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I made an unfortunate error when I named an Exchange server msex0 which I felt of course was short for "MicroSoft EXchange." The server in question is running Windows Server 2008 R2 with all the latest updates. It is working just fine now but I really want to change the name to remove "sex" from the name, probably to something like exchange0.

I could not find a comprhensive list of steps or guide to a hostname change in Exchange. If it helps, my instance of Windows is virtualized in VMWare.

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    Like the question and answers, but is that really worth changing the hostname over? (Especially given that it requires building a new Exchange server?) Just asking... but are your users or managers really pubescent boys who giggle uncontrollably any time they see "sex" anywhere? (And if so, might I suggest renaming it to MicroSEX4... making MicroSEX4.companyname.tld its FQDN?) Jul 15, 2012 at 15:27
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    BTW, for future reference, I wouldn't suggest calling it msexchange01 then either (which I'm sure tons of companies do)...m sex change 01.
    – TheCleaner
    Jul 18, 2012 at 18:13

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haha...ok I can't help but laugh a little, not at you but at the people that pointed this out enough to make you change it.

My opinion? Don't even bother. Unless things have changed in Exch2010 you can't easily do this.

What should you do?

Simply create a CNAME in DNS called exchange0 if you want. Then when anyone asks what the exchange server name is, or you need to configure it, or they need to access OWA (internally), just tell them it is exchange0.

IF you must change it...last I recall you'd have to build up a new one, move all the mailboxes over (and services/SMTP, etc.). Then remove your old one from the org, domain.

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  • Correct, alternately you can backup & uninstall Exchange, and rebuild the server... Either way, you can't just rename an exchange server, it has to be built from scratch with the correct name.
    – Chris S
    Oct 16, 2014 at 15:14
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You cannot rename an Exchange server. You will have to remove Exchange, rename the server, then reinstall Exchange. If it's already in use, then you need to migrate to another server temporarily, rename the old one, then migrate back.

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