If you try to change the computer name by going to the Computer Name tab in System Properties you will see that the "Change.." button is grayed out.
This is by design, since WHS 2011 runs the Certification Authority Service to make connections to client computers secure, among other items.
The suggested approach to change the name has been to do a complete re-install of the operating system, not much fun if you have added programs and other functions like WSUS to your system and struggled to get that functioning. (Another story..).
In many cases you don't need to make a name change, but, for example, if you want to experiment with having the server do DHCP and DNS (not that I am suggesting this![:)]()
) you would find that DNS will not get updates from the DHCP service if your server computer name lacks a domain suffix.
I have, I believe, been able to implement a name change without doing a full install. This is not a process for the faint-of-heart, and if working with the Registry evokes a "huh?" response, do not try this.
First, you need to export and then delete the Registry keys associated with the Certificate Server (certsvc), reboot, and make the computer name change in System Properties (I guess you could also change the Workgroup name as well but I did so using another approach which has been documented by others.) To add a suffix to the name, make sure to click on the More.. button in the Change.. dialog. At that point, re-install the exported keys, reboot and you should be set. Credit to this can be found at:
http://www.muratyildirimoglu.com/articles/changenameCertificateServer.htm
I have tested the renamed system and all functions seem to be working (Client connectors, website access, client backups) that might depend on the Certificates. And, hypothetically of course, you might find that DHCP and DNS now are happy together.
I am tempted to leave things as they are, but on the other hand I am tempted to go into the Registry and change the appropriate keys in certsvc to reflect the new computer name. This might lead to having to re-install the connectors to the clients, but perhaps not...
If any Certificate experts have any comments on this process, I would welcome them.
This is by design, since WHS 2011 runs the Certification Authority Service to make connections to client computers secure, among other items.
The suggested approach to change the name has been to do a complete re-install of the operating system, not much fun if you have added programs and other functions like WSUS to your system and struggled to get that functioning. (Another story..).
In many cases you don't need to make a name change, but, for example, if you want to experiment with having the server do DHCP and DNS (not that I am suggesting this
) you would find that DNS will not get updates from the DHCP service if your server computer name lacks a domain suffix.I have, I believe, been able to implement a name change without doing a full install. This is not a process for the faint-of-heart, and if working with the Registry evokes a "huh?" response, do not try this.
First, you need to export and then delete the Registry keys associated with the Certificate Server (certsvc), reboot, and make the computer name change in System Properties (I guess you could also change the Workgroup name as well but I did so using another approach which has been documented by others.) To add a suffix to the name, make sure to click on the More.. button in the Change.. dialog. At that point, re-install the exported keys, reboot and you should be set. Credit to this can be found at:
http://www.muratyildirimoglu.com/articles/changenameCertificateServer.htm
I have tested the renamed system and all functions seem to be working (Client connectors, website access, client backups) that might depend on the Certificates. And, hypothetically of course, you might find that DHCP and DNS now are happy together.
I am tempted to leave things as they are, but on the other hand I am tempted to go into the Registry and change the appropriate keys in certsvc to reflect the new computer name. This might lead to having to re-install the connectors to the clients, but perhaps not...
If any Certificate experts have any comments on this process, I would welcome them.