Domain Controller across domains....

[Pharquah]

Okay - I know that officially you can't move an NT4 domain controller from one domain to another (yes, I know the implications, I am an MCSE ) BUT! do any of you guys know of a cunning workaround, or funky tool, or ultra expensive piece of commercial software that might allow me to do it??
Reason is I've got a remote site joining my domain, and If I reinstall the remote server OS then I'll lose a rather important (Business Critical) application and it will not reinstall correctly with the data I need it to have...

Cheers!

Pharquah niblet rameses II

 

[Jpoandl]

Why not just create a trust relationship? Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2000

 

[Pharquah]

That's my last resort - I've managed to migrate two other domains in without a hitch, and was really hoping to get a single domain model WAN with no trusts to complicate anything....

 

[Jpoandl]

Yeah, that would be desirable especially if you ever want to upgrade to Windows 2000. In fact, you may want to consider that. If you migrate your domain controllers to Win2K, you can easily consolidate domains. But make sure that application works on the Win2K platform first.

If you want to stay in an NT 4.0 structure, I would create the trust. This is the easiest solution. Otherwise, I would perform a search on the internet for 3rd party tools. I did a quick search and was able to find a product called NTSEC..although it will move all of your account/group information from one domain to the next, I don't think this will be a complete solution for you...

http://www.pedestalsoftware.com/ntsec/ntsecfaq.htm

Hope some of this helps...



Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2000

 

[mikes999]

Pharquah, this is an interesting problem. How about this solution:
a) create a BDC under PDC to be migrated;
b) replicate ALL the data/SAM to this PDC;
c) make sure your apps are working on this PDC alone;
c) try to reassign PDC to your main domain's PDC.

I would really like to know, whether it is a viable solution.

 

[Jpoandl]

Mikes999,

That is not possible.

Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2000

 

[waynemaples]

u-promote will do it. See

http://is-it-true.org/nt/atips/atips51.shtml

-Wayne
Contentmaster
Windows NT / Windows 2000 Tips for Admins and Users
Penetration Testing Tips for NT and W2K Admins

http://is-it-true.org/

 

[Pharquah]

Thanks for the help Jpoandl,mikes999 and waynemaples - the U Promote tool looks like a winner!

So - I'm going to demote the PDC to a member server, then move it to the new domain, and then upgrade it to a BDC in the new domain.
The only issue I can think of is that our third party app that is causing me the trouble may be linked to the domain security somehow... Ahh it never rains, eh? - If anyone's interested I'll post what finally happens when I make the move. Could be messy.

Cheers guys

Pharquah

 

[Jpoandl]

Sounds good Pharquah...make sure you have like 12 backups before you do it....lol

Later! Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2000