Demoting 2008 DC with Exchange 2007

Hey Guys,
Need some advice on a piece of a project I have been working on. Have any of you attempted to demote a Domain Controller that has had Exchange running on it? If so, was it a success or nightmare?

What I'm attempting to reach is using Acronis to create a backup of this DC and restore it into Hyper-V. However, the first attempt gave us an error with Active Directory. So we installed a new Server 2012 machine and promoted it to a DC and moved everything to it. So now, all that is left on the old DC is Exchange.

I want to demote the old DC with Exchange to a member server, then attempt the Acronis backup and restore into Hyper-V. However, I've never attempted something like this and I don't want to break anything for the customer.

Any help would be appreciated.

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Comments

gkca

You need to uninstall the Exchange first, then demote the dc. You could bring up a new vm as a member server, install the Exchange, move the mailboxes, uninstall the Exchange from the old DC, demote the DC.

Claymoore

Untangling Exchange on a Domain Controller is a mess. You will need to bring up another Exchange server and migrate the mailboxes to it like gkca recommends.

There is a way to recover Exchange to new hardware - particularly if the databases are on a SAN and are still intact. I have used the Setup /m:RecoverServer option to reinstall Exchange when an Admin accidentally deleted a VM. Here the problem is that you would need to disconnect the DC and never power it back on. That means metadata cleanup in AD before you recover Exchange with the same server name. It would be an interesting experiment, but not one I want to try in a production environment first. Your best bet is to build new, migrate, and decommission.

discount81

who put Exchange on a DC ...

ThePrimetimer

Thanks for the info Guys! Seems that is the consensus out on the Internet too.
I'm gonna attempt to create a backup image of the machine with Acronis and restore it into Hyper-V. If anybody has done this, any advice on that subject would be greatly accepted.

Really appreciate the advice.

netsysllc

I have moved many machines to Hyper-v using Disk2VHD Disk2vhd

ThePrimetimer

netsysllc wrote: »

I have moved many machines to Hyper-v using Disk2VHD Disk2vhd

Have you ever done this on a 2008 Domain Controller?

I just tried to use the Acronis image backup and recover into a virtural for Hyper-V, but the machine won't boot. I receive and error stating that I need to boot into Directory Services Restore Mode and correct the problem.

I'm trying a slightly different approach with the Acronis, but if it doesn't work this time, I'll try Disk2vhd.

Thanks!

cruwl

so whats the reasoning for virtualizing this server? Just wondering what benefits it being virtualized will give you that being physical wont in this situation?

heres a MS blog about virtualizing a DC as well, might come in handy:
How to Virtualize Active Directory Domain Controllers (Part 1) - Ask the Directory Services Team - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

lsud00d

Why not P2V using VMM?

ThePrimetimer

VMM is not an option. Although it sounds like I would have less headaches if I did have it.

I'm working with Server 2012 with Hyper-V installed. It is not a Hyper-V server.

Reason for doing this? I'm not 100% sure. I was just given this project and told to get it done. The only reason I can see is that is is an older server that they have had for 5 years and they no longer want the big bulky physical machine anymore.

I'll find a way to get this inside a VM. It may be hard, but the learning experience that I've got/getting is just down right awesome as this is my first time doing something on this scale.

I know that this can only help me in the future.

ThePrimetimer

HAIL FOR DISK2VHD!!

This was the last option I had for virtualizing the DC. This program worked flawlessly. It took less than an hour to make the .vhd file and a few minutes to bring it up in Hyper-V. No issues except for the NIC had to be reconfigured to use the Hyper-V virtual one. No issues with Exchange either.

This was the first time I had undertaken such a project and it was one for the books. I got this working Sunday night about 8 and was just about to finish configuring the NIC, when the power went out at my office. No backup at all. I was so close to finishing! I had to go home for 2 hours until my boss called and said the power was up. 30 minutes later, I had it up and running in Hyper-V and talking with the new virtualized DC.

What an awesome experience. However, I never gave up hope that I would finish this project! Some advice I can give it just keeping going, even if you don't feel like progress is being made, it is!

Thanks for the responses guys, they really helped.

netsysllc

Great to hear that worked well for you! It is a great program and has saved my clients bacon on a few occasions. There are some limitations but overall it is great.