What is involved in changin a domain name. Currently we have 2008r2 and 2003 domain controllers.

Hello, at least a forest/domain functional level of Windows server 2003 and no Exchang higher then Exchange 2003. All newer Exchange versions doesn't support domain rename. Another option is to use ADMT to change a domain name, of course here also Exchange comes into play: http://msmvps.com/blogs/mweber/archive/2010/03/25/migrating-active-directory-to-a-new-forest.aspxBest regards Meinolf Weber Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights.

Hi 2010, Thanks for posting here. After reading your post I understand that you are going to rename your existed active directory . If I misunderstand please let me know. It’s not recommend to rename active directory system, it will cased many odd issues, and we recommend to migration. You may like to promote a new domain and create trust between new domain and old domain ,after that using ADMT utility to migrate object to new domain. Active Directory Migration Tool (ADMT) Guide: Migrating and Restructuring Active Directory Domains http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=6d710919-1ba5-41ca-b2f3-c11bcb4857af Meanwhile, windows is support AD domain rename, but only domain functional level is windows 2003 or above be supported, and if you had deployed Exchange 2010, it is also not supported. Please reference to the article to understand the requirement and limitation of domain rename : Introduction to Administering Active Directory Domain Rename http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc816848(WS.10).aspx Also here are some articles which introduce how it worked : Please noticed that domain rename could cause many odd issues, before you perform this operation in your production environment , please make sure you had correctly tested it in test environment. How Domain Rename Works http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc738208(WS.10).aspx Managing Active Directory Domain Rename http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc794907(WS.10).aspx Renaming domains http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc776542(WS.10).aspx Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Domain Rename Tools http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/bb405948.aspx How to rename a domain http://support.microsoft.com/kb/169741/ Thanks. Tiger LiPlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.