BDC Promotion

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Paul

Hi all,

I wonder if there's anyone out there that can help - is there anyway
possible to promte a standalone BDC to the PDC (in other words the PDC no
longer exists, and the existing BDC which has the AD shema replicated needs
to become the PDC).

I have tried DCPROMO, but when I run it it wants to remove the AD schema?

Any ideas?

Thanks!
Paul
 
Are you running mixed W2k/NT4 environment or just using incorrect
terminology?
 
No.

Its a Win 2K Lab environment.

Dmitry Korolyov said:
Are you running mixed W2k/NT4 environment or just using incorrect
terminology?

--
Dmitry Korolyov [[email protected]]
MVP: Windows Server - Directory Services


Paul said:
Hi all,

I wonder if there's anyone out there that can help - is there anyway
possible to promte a standalone BDC to the PDC (in other words the PDC no
longer exists, and the existing BDC which has the AD shema replicated
needs to become the PDC).

I have tried DCPROMO, but when I run it it wants to remove the AD schema?

Any ideas?

Thanks!
Paul
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Paul,

If you have a WIN2000 Active Directory Domain then there is no such thing
anymore as a Primary Domain Controller and a Backup Domain Controller. All
Domain Controllers are the same ( well, just go with that for the moment ).
However, there are some additional things that a Domain Controller might
have that would separate it from the others ( but not in the Primary -
Secondary Sense...well, just go with that for the moment as well ). There
are the five FSMO Roles. There is also the Global Catalog Server.

There are five FSMO Roles. Two of them are forest-wide ( Schema and Domain
Naming Master ) and there are three that are domain-wide ( PDC Emulator, RID
Master and Infrastructure Master ).

The PDC Emulator Role is what causes some confusion. The Domain Controller
that holds this specific FSMO Role acts as the Primary Domain Controller
should there be any Windows NT 4.0 backup Domain Controllers still in your
environment ( were you in Mixed Mode ). It also does several other things
( time source, GPOs, etc. etc. etc. ).

A Global Catalog Server holds a partial replica and is important for logons
( in a Native Mode environment ) as well as some other things.

Install the Support Tools from the Service Pack CD-Media and run - from a
command prompt - netdom query fsmo. This will show you which Domain
Controller holds which of the five FSMO Roles ( hopefully this one remaining
DC holds all five ).

You do not want to run dcpromo. This will, as you have discovered, remove
Active Directory. You would then have nothing. That would be a sure way to
get fired on the spot!

You might want to do some reading and playing in a lab. Not trying to be
mean or harsh but it sounds like you have a lot to learn! ;-)

--
Cary W. Shultz
Roanoke, VA 24014
Microsoft Active Directory MVP

http://www.activedirectory-win2000.com
http://www.grouppolicy-win2000.com
 
Hi Everyone,

Managed to find the solution -

All FSMO roles need to be seized via NTDSUTIL tool, after which meta data
cleanup must be performed.

Once these tasks have been done all DC roles are forcibly transferred to the
2nd DC.

Cheers
 
Okay,

Your initial post was not very clear as to what exactly was going on. I am
glad that you were able to resolve everything.

Essentially what happened was that one of your two Domain Controllers was
simply removed from the network. Unplugged as it were. You do need to make
sure that you do the Metadata Cleanup - as you already stated that you did -
and before that you seize the five FSMO Roles via ntdsutil - as you already
stated.

Since you seized the five roles from one DC to another you need to make sure
that the DC from which you seized the roles never comes back to the network.

--
Cary W. Shultz
Roanoke, VA 24014
Microsoft Active Directory MVP

http://www.activedirectory-win2000.com
http://www.grouppolicy-win2000.com
 
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