Is it ok to virtualise a domain controller while its on meaning a hot clone. Would this cause any issues with AD replication. Has anyone tried this.
Hot clone a DC ? - funny idea - I am pretty sure that those folks that tried it have only done so once - or in other words: forget it. Use coldclone or better - setup a new one
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description of vmx-parameters:
Personally I haven't and wouldn't because the USN can get out of sync before you could get the VM up. If you really have to virtualize it, I would use this tool http://www.sanbarrow.com/ so that you can do a cold clone. That said, my preference would be to do a fresh install of Windows in the VM and then promote it to a DC.
NOO..either build new or cold clone from the boot cd. Also, if you do a cold clone do not resize your disk as that can lead to issues on domain controllers as well.
I've only hot cloned a DCs after hours with no one logged on. These were small networks (one server and less than 10 users) and the converted machine was NOT going into production. So I didn't need to worry about replication issues. But even then, I never got a 100% success rate. Many times, I had to restore AD after the conversion. As suggested, best to create a new VM and dcpromo to a DC, or at least a cold clone.
I know platespin does not support hot clone. Converter I amnot sure. I agree with all the others down the DC or run dcpomo on a new server
Another option here is to dcpromo the DC down to a normal server temporarily, then use converter hot to virtualise the server. Then once the server is all ok as a virtual machine, dcpromo again back into a dc.You can bring a tempoary dc up (vm) to move the fsmo roles to etc if requried.
Cheers
David
Using an already existing VM (clone it with sysprep or build it from scratch), promote it to a Domain Controller.
Transfer the FSMO roles to the new Virtual Machine.
Demote the physical Domain Controller.
Use VMware Converter to import the once-DC local machine if you require any applications left behind.