Hi there so i have the knowledge of installing a Server adding and removing features, promoting and demoting domains etc. However i need a basic guide on removing Windows server 2012 from a small office. If you can provide information on how to implement a Workgroup it would also be useful. Videos other tutorials etc are all helpful to me thanks.
I would be careful, simply because their desktops will change when you move from domain to workgroup. It does that because the username.domain has it's own profile that would be different from username. Hope that makes sense. That being said, I remove each workstation from the domain by changing the settings on the workstation. You'll want to do all that stuff before removing the server so that you'll be able to authenticate properly during the process. Once the workstations have been changed to a work group configuration you can then decommission the server. Make sure you backup any data from the server that they may require.
Depending on how any workstations there are as on each user pc you will be creating a new user profile, and then copying the user data from the old profile to the new. You will also need to setup the user configuration settings for the new user (probably to match as best you can) to the old settings.
Thanks everyone for the replies. I so in a small business setting all the computers are receiving internet through the server. Would a good solution be to use a switch or router? or is there some kind of feature of a workgroup that can serve as a better solution? Additionally one computer should hold all the files
Sounds like you're actually regressing from the desired scenario of a client server topology to a peer to peer topology. The closest you could get would be use HomeGroup features found in windows 7 and above which makes sharing files and printers pretty simple. Make sure you're backing up the shared data.
So the decision was to move to a smaller server. However its been a while since i have configured a server. Its a domain controller and has a DHCP and the DHCP is authorized but i cannot connect another system to the domain using Test.local as the domain. is there a step that has been missed somewhere in that information or do you know of a guide i can follow for the process?
Edit: the only error found is the following pertaining to the DHCP
"The DHCP is not servicing any DHCPv4 clients because none of the active network interfaces have a statically configured IPv4 addresses, or there are no active interfaces"
The new server has DHCP or the existing server has DHCP? And is the domain on your network test.local? Or do you have a different domain on your network/server? Make sure the clients have the server IP as the DNS server so you can find the domain.
the new server has DHCP but cannot be found by the client im mostly curious if this is part of the way i configured the server or if its an adjustment i have to make to the network.
The domain has nothing to do with your client obtaining a DHCP address. That error is very clear; you cannot assign DHCP if you don't have a static address assigned to the server. I am even surprised you can configure DHCP without a static address. Give the server a static address.
Shameless double post. When a client is connected to the domain and the domain has a configured DHCP server should the client be automatically obtaining the DHCP address if the client is configured to do so?
Well yes, it certainly makes life easier to use DHCP. However, I'm trying to impress upon you is that any client can obtain an DHCP address. It does not have to be a domain member. Remember the DHCP process happens long before the client authenticates to the domain. The DHCP process is probably the very first network related task that a client performs.
Nearly all network connected devices have this ability not just computers... smart phones, watches, cameras, smoke alarms, TV's even some domestic appliances like fridges and washing machines, and none of these items need to be domain members, they just ask for an address and if a server is available it issues them one.
Thanks for the help so far everything works perfectly. im not sure if either of you are familiar with sage simply accounting? both computers are networked together properly and the connection manager is installed on the server. the client can transfer files between the server client normally. But the sage simply accounting program on the client cannot access a database saved on the server even though the server has the connection manager installed and both machines have the firewalls disabled for testing purposes.
the hardest part about this so far is i am not quite sure how the networking of the connection manager works as there's no settings the server side.
I have not used Sage though I am aware of the product. If you cannot connect I would start by making sure you server is listening on those ports that sage uses. Perhaps there is a control panel config tool. Personally I would go to Sage.com as it is almost certain they have FAQ or a forum of some kind where someone has already encountered this problem and there is a documented solution of what to do.
Also double check your Firewall and make sure it is disabled on the correct interface, Windows Firewall is finicky, and sometimes disabling from the main screen doesn't disable it properly. A telnet on the required port may help tell you if it is open.
Turned out after some time troubleshooting the router just had a bad Ethernet port lol.
So i am currently researching methods of providing internet to all clients of the domain via the server. the server does hand out dhcp addreses correctly. So far NAT is the first way i could do it. But im wondering if there is a simpler way using only one NIC?
I am not sure I understand primarily because you haven't really described your office setup properly.
Please do so. That way we can understand and make knowledgeable responses on your issues.
Sure can if it helps. So currently its a small business with 8 Client computers 1 server the internet is being provided via the server. We are in the process of down sizing the server as the current one is over kill for our business and was configured by a previous employee. So the smaller server which i am in the process of configuring. i feel like there's important additional information I've missed i can provide further any other details if needed
thankfully i found a visio that was made for the networking
ok So from the visio and observing the networking
it works as follows
isp cloud-> modem -> watchguard firewall device (will be removing this) -> switch-> all other networked devices via several other switches. thankfully none of the devices are set to a static ip besides the server.
So thanks to the Visio it looks like theoretically i at this point if i replaced the current server/servers (the second server is a fail over and will not be used with the new one) with the new one that everything would function correctly unless im missing some kind of roles or features on the current server
I did notice ESET (antivirus and file protection) is set up via a hyper V server. Is there a logical reason for this to be the case?
Absolutely. If business is making stupid decisions like this, they will be putting themselves at serious risk and you are going to struggle to provide proper support. Using a server to provide internet access the way you are describing is like selling a modern car in favour of driving a steam engine to work.
thanks for all the help Jimscreechy. I just have one last question for my own learning though why would an anti virus be run through a virtual machine in this set up?
Not sure I understand but virtual machines need antivirus the same way physical ones do. They are susceptible to malware so need to be protected.
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