My company had a stand-alone DFS namespace and wanted to
move to a domain based namespace. As part of this, they wanted a new namespace
setup. However, as some applications had the old namespace hard coded, there
was a requirement to be able to use the old name for as well.
Once the old server was powered off, never to return, I was
able to do this by following these steps:
- On the new file server, open regedit. Add the following:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dfs\Parameters\Replicated
New
dWord value
Name
it ServerConsolidationRetry
Set
the value as 1
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dfs\Parameters\Replicated
New
dWord value
Name
it LogServerConsolidation
Set
the value as 1
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters
New
Multi-String value
Name
it AlternateComputerNames
Set
the value (one line each) to the FQDN of the old server (eg.
Oldnamespace.domain.com)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\parameters
New
Multi-String value
Name
it OptionalNames
Set
the value (one line each) to the NETBios name of the old server (eg.
Oldnamespace)
- Create a new standalone DFS root with the old name with a hash (#) in front of the name - #oldnamespace
- Within the namespace (#oldnamespace), create the folder shortcuts required to point to the new folder targets
- In WINS, remove the entries for the old server names
- In DNS, remove any entries for the old server names then add new CNAMES to point the “oldnamespace” to the new server
- Delete the AD computer account for the old server
- Restart the Server service on the new server.
