Cloning server 2012 Domain Controller

[neotlee]

HI Group,

I am trying clone our prod 2012 Domain Controller so that we can use it in our Test Lab which is isolated from production

We tried to clone the DC , copy VM to Lab network, started the VM but DC is not working as normal. So we seized all FSMO roles

and added registry  key = Repl Perform Initial Synchronizations =0

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NTDS\Parameters

Value name: Repl Perform Initial Synchronizations

Value type: REG_DWORD

Value data: 0

Still it is not working, for example when we open Active directory users and computers we get error Naming information cannot be located.

Is cloning of DC is supported for DC 2012 for test lab use in VMware VSphere 5.1.1?

[JagadeeshDev]

The hypervisor must support VM-GenerationID. Besides protecting Active Directory from unintentional roll-back, these new safeguards and VM-Generation ID allow administrators to safely clone Windows Server 2012 domain controllers. When properly prepared, a Windows Server 2012 domain controller may be used as a source for new domain controllers. Not only does this eliminate the additional tasks of preparing a base virtual machine for becoming a domain controller, it reduces the time required for replication of a new copy of the Active Directory database.

VMware vSphere 5.1 (ESXi must be at least 5.0 Update 2) has provided this functionality, but hot cloning is NOT supported ref : VMware KB: Hot-cloning of Windows Server 2012 Domain Controllers is not supported

[neotlee]

I did simple clone and had to do few things for DC to working in isolated network

Add registry key for not to do initial replication.

Seize FSMO roles

Delete all DC in AD sites on isolated dc using ntdsutil

Also add registry key (BurFlag= D4)  to say this DC is authoritative and sysvol loaded fine.

I also changed IP of DC with out issues.