pse hlp: Restore W2K3 Active Directory on new Server w/ different Hardware

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From: Ralf Demelhuber (saudepp_at_gmx.de)
Date: 10/27/04 

Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2004 00:36:16 +0200

Hi there,

i am briefed to migrate a customer system which actually
runs on outdated hardware (HP ML370G1) to new Hardware
(HP ML350G4).
The problem is that i cannot perform the recommended
way of migration (join the new server in the domian,
move the FSMO Roles, demote and erase the old
server...) because i'll have to do the setup of
the new machine w/o having access to the old machine
as it is located in a different location and the live
server ist used until the switch is done to the then
readily-installed new Server (by simply switching the
VPN...). So i'll have to do some kind of AD-only
restore like in a disaster recovery scenario.

Unfortunately this way of AD restoration is not well
documented (in contrast, the move server method is,
indeed...). I tried already to install the new server
in my lab, give it the same name as the live server,
configure DNS the same as the live server and then
do a restore of the latest system state backup on
the new server. The result as expected was a major
bluescreen on first bootup, since the controller/
disk config is different on the two machines. As
stated in some KB article i did a repair install of
the OS and then it booted up but immediately asked
for reactivating the OS. Having restored the registry
as part of the system state, there where many further
problems, mainly caused by software that was installed
on the live server and isn't on the new one. I don't
think that this is a good basis for a newly setup live
system. So now i am looking for a way to just restore
the AD on the new Server, without all the other things
that are among the system state backup file and are not
needed on the new server. The DNS on the live server is
configured as AD integrated, so restoring just AD
should be sufficient.

I also tried to restore the system state backup to an
alternate location on the new server, and then (in AD
restore safe mode) switching the ntds.dit and the log
file from alternate restore location. After rebooting
i got an error 0xc000002e1 DS could be started, and i
must restart the server again to AD restore safe mode.
I even tried to repair AD after switching the files by
 using the esentutl /p but no success there.

Is there any way to restore the AD to the new server
that could work in my situation?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Ralf

Relevant Pages

  • Re: test environment windows 2003
    ... an authorative restore after the demote and system state restore. ... Remove the physical cable for the new pc and build the member server ... At a command prompt type in NTBACKUP and do a system state backup saving ... Master Operation roles (FSMO and the File Replication service). ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.active_directory)
  • Re: Exchange Server Restore From Backup - Help Needed
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