DCPROMO

[aultbmh]

I have a client that has 2 DC one new and one old, I build the new server and DNS, DHCP, global catalog are all running on the new server. I let the 2 servers run but as I am not onsite someone shut off the old server and it ran that way for a couple months. Now I went back to dcpromo the old server (had to turn the server back on) but since it was off no replication has happened. Now I want to transfer the other FMSO roles to the new DC but it won't let me as the 2 are not in sync.

Can I just do dcpromo on the old one and will the other FMSO roles be transfered or do i need to try to fix the replication first???

 

[SteveRoadWarrior]

Could be worse...

At least if it ran for months with few noticing, then the new DC is doing its job. And most clients won't be willing to pay you to figure out how to sync them up again.

You'll need to know what that does to the network. Is there any software on there which needs to be installed somewhere else? And what hoops do you have to jump through to get it registered. If there's no fallout from removing the old server, you always have the option of trying to sync them up again. Playing around in the EV, looking up KB articles, running Replication diag tools, rebooting. Hey, you might be able to override the replication timeouts with registry entries. It's so fun, educational and so expensive. So you'll need to ask the client if they want to pay for this.

When they say no, then you'll have to back up the old one and seize the roles on the new one.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/255504

Then Demote the old server with forceremoval (see above).

Finally, clean up the DNS / WINS entries, verify FSMO ownership and make sure dcdiag /c runs cleanly.