Account for scope removal when migrating DHCP failover partners

Source facts

Microsoft’s failover-migration sequence breaks the existing relationship, exports and imports settings, and configures failover on the replacement servers. Deleting the relationship removes its member scopes from the partner DHCP server. The documented example moves a Windows Server 2022 failover deployment to Windows Server 2025, using specifically identified old and new servers. Microsoft documentation.

Applicability

Use this review when replacing both members of a DHCP failover arrangement. Identify every relationship, partner, and member scope before adapting the sequence. Treat the source’s server names as an example rather than deployment inputs.

DSE recommendation

Prepare a partner-and-scope worksheet and have another administrator verify the side from which the relationship will be removed. Assign owners for preserving settings, controlling the service transition, and testing the new pair. Record the expected scope inventory at each stage so deliberate removal is not confused with accidental loss. Keep the approved recovery decision available throughout the migration.

Verification

After each approved stage, compare the observed scope and relationship state with the worksheet. Test client lease behavior before accepting the new relationship, and include the selected failover exercise. Retain evidence from both replacement servers. Investigate missing scopes or an unexpected serving partner before retiring either original server.

Official references

Microsoft Learn: Migrate existing DHCP failover deployment on Windows Server. Source reviewed September 8, 2026.