Performing a Manual Backup

To perform a manual backup of the DHCP database, right-click the DHCP server icon in the DHCP console, and then select Backup. To restore the DHCP database, rightclick the DHCP server icon in the DHCP console, and then select Restore.

Backup Locations The default DHCP database manual backup path is \WINDOWS\ System32\Dhcp\Backup. You can change the database backup folder by selecting a different local folder during a manual backup or by changing the backup folder location in the DHCP server properties dialog box.

When planning your backup strategy, keep the following in mind:

• When you perform manual backups, you don't need to stop the DHCP service unless you're moving your database to a new server.
• The backup folder location must be a local path.

Migrating a DHCP Server Migrating a DHCP server from one server to another requires you to move the DHCP database to the new server. To move the DHCP database, simply back it up and then restore it to another location, as explained in the following procedures.

To back up the DHCP database (at the source server), complete the following steps:

1. Open the DHCP console.
2. In the console tree, select the applicable DHCP server.
3. From the Action menu, select Backup.
   The Browse For Folder dialog box opens.
4. Select the folder that will contain the backup DHCP database, and then click OK.
   You must choose a local drive for the DHCP database backup folder.
5. Stop the DHCP server.
   This step prevents the server from assigning new address leases to clients after the database has been backed up.
6. In the Services console, disable the DHCP Server service in the list of services.
   To perform this task, launch the Services console and double-click DHCP Server. In the DHCP Server Properties dialog box, from the Startup Type drop-down list, select Disabled and click OK. This setting prevents the DHCP server from starting after the database has been transferred.
7. Copy the folder that contains the backup DHCP database to the destination DHCP server.

To restore the DHCP database (at the destination server), complete the following steps:

1. If you have not already installed the DHCP Server role, do so.
2. Open the DHCP console.
3. In the console tree, select the applicable DHCP server.
4. From the Action menu, select Restore.
   The Browse For Folder dialog box opens.
5. In the Browse For Folder dialog box, select the folder that contains the backup DHCP database, and then click OK. If prompted to stop and restart the service, click Yes.
   The database you are restoring must have been created manually using the Backup command on the DHCP console Action menu. Backups created automatically by the DHCP service cannot be used to perform manual database restorations.