Changing the host name of the management server computer

If the management server is addressed by its fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or its host name, a change to the host name of the computer will have implications within XProtect that must be considered and dealt with.

In general, a change of the host name of a management server should be planned for carefully due to the amount of clean-up that might be required afterwards.

In the following sections you can get an overview of some of the implications of a change of a host name.

The validity of certificates

Certificates are used to encrypt communication between services, and the certificates are installed on all the computers that run one or more of the XProtect services.

Depending on how certificates are created, they can be related to the computer they are installed on, and they will only be valid as long as the computer name stays the same.

For more information about how to create certificates, see Introduction to certificates.

If a computer name is changed, the certificates that are used may become invalid, and the XProtect VMS cannot be started. To get the system up and running again, complete these steps:

  • Create new certificates and reinstall them on all of the computers in the environment.

  • Apply the new certificates, using the Server Configurator, on each of the computers to enable encryption with the new certificates.

This will trigger the registration of the new certificates and get the system up and running again.

Loss of customer data properties for registered services

If you complete a registration using the Server Configurator after, for example, a change to the management server address, any edits to information for the registered services will be overwritten. So, if you have changed information for the registered services, the changes must be applied again for all the services that are registered to the management server on the computer with the changed name.

The information that can be edited for registered services is located under Tools > Registered Services > Edit:

  • Trusted

  • Advanced

  • External flag

  • Any manually added URL

In Milestone Customer Dashboard, the host name will appear unchanged

Milestone Customer Dashboard is a free online tool for Milestone partners, resellers, and XProtect VMS users to manage and monitor Milestone software installations and licenses.

A change of the name of the management server on a system that is connected to Milestone Customer Dashboard will not automatically be reflected in Milestone Customer Dashboard.

The old host name will appear in Milestone Customer Dashboard until a new license activation is completed. The name change, however, will not break anything in Milestone Customer Dashboard and once a new activation takes place, the record is updated in the database with the new host name. For more information about Milestone Customer Dashboard, see Milestone Customer Dashboard (explained).

A host name change can trigger the change of the SQL Server address

If SQL Server is located on the same computer as the management server, and the name of this computer is changed, the address of SQL Server will change as well. This means that the SQL Server address will have to be updated for components located on different computers as well as for components on the local computer that use the computer name rather than localhost to connect to SQL Server. This specifically applies to the Event Server which uses the same database as the Management Server. It might also apply to the Log Server which uses a different database but very likely on the same SQL Server.

See Change the location and name of a SQL Server database.

Host name changes in a Milestone Federated Architecture

Changes to the name of a computer that resides within a Milestone Federated Architecture setup will have the following implications, and this applies both when sites are connected inside work groups and across domains.

The host of the site is the root node in the architecture

If you change the name of the computer that the central site within the architecture is running on, all child nodes will be re-attached automatically to the new address. So in this case, a rename will not require any actions.

The host of the site is a child node in the architecture

To avoid connection issues when changing the name of a computer that one or more federated sites are running on, you must add an alternate address to the affected site, before the computer is renamed. The affected site being the node whose host computer will be renamed. For more information about connection issues due to unprepared or unpredicted host name changes and how to resolve the problems, see Issue: A parent node in a Milestone Federated Architecture setup cannot connect to a child node.

The alternate address must be added in the Properties pane in either the Site Navigation or the Federated Site Hierarchy pane. The following prerequisites must be met:

  • The alternate address must be added to be available before the host computer is renamed

  • The alternate address must reflect the future name of the host computer (when renamed)

See Set site properties for information about how to access the Properties pane.

To ensure the smoothest update possible, stop the Management Client on the node that serve as a parent node to the one whose host name will change. Otherwise, stop and restart the client after the computer has been renamed. For more information, see Start or stop the Management Server service.

Also, make sure the alternate address you provided is reflected in the Federated Site Hierarchy pane at your central site and if not, stop and restart the Management Client.

Once the host has been renamed, and you have restarted the computer, the federated site will automatically switch to the new address.