Changing HQ Server hostname

[Jason Learmouth]

I have been told tha it is a Bad Thing to change the host name of a ShoreTel server but I have a client who is insisting on doing this. Have any of you tried this? What problems did it cause?

Thanks in advance.
J

[Forum]

I can't think of any real issues except for call manager, and that's if you used the server name rather than the ip address.

Actually, I do this all the time. It's not uncommon for us to "rush" a system into production using our loaner server. Once the customer's server arrives, we load Windows on it, name it whatever, and move the DB over and have no issues. Of course, I NEVER use the server name for Call manager, always the IP address.

So....Call Manager may need to be changed, that's all. No big deal.

Charles

[Jason Learmouth]

Thanks Charles but I'm pretty comfortable moving an install from one server to another. What I'm talking about here is just renaming the same server, no change in hardware or IP address, just host name. I've been lead to believe that the ShoreTel server install binds to the hostname and changing it is bad, but I'm not sure of the details.

I saw you at the 9.0 webinar BTW.

[Forum]

My current install that I am working on now is on a loaner server called "Loaner". Once the new server arrives on Monday, I am going to install server 2003 and called it "SWFUA-Shoretel". I'll move the database over, and load Shoretel on top of it.

If I can do that with no problem, I can't see why you would have an issue.

Charles

[Jason Learmouth]

My current install that I am working on now is on a loaner server called "Loaner". Once the new server arrives on Monday, I am going to install server 2003 and called it "SWFUA-Shoretel". I'll move the database over, and load Shoretel on top of it.

If I can do that with no problem, I can't see why you would have an issue.

Charles

Hi Charles,

What would happen if you changed the name of your loaner server to New-Name? Same machine with a new name. There is a user on the ShoreTel server called IPBXUSR_Loaner which is where I'm lead to believe the problems start. As I've said, I've never done this, I've just heard it is a bad idea and now I have a client that wants to do it...

The Shoreware COM+ application runs as this user, I'm not sure if anything else does. I'm going back to my installer course about 3 years ago (5.2) where they said, "Don't ever rename your ShoreTel server." Sounds a bit ominous which is why I'm hesitating to do it.

Thanks.
J

[Forum]

Gotcha. Your right, because I reload Shoretel on a fresh install of windows.

So there is your answer, just reload windows

[Jason Learmouth]

That's an exciting prospect... I'm hoping a repair install might put the mess in order, I was really hoping that some other poor soul had blazed this trail for me and could provide a map.

I guess if I'm to be the pioneer on this I'll post back with a the story of my adventure.

[obeygiant]

re:rename of hq server

I can tell you from experience that it is possible. We had a shoretel partner that didn't name the server according to our naming convention, which we supplied before hand, so we inquired as to whether it could be renamed and they were unable to provide us with an answer.

I stopped all of the Shoretel Services and after a thorough examination of the server I was able to locate every instance of the unwanted server name in the registry using a tool called registry crawler. This let me search all of the keys,classes etc. in one fell swoop as well as modify the existing unwanted server name references.

I then went through every file in the shoretel installation directory that could be read with notepad and replaced all entries with the correct server name.

IIRC I also copied the database to my workstation and looked for any references to unwanted server name,replaced them, ran a compact and repair
then copied it back to the Shoretel HQ server.

The last step was to actually change the server name in windows and reboot.

The only thing that I can't remember off the top of my head is whether or not I had to rename the service user account.

[Jason Learmouth]

...
So there is your answer, just reload windows

I agree that would fix any problems I create here.

I once knew of a Telco tech who fixed domestic faults, if there was a faulty point in the house his solution was to rewire the house. The Union made sure he couldn't be reprimanded for this approach. It may have been quite inefficient, but it did fix the problem every time...

[khitan]

While 'innefecient' in the short term, reloading Windows may be the best thing to do in the long term.

Im an MS guy, so this isnt a slam against MS, just a fact I've noticed. I have never seen an install of windows that couldnt be tweaked by reinstalling.... anytime the windows OS (any current version) is over 2 years old.... I prefer to reload than to 'fix' .

It pretty simple and easy. Max downtime is usually about 2 hours. I did it on my current HQ server recently and resolved alot of problems. I am running 100+ switches at 50+ sites.

[BLenarcik]

I may have been the person who said that :_unsure:

Don't mean to offend anyone, but reloading Windows is usually the LAST resort for problems and will take more time than you think. No one mentioned that you have to repatch with SPs and Critical Updates. It's also likely that you'll need to reinstall ShoreWare Server anyway (or at least Run Repair from the installer).

Here is what I would do:

1. Unisntall ShoreWare Server. The registry and data folders are not touched so no worries about data loss.

2. Change the NetBIOS/Hostname of the Windows Server. Reboot.

3. Reinstall ShoreWare Server. The IPBXUSR_account will get recreated with the new hostname and permissions on COM+ will be set properly.

- Bob

[Jason Learmouth]

I may have been the person who said that :_unsure:

Don't mean to offend anyone, but reloading Windows is usually the LAST resort for problems and will take more time than you think. No one mentioned that you have to repatch with SPs and Critical Updates. It's also likely that you'll need to reinstall ShoreWare Server anyway (or at least Run Repair from the installer).

Here is what I would do:

1. Unisntall ShoreWare Server. The registry and data folders are not touched so no worries about data loss.

2. Change the NetBIOS/Hostname of the Windows Server. Reboot.

3. Reinstall ShoreWare Server. The IPBXUSR_account will get recreated with the new hostname and permissions on COM+ will be set properly.

- Bob

Hi Bob,

I think it was you, in NZ a few years ago. Thanks for your reply. This is an 8.1 install so the config and CDR DBs are both MySQL. Will the reinstall pick up the DB properly or do we need to back up and restore it?

Thanks,
J

[Forum]

Don't mean to offend anyone, but reloading Windows is usually the LAST resort for problems and will take more time than you think. No one mentioned that you have to repatch with SPs and Critical Updates.

- Bob

Not offended, but I've been a network engineer for 13 years working as a consultant. Reloading windows is something I do in my sleep...heck, I'm getting ready to do it again in 30 mins, as soon as I put my son to bed. it doesn't scare me ;-)

[BLenarcik]

Hi Bob,

I think it was you, in NZ a few years ago. Thanks for your reply. This is an 8.1 install so the config and CDR DBs are both MySQL. Will the reinstall pick up the DB properly or do we need to back up and restore it?

Thanks,
J

Hi Jason,

It certainly was me during the summer (i guess that would be winter for you) of 2005.

There is no need to do any backup and restore of the databases when uninstalling and reinstalling. It might be a good idea to back up the files from the data folder after uninstalling ShoreWare Server.

- Bob