SQL Server Performance Forum – Threads Archive

Renaming the Netbios name of the SQL server

has anyone ever done this without having to reload?

As far I know, no.
Luis Martin
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I didn’t think it was possible at all.. Tom Pullen
DBA, Oxfam GB

You can’t change a domain’s NetBIOS name.
You must demote the child domains first, starting with the lowest domains in the hierarchy (e.g., you need to apply changes to grand.child.domain.com before applying changes to child.domain.com).
One of the MS articles refers…
If you’re considering renaming your DNS server, keep in mind that Windows .NET Server (formerly code-named Whistler) lets you use the random.exe utility to rename the DNS server. So, you might want to consider upgrading to .NET Server, which also lets you rename the NetBIOS domain name. Satya SKJ
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I was aware of that for a domain side change, but I’m just looking to rename the name of the box.

A little back groud
I have an application with a few hundred clients that connects by netbios server name. however, the current boxes are overloaded. I’m switching over to new hardware, upgrading the application and upgrading to server 2003. My original plan was to run the new infrastructure parallel and then do a name change so the change would be seamless to the agent machines. However, it sounds like I just need to do my perl script to go out to the agents and change the machine name variable

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