Upgrade Domain Controllers and retain the same IP Address
When you upgrade your Domain Controllers, consider this method of retaining the IP addresses of your current Domain Controllers. You must have at least two domain controllers to use this method.
1. Demote one of your existing Domain Controllers to a member server.
2. Change the demoted DC’s IP address to a different IP address.
3. Change the IP address of the server that will be the new domain controller to the IP address of the Domain Controller you just demoted.
4. Install the Domain Controller, DNS, and possibly DHCP roles on the new server and promote the server to a Domain Controller.
5. Repeat steps 1 to 4 for any additional Domain Controllers on your network.
By using this round-robin method of upgrading your Domain Controllers, you can avoid changing the IP address of your DNS servers for servers with static IP addresses and your DHCP scopes. Make sure to change the new server IP address BEFORE you promote the server up to a Domain Controller because you will break Active Directory if you change the IP address of a Domain Controller without performing some additional steps. We don’t recommend this, but if you have to change the IP address of an existing Domain Controller, check out How to change the IP address of a domain controller (windows-active-directory.com). If you need help upgrading your Domain Controllers, email info@adscon.com.
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