Windows Server 2003 Domain Renaming with Exchange Server 2003

Gotchas
Like any other moderately complex procedure, domain renaming has some gotchas that you need to factor into your planning. Fortunately, aside from the reboots that are necessary during the domain-rename process (and subsequent loss of connectivity to the systems as they reboot), these gotchas shouldn't affect clients, but there are a few known issues for servers. Windows NT workstations and servers are an exception because you have to remove them from the original domain and then join them back to the renamed domain.

Microsoft's documentation includes a description of how to rename DCs along with the domains. Doing so might make sense if the DCs include the domain in their name (management might be easier if the DC names correspond with the renamed domain). However, changing DC names affects RUS because it must contact DCs to retrieve information about new or updated mail-enabled objects such as accounts. If you change DC names, make sure that RUS points to a valid DC afterwards or you won't be able to complete the process of mail-enabling objects by updating them with proxy email addresses. If you've hard-wired DSAccess (as described in the Microsoft article "Directory service server detection and DSAccess usage" at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=250570) so that Exchange servers use specific DCs (set through the Directory Access tab in the server's Properties dialog box, as Figure 1 shows), you need to check that these DCs are still valid after all the rename operations. If problems persist and DSAccess returns error 2075 in the event log on an Exchange server when it attempts to find a list of DCs and GCs, you might need to flush the cache on that server as noted in the Microsoft article "Event ID 2075 Occurs When You Try to Obtain a List of the Global Catalog Servers" (http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=312425). . . .