Swapping servers and joing clients back to the new server

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fran
  • Start date Start date
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Fran

I have had to rebuild a Windows 2000 server (our AD server). In the
mean time I brought in another 2000 AD server and set it up as the AD
server (only server on the network.) (which took about 6 hours)

We use roming profiles but the user settings on the old server were
destroyed in the crash.

When I bring the rebuilt server back I want to swap the two machines
as easily as possible. In the past I've had to disjoin each client PC
from the domain, then rejoin. In doing so I ALWAYS lose my user
settings (I guess Win2K thinks this is an entirely new user???)

This is what I have been doing in the past (and I'm looking for ANY
suggestions that will make this easier!) (these are all Win2K clients
to a Win2K server)

1) disjoin the domain by chaning the membership to Workgroup.
2) rename old user account to xName (e.g. George now becomes xGeorge)
3) Rejoin the domain
4) Logon as the user (George)
5) Log off as George and log on as Administrator
6) Copy all of the C:\Documents and Settings\xGeorge to new
C:\Documents and Settings\George account
7) Reconfigure Office Express e-mail settings
8) reset shares and default printer settings
9) pray that I can reconnect MSN Messenger

Move on to the next machine

This seems WAY too time consuming, even for a Microsoft OS. What am I
missing here? I'm sure there is an easier way to do all this!

The advantage this time is I will still have the user profiles on the
temp server to be transfered to the new server (I'll probably use
NTBACKUP to do this so all the security settings are copied, too.)

I'm looking for ANY ideas...!!!

-Fran-
 
1) disjoin the domain by chaning the membership to Workgroup.
2) rename old user account to xName (e.g. George now becomes xGeorge)
3) Rejoin the domain
4) Logon as the user (George)
5) Log off as George and log on as Administrator
6) Copy all of the C:\Documents and Settings\xGeorge to new
C:\Documents and Settings\George account
7) Reconfigure Office Express e-mail settings
8) reset shares and default printer settings
9) pray that I can reconnect MSN Messenger

Move on to the next machine
Click to expand...

That is pretty much the way, there are a few slight variations of that "out
there", but that pretty much sums it up. You would save yourself a lot of
trouble by just having two DCs so the domain is preserved when one DC fails.
But if you only run one, then this is what you have to deal with.

Doing "system state" backups to tape may help also. Do a little reading in
that area and see what you find.
 
You definitely want to make regular backups of your System State as Phil mentions.
This takes very little time and you could have restored your whole domain as long as
the backup was not more than sixty days old. I suggest you use ntbackup to automate
the task. Backup your sysvol folder in \winnt also. You should also know your
password for the administrator account used to do a Directory Services Restore. If
your domain controller does not need to be up 24/7 consider making a Ghost image of
it also at least once a week.--- Steve

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;240363
http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/gtm/securityguidance/hub.mspx
http://www.petri.co.il/change_recovery_console_password.htm
 
I have installed a tape drive in this system to keep that from being
an issue in the future. Thanks. We also purchased Veritas' backup
program for scheduled backups.

On the client side (since I will have to revisit this process this
weekend when the old server is put back into service) what can I do
that will preserve the user's e-mail settings, etc? When I did the
sever-swap dance last weekend I noticed there were many things that
did not copy (perhaps because I didn't have their profiles from the
old server?) I just want this to go smoothly.

Any thoughts?
 
Copying the old profile to the new profile would be what to try making sure user also
has permissions to the profile. I have never had to go through what you are trying.
You might also want to post in the win2000.setup_deployment newsgroup to see if you
can find any further advice on profile issues. -- Steve
 
that will preserve the user's e-mail settings, etc? When I did the
sever-swap dance last weekend I noticed there were many things that
did not copy (perhaps because I didn't have their profiles from the
old server?) I just want this to go smoothly.
Click to expand...

This only happens when the Domain isn't preserved because the original
Profile isn't recognized. If the Domain is properly preserved, the user will
simply continue to use the original profile seemlessly. But for your
current situation, the damage is already done,..once the horse is already
out of the barn you're just gonna have to run after it and catch it,...then
just don't let it happen next time.
 
Note: When you bring the "old one" back up, it needs to be a "member server"
of the Domain that you freshly created with your currnet DC. Then promote it
to a DC of the existing Domain, make sure everything is "clean" and works
well,...then demote the temporary DC back to a member server then to a
standalone server, then remove is physically.

If you don't do that properly, you will repeat the whole error all over
again. Remember when you create a domain the name is *irrelevant*,...it
doens't matter if it is the same Domain Name you used before, it is *still*
a different Domain. The Domain Name is only for "human consumption",...the
*real* identifier is the SID which is a random number created each time a
new domain is created. To preserve Domains, they must be *replicated* from
DC to DC,....you can not simply create a new one with the same name.
 
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