| Transferring the 5 FSMO roles |
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| Written by Richard Thompson, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 | |
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Decommissioning domain controllers is never an enjoyable task, even more so when the domain controller holds any of the 5 FSMO roles. The guide below can be used when performing these tasks. Transferring FSMO roles can be done using 2 methods. First and in my opinion the simplest is by using the various MMC snap-ins available to an administrator. Second is by using the NTDSUTIL.exe command. NTDSUTIL is a little more complex, especially if you dont know the commands off hand, however I have provided these below. In order to modify the Schema master role remember you need to be a member of the schema admins group and to modify the domain naming master you need to be a member of enterprise admins. All other roles can be transferred using a domain Admin account. Note that modifying these roles could cause your Active directory infrastructure to fail. Datacrash.net nor any of their member can be held accountable for failures resulting from these actions. RID Master, PDC Emulator, and Infrastructure Masters via GUI To Transfer the Domain-Specific RID Master, PDC Emulator, and Infrastructure Master FSMO Roles: 1. Open the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in from the Administrative Tools folder. 2. If you are NOT logged onto the target domain controller, in the snap-in, right-click the icon next to Active Directory Users and Computers and press Connect to Domain Controller. 3. Select the domain controller that will be the new role holder, the target, and press OK. 4. Right-click the Active Directory Users and Computers icon again and press Operation Masters. 5. Select the appropriate tab for the role you wish to transfer and press the Change button. 6. Press OK to confirm the change. 7. Press OK all the way out. Domain Naming Master via GUI To Transfer the Domain Naming Master Role: 1. Open the Active Directory Domains and Trusts snap-in from the Administrative Tools folder. 2. If you are NOT logged onto the target domain controller, in the snap-in, right-click the icon next to Active Directory Domains and Trusts and press Connect to Domain Controller. 3. Select the domain controller that will be the new role holder and press OK. 4. Right-click the Active Directory Domains and Trusts icon again and press Operation Masters. 5. Press the Change button. 6. Press OK to confirm the change. 7. Press OK all the way out. Schema Master via GUI To Transfer the Schema Master Role: 1. Register the Schmmgmt.dll library by pressing Start > RUN and typing:regsvr32 schmmgmt.dll 2. Press OK. You should receive a success confirmation. 3. From the Run command open an MMC Console by typing MMC. 4. On the Console menu, press Add/Remove Snap-in. 5. Press Add. Select Active Directory Schema. 6. Press Add and press Close. Press OK. 7. If you are NOT logged onto the target domain controller, in the snap-in, right-click the Active Directory Schema icon in the Console Root and press Change Domain Controller. 8. Press Specify .... and type the name of the new role holder. Press OK. 9. Right-click right-click the Active Directory Schema icon again and press Operation Masters. 10. Press the Change button. 11. Press OK all the way out. Transferring the FSMO Roles via Ntdsutil To transfer the FSMO roles from the Ntdsutil command: 1. On any domain controller, click Start, click Run, type Ntdsutil in the Open box, and then click OK.2. Type roles, and then press ENTER. 3. Type connections, and then press ENTER. 4. Type connect to server <servername>, where <servername> is the name of the server you want to use, and then press ENTER. 5. At the server connections: prompt, type q, and then press ENTER again.6. Type transfer <role>. where <role> is the role you want to transfer. For example, to transfer the RID Master role, you would type transfer rid master: Options are: 7. You will receive a warning window asking if you want to perform the transfer. Click on Yes. 8. After you transfer the roles, type q and press ENTER until you quit Ntdsutil.exe. 9. Restart the server and make sure you update your backup. |
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