IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry.

Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if

a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring

the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help

topic in Regedt32.exe.

SUMMARY

 

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may

require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that

problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use

Registry Editor at your own risk.

 

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and

Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete

Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in

Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If

you are running Windows NT or Windows 2000, you should also update your

Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

 

Microsoft Windows Server provides administration utilities for Dynamic Host

Configuration Protocol (DHCP) you can use to manage DHCP servers. DHCP Manager

(Dhcpadmn.exe) is provided in Windows NT 4.0, while the DHCP Snap-in is provided

as part of the MMC in Windows 2000/2003. Neither utility permits you to move a DHCP

database from one server to another server. This article explains how to move a

database from a server to another server.

 

Note that there are two sections to this article, and each section should be

treated independently. Use only the section that corresponds to the type of

migration you want to do.

 

IMPORTANT: It is strongly recommended that you perform the migration by using

Regedt32 as detailed in the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

 

   Q130642 How to Move a DHCP Database to Another Windows Server

 

WARNING: This document is provided only for use where a migration using the steps

in the preceding article is not possible and scripting is the only way of

performing the migration.

 

 

IMPORTANT: Moving a DHCP Database incorrectly can leave your computer in an

unstable state. Because of this, it is strongly recommended that before you try

to perform a database migration you should:

 

 - Create a backup of your working configuration.

 

 - Test these procedures in a lab environment.

 

 - Perform all of the following steps exactly.

 

Also, it is assumed the destination server does not have the DHCP Server service

installed. If the DHCP Server service has been installed it must be removed. To

do so:

 

1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click

   Add/Remove Programs.

 

2. Click Add/Remove Windows Components, double-click Networking Services (the

   words, not the check box), and then click to clear the DHCP Server check box.

 

After you have installed the DHCP Server service on the destination server, it is

important that you do not start the DHCP MMC until you are instructed to do so.

The first time you start the MMC, it checks for and creates certain settings

that should only be created at the end of the procedures listed below.

 

NOTE: It is possible that on the source server the DHCP database name and

location have been changed from the default of

%systemroot%system32dhcpdhcp.mdb. This migration procedure is not affected by

differences in database location between source and destination servers, and

will require the destination DHCP server to use the default name and path

settings of %systemroot%system32dhcpdhcp.mdb.

 

Also, several of the following steps state that commands such as "net stop

dhcpserver" (without the quotation marks) should be run. You should run these

commands at a command prompt.

 

From the Source DHCP Server:

 

1. Dump the configuration of the Windows based DHCP server:

   dump the configuration from a Windows Server  based computer. Also, the Windows

   NT 4.0-based DHCP server must be running Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 2 or

   higher. On any Windows 2000-based server running DHCP, type "netsh dhcp

   server <IP address> dump > c:export.txt" (without the quotation

   marks) at a command prompt, and then press ENTER, where <IP address> is

   the IP address of the Windows NT 4.0-based DHCP server.

 

2. To prevent DHCP from starting after the database has been transferred,

   disable the DHCP Server service by using the Services tool in Control Panel:

 

   a. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click

      Services.

 

   b. In the Services box, click Microsoft DHCP Server, click Startup, and then

      click Disabled under Startup Type.

 

3. Stop the DHCP Server service by using the "net stop dhcpserver" (without the

   quotation marks) command at a command prompt.

 

From the Destination DHCP Server:

 

1. Install the DHCP server service:

 

   a. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click

      Add/Remove Programs.

 

   b. Click Add/Remove Windows Components, double-click Networking Services (the

      words, not the check box), and then click to select the Dynamic Host

      Configuration Protocol (DHCP) check box.

 

2. Remove the Option definitions from the destination DHCP server by using

   Registry Editor to delete the following registry key:

 

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftDhcpServerConfigurationOptionInfo

 

3. Copy the Export.txt file to the destination server, and then rename the file

   to C:Import.txt.

 

4. Edit the Import.txt file with Notepad.exe and replace the IP address of the

   source DHCP server with the IP address of the destination DHCP server.

   Perform a Replace on the string "SERVER <x.x.x.x>" with "SERVER

   <y.y.y.y>", where <x.x.x.x> is the source DHCP server address and

   <y.y.y.y> is the destination DHCP server address.

 

   IMPORTANT: Do not just string replace the "x.x.x.x" with "y.y.y.y" as either

   address may be used in option values within a scope. Save your changes.

 

5. If the DHCP database name or path on the source server is different than the

   database name or path on the destination server, you must edit the Import.txt

   file and correct the values for any or all of the following settings:

   AuditLog, DatabaseBackupPath, DatabaseName, and DatabasePath. Note that the

   default path is typically c:winntsystem32dhcpDhcp.mdb. Save your changes.

 

6. Load the Import.txt file into the destination DHCP server with the "netsh

   exec c:import.txt" (without the quotation marks) command.

 

7. Stop the DHCP Server service on the destination server with the "net stop

   dhcpserver" (without the quotation marks) command.

 

8. Delete all of the contents of the %systemroot%system32dhcp folder,

   including its subfolders.

 

9. Copy the DHCP database file (Dhcp.mdb) in the %systemroot%system32dhcp

   folder on the source server to the %systemroot%system32dhcp folder on the

   destination server.

 

10. Start the DHCP Server service with the "net start dhcpserver" (without the

   quotation marks) command.

 

   IMPORTANT: You should receive the following error message:

 

   System error 20036 has occurred. The system cannot find message text for

   message number 0x4e44 in the message file for BASE.

 

   Receiving this error message is normal, please proceed to the next step.

 

11. If you also receive the following error message, copy the Edb500.dl_ file

   from the Windows 2000 CD-ROM, expand it to the System32 folder, repeat step

   8, and when you no longer receive this error message, continue to the next

   step.

 

      NOTE: This also corresponds with an EventID 1008 in the Application log.

 

12. View the Application Log in the Event Viewer. If the JetConv application

   logs EventID 1000, the database has been converted successfully.

 

13. Start the DHCP Server snap-in from the Administrative Tools group.

 

14. Click the destination DHCP server, and then click Reconcile All Scopes on

   the Action menu. Click Verify. If any leases need to be reconciled, click

   Reconcile to synchronize the registry and database.

 

15. If the Windows 2000-based server is part of an Active Directory domain, the

   server must be Authorized.

 

To move a DHCP database from a Windows 2000/2003 Server to a Windows 2000/2003 Server:

 

IMPORTANT: Moving a DHCP Database incorrectly can leave your computer in an

unstable state. Because of this, it is strongly recommended that before you try

to perform a database migration you should:

 

 - Create a backup of your working configuration.

 

 - Test these procedures in a lab environment.

 

 - Perform all of the following steps exactly.

 

Also, it is assumed the destination server does not have the DHCP Server service

installed. If the DHCP Server service has been installed it must be removed

first. To do so:

 

1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click

   Add/Remove Programs.

 

2. Click Add/Remove Windows Components, double-click Networking Services (the

   words, not the check box), and then click to clear the DHCP Server check box.

 

After you have installed the DHCP Server service on the destination server, it is

important that you do not start the DHCP MMC until you are instructed to do so.

The first time you start the MMC, it checks for and creates certain settings

that should only be created at the end of the procedures listed below.

 

NOTE: It is possible that on the source server the DHCP database name and

location have been changed from the default of

%systemroot%system32dhcpdhcp.mdb. This migration procedure is not affected by

differences in database location between source and destination servers, and

will require the destination DHCP server to use the default name and path

settings of %systemroot%system32dhcpdhcp.mdb.

 

Also, several of the following steps state that commands such as "net stop

dhcpserver" (without the quotation marks) should be run. You should run these

commands at a command prompt.

 

From the Source DHCP Server:

 

1. Dump the configuration of the source DHCP server by using the "netsh dhcp

   server <x.x.x.x> dump >c:export.txt" (without the quotation marks)

   command from any Windows 2000-based DHCP Server, where <x.x.x.x> is the

   IP address of the source DHCP server.

 

2. To prevent DHCP from starting after the database has been transferred,

   disable the DHCP Server service:

 

   a. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then

      click Computer Management.

 

   b. Double-click "Services and Applications", click Services, right-click the

      DHCP server on the Services list, and then click Properties.

 

   c. Change the "Startup type" to Disabled, and then click OK.

 

3. Stop the DHCP Server service by using the "net stop dhcpserver" (without the

   quotation marks) command at a command prompt.

 

From the Destination DHCP Server:

 

1. Install the DHCP Server service:

 

   a. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click

      Add/Remove Programs.

 

   b. Click Add/Remove Windows Components, double-click Networking Services (the

      words, not the check box), and then click to select the Dynamic Host

      Configuration Protocol (DHCP) check box.

 

2. Clear the Option definitions off of the destination DHCP server by deleting

   the following registry key:

 

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftDhcpServerConfigurationOptionInfo

 

3. Copy the Export.txt file to the destination server, and then rename the file

   to c:Import.txt.

 

4. Edit the Import.txt file with Notepad.exe and replace the IP address of the

   source DHCP server with the IP address of the destination DHCP server.

   Perform a Replace on the string "SERVER <x.x.x.x>" with "SERVER

   <y.y.y.y>", where <x.x.x.x> is the source DHCP server address and

   <y.y.y.y> is the destination DHCP server address.

 

   IMPORTANT: Do not just string replace the "x.x.x.x" with "y.y.y.y" as either

   address may be used in option values within a scope. Save your changes.

 

5. If the DHCP database name or path on the Source server is different than the

   database name or path on the destination server, you must edit the Import.txt

   file to correct the values for any or all of the following settings:

   AuditLog, DatabaseBackupPath, DatabaseName, and DatabasePath. Note that the

   default path is typically c:winntsystem32dhcpDhcp.mdb. Save your changes.

 

6. Load the Import.txt file into the destination DHCP server by using the "netsh

   exec c:Import.txt" (without the quotation marks) command.

 

7. Stop the DHCP Server service by using the "net stop dhcpserver" (without the

   quotation marks) command.

 

8. Delete all of the contents of the %systemroot%system32dhcp folder,

   including subfolders.

 

9. Copy the DHCP database file (Dhcp.mdb) in the %systemroot%system32dhcp

   folder on the source server to the %systemroot%system32dhcp folder on the

   destination server.

 

10. Start the DHCP Server service with the "net start dhcpserver" (without the

   quotation marks) command.

 

11. Start the DHCP Server snap-in from the Administrative Tools group. Click the

   destination DHCP server, and then click Reconcile All Scopes on the Action

   menu. Click Verify. If any leases need to be reconciled, click Reconcile to

   synchronize the registry and database.

 

12. If the Windows 2000-based server is part of an Active Directory domain, the

   server must be Authorized.