Changing the domain name from Companyweb to another name in Microsoft Small Business Server

The internal SharePoint web site that SBS creates is always called Companyweb. You may want to use some other domain name for that web site. To change the domain name from Companyweb to another name there are some other techniques, but the one I used just fixes it so that Companyweb redirects with a 301 redirect to my designated domain name. Follow this process:

1. Add a CNAME entry to DNS for your internal domain name to point to your SBS server. For example, let's suppose that your network name is example.local, your SBS machine is named "homer", and you want internal.example.local to go to the internal web site.
   1. In DNS Manager, go to DNS\HOMER\Foreward Lookup Zones\example.local.
   2. Add a CNAME entry for "internal" that that points to the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) "homer.example.local.". Note that there is a period at the end of "homer.example.local." and don't include the quotes.
2. Add a binding for internal.example.local to the "SBS Sharepoint" web site.
   1. In IIS Manager, and navigate to "HOMER\Sites\SBS Sharepoint".
   2. Right click and Edit Bindings.
   3. Add a host name for "internal.example.local" (no period at the end here).
3. Make internal.example.local the canonical name for the web site.
   1. If you haven't already, download Microsoft's URL Rewrite tool from the Web Platform Installer (http://www.iis.net/download/urlrewrite).
   2. Also download Microsoft's SEO Toolkit using the Web Platform Installer.
   3. Select SBS SharePoint in IIS Manager.
   4. Select URL Rewrite.
   5. Add a new rule.
   6. Add a SEO Canonical Domain name rule that points to "internal.example.local".
      

Now when anyone tries to go to Companyweb (whether directly or from the Desktop gadget), they will be automatically redirected by the browser to internal.example.local.

There is a slight drawback to this technique in that the browser will first request Companyweb, the server will reply with a 301 response that points to internal.example.local, then the browser will go to the final domain name. However, this is not much of a drawback, and it does it in a way that is unlikely to break other parts of Small Business Server.