a successfull backup of your server,try to restore(to orginal name)

Hi,

As mentioned above, rename Essentials(PDC with CA installed) is not recommended.

You may try PowerShell commend line Rename-Computer and then restart to confirm the result. Detailed information about Rename-Computer you may reference:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh849792.aspx

Otherwise, it is better to backup important data and rebuild the server.

Best Regards,
Eve Wang

Hello,

      That renamed worked thank you much, But I do have a backup that pre dates the changes to the computer name? Should I just do I "System State" backup from that time to confirm nothing else was affected that I'm not aware of?

David

Does this method help to setup as .com etc versus default .local?  Best practice apparently is NOT to use .local, but something like AD.DOMAIN.com etc.  Not DOMAIN.com, but a subdomain you own.  Will this be a problem after doing this with Essentials?

QUIT the configuration wizard at startup.

Open the PowerShell as Administrator and write the syntax:
Start-WssConfigurationService -CompanyName MyCompany -DNSName Internal.MyCompamny.com -NetBiosName MyCompany -ComputerName MyServer NewAdminCredential $cred -Setting All

Enter your AD administrator credentials in the window that will appear. This will be the new administrator the same as you configure it in the Essentials server wizard.