Copy Domain Controller

[sanman]

Hi

We have two ESX3.5 servers and a back up server running Veeam 4.1. We need to move a domain controller from one ESX host to the other and don't have vMotion. It may seem like a stupid question but is there any problem with using a Veeam copy job to move the DC from one ESX host. For example, is there any problem with the following?

shut down DC on ESX1
run copy job to copy to ESX2
add DC to inventory on ESX2
switch DC on ESX2
delete vm off DC on ESX1

Since the DC is shutdown there should be no issues with this approach right?

Thanks

[Vitaliy S.]

Yes, I don't see any issues that could occur with this scenario. On top of that, just out of curiosity why don't you want to use replication job to move running DC VM from one ESX host to another?

[Gostev]

If downtime is acceptable (which is usually the case with DC, as typically there are more than one DC), then cold copy is preferred because it is safer and simpler approach with less chances to mess up.

[sanman]

Thanks both for your reply. To answer your question, Vitaliy. It's just as Gostev says, this approach seems safer and simpler and I don't want to introduce any errors into the AD.