Move Central Admin from one Server to Another

Issue:
Move CA from one server to another
Resolution:
On the existing farm Central Administration server (old app server) remove the Central Administration website:

• Run the SP configuration wizard
• Select: Do not disconnect from the server farm (Warning: Disconnecting from the server farm will result in all your web applications being deleted from IIS. They can be recreated if you reconfigure central administration again and link to the existing configuration DB, but they will be unavailable until that time. That means no web sites available and more down time than necessary!)
• Select: Yes, I want to remove the website from this machine
• Select: Ok.

Note: The configuration wizard will stop IIS and all websites may become unavailable for a few minutes while it steps through the processes. Ensure that you do not delete any databases as you will be hooking the new Central Admin site to the original DB.

If you check IIS you will see that the Central Administration web application has disappeared leaving only your portal web apps and the OfficeServerApplication

1. Run the SP configuration wizard on the new server (new app server) and recreate the Central Administration site.
   
   • Select: Do not disconnect from the configuration database
   • Select: Advanced Settings
   • Select: Use this machine to host the web site
   • Select: Next / Ok
2. Open central administration and check the servers in the farm – you should see Central Administration now hosted on new app server: