P2V 2003 DC. Bad idea?

zetec452

zetec452

zetec452

Soldato
Joined
15 Sep 2003
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Hey,

I have a 2003 DC running our accounting software in which I would like to virtualise with the VMWare cold clone CD.

Am I asking for trouble? There are quite a few articles out there that suggest demoting the DC etc. I'm concerned about the impact of demoting a DC with an accounting package on it.

Your thoughts appreciated.

Jon
 
just build a new dc (in vm) and then dcpromo it, then demote the old one

why are you running apps on a dc anyway?!
 
I inherited this server unfortunately :(. It had apps galore on it.

I'm concerned that if I demote this domain controller it will mess with the huge accounting app in which would take a fair while to restore. I've not tested a demotion with this accounting app.

I think I may hold off and do some more testing first. Ideally this DC needs to be demoted as I have two fresh DC's with nothing else on them working fine.
 
Never P2V a Domain Controller, always build a fresh one and promote that one..
 
Baz said:
Never P2V a Domain Controller, always build a fresh one and promote that one..
Click to expand...

That's the general consensus I'm seeing online.

I'm going to cold clone P2V this system and perform a test demotion of the DC offline and see if it kills the accounting software.
 
Are there any other DC's? If so cold P2v may bugger it up when you bring the clone online in an isolated network! DC's are fussy things
 
We have 2 x 2008 DC's and this 2003 DC.

I'm going to bring the P2V up without the nic offsite on a different network just to test. That should cover me. :p
 
I'd be looking into migrating the accounting software onto a member server personally, more initial work but in the long run it'll be well worth it.
 
JonRohan said:
That's been the plan for a while. I've got to wait a little as the new version is out Q4 this year and is supported under Windows 2008. I'd rather only do one migration if I can help it. :D.
Click to expand...

Sounds good, it's always a nightmare when people load up important apps on important servers with other important roles. Recipe for disaster and a nightmare to look after :cool:
 
I've P2V'd 5 2003 DC's using platespin without a single problem.

I was stunned by how well it worked actually.
 
Just don't virtualise them inside Microsoft Virtual Server, then make the boot machine a member of the domain... :p
 
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