Common Migrations - Workgroup to Domain

This help topic covers a common migration scenario end-to-end. It should be read carefully as it may not apply to your environment.

If this is your first migration with Alter-Ego we highly recommend you begin by reading the Getting Started guide.

This scenario covers a migration from a single workgroup to a domain. It could be used for an upgrade from a workgroup to server-based authentication, or to merge workgroup PCs and user profiles into an existing domain.

Note: This document assumes that all PCs in the workgroup have a common administrative account with the same username and password. If this is not the case, you can specify different user accounts for certain PCs through the use of groups, but that is not addressed in this basic step-by-step procedure. If you require assistance, we encourage you to contact Winterfrost support. Alternatively, you could perform multiple migrations, repeating the steps of this document for each group of PCs which share a common administrative account and password.

To begin, all workgroup users must have user accounts in the destination domain. If these accounts do not already exist, create them now.
Create a comma-separated values (CSV) file of one of the following types:
- If you wish to specify all source and destination user accounts, the CSV file should list computer name,local user name,domain user name for each computer and user in the workgroup. If you wish to migrate multiple user profiles on a given PC, repeat the computer name for each local and domain user pair.
- If you wish to attempt to migrate all user profiles on each PC without specifying matching local/domain user pairs, simply create a list of computer names, one per line. In this case, the local username and the domain username must be identical.
This file will be used to import the target computers and users in step 14.
If the client PCs are running the Windows Firewall or a similar software or hardware firewall, it must be configured to allow access to file sharing and the Alter-Ego network notification port. The destination domain must also have a Group Policy in place to allow this traffic for post-migration cleanup. Please see the firewall help topic for more information.
It is highly recommended that all client PCs are logged off before beginning. The clients will reboot as part of the migration process, so work may be lost if the target PCs are in use.
Launch Alter-Ego on the console computer.
Click the Begin a new migration with the "Easy Setup Wizard" button.
The Easy Setup Wizard introduction screen is shown. Click Next.
Choose Profile Migration + Domain Change and click Next.
Select Local profiles -> Domain profiles. Click Next.
The next Easy Setup Wizard question pertains to the source and destination security context of the user profiles. The source context is fixed as *LOCAL ACCOUNT*. In the Destination Context field, enter the name of the destination domain. Enter the name of a domain controller (DC) in the destination domain in the Dest DC Name field, and its IP address in the Dest DC IP field. This DC must be accessible to all clients during the migration. Click the Next button.
The Easy Setup Wizard now prompts for information about the domain which the client PCs will join. As this is the same domain as the user accounts, it is already populated with the domain name, DC name, and DC IP from the previous question. Simply click Next.
The options displayed on this tab relate to the way in which the migrations will be carried out. The first options are greyed out as they are required for a domain join. We recommend that all options are accepted with the default selections. Click Next.
You are now prompted to select a method of importing the target computers. Click the Import from file... button.
Select the type of file you created in step 2.
- If you created a list containing local and domain usernames, choose CN,SU,DU.
- If you created a list of computer names only in order to perform a migration of all profiles, choose CN and check the Migrate all user profiles checkbox.
Then enter the path to the CSV file or click the Browse... button to locate it.
Click Import Now to start the import process. If any errors or warnings are encountered, a window will be displayed which lists the relevant messages. Correct the errors and try the import again. If the import is successful, a success message will be displayed. Click OK to continue.
Click Next to proceed to the next Easy Setup Wizard question.
Click the Authentication Wizard button to start the Authentication Wizard which you will use to set the authentication roles.
Choose Yes to indicate that all destination computer and user accounts will be in the same domain, then click Next.
You are then prompted for an account which has local administrative access on all PCs in the workgroup. Enter the username and password and click Next.
Next you must enter an account in the destination domain which will be used to join the PCs to the domain and lookup user SIDs for the destination accounts. The account must have the Join Computers to Domain user privilege. By default, Domain Administrators have this right. Enter the username, password and domain for this account. Click Next.
Click the Finish button to close the Authentication Wizard.
Click the Next button to proceed to the end of the Easy Setup Wizard.
Click the Finish button to close the Easy Setup Wizard and return to the console window. You will now see the computers from your workgroup listed in the computer pane on the left.
If the client PCs are separated from the console PC by a firewall or router, or you have some other reason to believe that some network traffic between the console and clients may be blocked, you should perform a network test with at least one of the client PCs to verify network connectivity.
When you are ready to begin, click Tools -> Start Migration... or press F9.
Verify the network settings information which is displayed. If it is correct, press Yes to begin the migration.
The Progress Log window will appear in the right-hand pane and will begin updating the status as each client computer is contacted, loaded with the Alter-Ego client services, the migration takes place, and the client is unloaded. While this occurs, the color of each of the computers in the computer pane will also update to reflect its current status.
If you wish to view the log of a particular client PC, such as in the event of an error (red) or warning (orange), right-click on the computer in the computer pane and choose Open Newest Client Log. To view the console log, click View -> Handler Log. The logs will open in your default text editor.
You will receive a pop-up message once the migration is complete. Acknowledge it by clicking OK. You can now review the progress log and the computer pane for warnings and errors. Once you are finished, click the Done button to revert the Alter-Ego console back to normal operation. Your migration is complete.