Windows and Virtualization Tips and Tricks

To seize the FSMO roles by using Ntdsutil, follow the below steps:

1. On the domain controller, click Start – Run and type Ntdsutil in the Open box, and then click OK.

2. Type roles, and then press ENTER.

Note: To see a list of available commands at any of the prompts in the Ntdsutil tool, type ? and then press

ENTER.

3. Type connections and then press ENTER.

4. Type connect to server <GDCPORTAL>, where <GDCPORTAL> 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 seize <role>, where <role> is the role you want to seize. For example, to seize the RID Master role, you would type seize rid master:

Options are:

7. You will receive a warning window asking if you want to perform the seize. Click on Yes

.

Note: All five roles need to be in the forest. If the first domain controller is out of the forest then seize all roles. Determine which roles are to be on which remaining domain controllers so that all five roles are not on only one server.

· Repeat steps 6 and 7 until you've seized all the required FSMO roles.

· After you seize or transfer the roles, type q, and then press ENTER until you quit the Ntdsutil tool.

Note: Do not put the Infrastructure Master (IM) role on the same domain controller as the Global Catalog server. If the Infrastructure Master runs on a GC server it will stop updating object information because it does not contain any references to objects that it does not hold. This is because a GC server holds a partial replica of every object in the forest.