How to rename a computer that is running SharePoint Portal Server 2003

This step-by-step article describes how to rename a Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server.

Back Up the Data

Before you follow the rest of the steps in this article, make sure that you back up your SharePoint Portal Server configuration by using the SharePoint Portal Server Data Backup and Restore tool. For more information about how to back up and restore SharePoint Portal Server data, see the Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Administration Guide (Administrator's Help.chm). The guide is located in the Docs folder in the root folder of the SharePoint Portal Server 2003 CD.

Delete the Portal Sites

Delete any portal sites that are associated with the server.

Note When you delete a portal site, you remove entries from the configuration database for all portal site content and all portal site configuration data, and you remove content indexes. You can specify whether to delete associated databases when you delete the portal site.

In a shared services topology, if you delete the portal site that provides shared services, all child portal sites stop functioning. To restore functionality to the child portal sites, you must restore the parent portal site.

Only an administrator on the server farm can delete a portal site.

To delete the portal site, follow these steps:

1. On the SharePoint Portal Server Central Administration for server_name page, in the Portal Site and Virtual Server Configuration section, click List and manage portal sites.
2. On the Manage Portal Sites page, rest the pointer on the name of the portal site that you want to delete, and then click the arrow.
3. Make a note of the databases that are listed, and then click Delete Portal Sites. The databases are detached from the configuration database, but they are not deleted.
   
   WARNING Do not click to select the Delete all databases check box on the Delete portal_site_name page. If you select this check box, data loss occurs when you click OK in step 4.
4. Click OK.

Remove All Component Assignments from the Server

To remove all component assignments for the server in your Web farm, follow these steps:

1. On the SharePoint Portal Server Central Administration for server_name page, in the Server Configuration section, click Configure server topology.
2. On the Configure Server Topology page, click Change Components.
3. On the Change Component Assignments page, in the Component Assignment section, remove all component assignments for the server. To do this, click to clear the check boxes to remove the assignment of a component to a server.

Disconnect the SharePoint Portal Server Computer from the Configuration Database

Note Before you disconnect from the configuration database, you must delete any portal sites associated with the server and remove all component assignments from the server, as described earlier in this article.

If the server that you want to remove has an instance of Microsoft SQL Server that is used for the content database, for the component settings database, or for the profile database for one or more portal sites, you must delete those portal sites before you disconnect.

If the instance of SQL Server is used for the default content database or default component settings database, and the server is not the last server in the server farm to be disconnected, you must change the default content database and default component settings database to an instance of SQL Server on another computer. If the server that you want to remove has no instance of SQL Server on it, you do not have to delete any portal site.

Also, verify that the server does not provide Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) services globally or to individual virtual servers.

To disconnect the SharePoint Portal Server computer from the configuration database, follow these steps:

1. On the Specify Configuration Database Settings for server_name page, in the Database Connections section, click Disconnect from configuration database.
2. Click OK.

Rename the SharePoint Portal Server Computer

Rename your SharePoint Portal Server.

In Windows Server 2003, administrators can change the computer name of a Windows Server 2003 domain controller by using My Computer or by using Netdom.exe. To change the computer name by using My Computer, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties. Click the Computer Name tab, and then click Change. For additional information about how to rename a computer that is a member of a Microsoft Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 domain, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Create a New Configuration Database

To create a new configuration database, follow these steps:

1. On the SharePoint Portal Server Central Administration for server_name page, in the Server Configuration section, click Configure configuration database server.
2. On the Specify Configuration Database Settings for server_name page, in the Database Connections section, click Create configuration database.
3. In the Configuration Database Server section, in the Database server box, type the name of the computer running Microsoft SQL Server.
   
   This is the server where the configuration database is stored.
   
   Note If you have a named instance of SQL Server, specify both the name of the computer running SQL Server and the instance of SQL Server name in the following format:
   server_name\SQL_instance_name
4. In the Configuration Database Name section, do one of the following:
   • If you want to use the default database name that is displayed, click Use default name.
   • If you want to specify a name for the database, click Specify custom name, and then type a name for the database.
5. Click OK.

Add Component Assignments from the Server

To add the required component assignments for the server in your Web farm, follow these steps:

1. On the SharePoint Portal Server Central Administration for server_name page, in the Server Configuration section, click Configure server topology.
2. On the Configure Server Topology page, click Change Components.
3. On the Change Component Assignments page, in the Component Assignment section, add the required component assignments for the server. To do this, click to select a check box to assign a component to a server. You can assign more than one component to each server.

Restore the Data

Restore your SharePoint Portal Server configuration by using the SharePoint Portal Server Data Backup and Restore tool. For more information about how to back up and restore SharePoint Portal Server data, see the Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Administration Guide.(Administrator's Help.chm). The guide is located in the Docs folder in the root folder of the SharePoint Portal Server 2003 CD.

Note You must edit the properties for the restore to indicate the SQL server and the new database names.