Only GC in AD died 2

[centraladminman]

I have a two Windows 2003 SP2 servers. One of the server suffered from serious hardware failure. My backup are good so I'm not to worried. However this was the only Global Catalog server but bother server were DCs.

My question is can I turn the up and running DC into a GC?

 

[unclerico]

yes. if you are running in a single site topology then you should have 2 GC's set up. If you are running multiple sites then you should have a GC in each site as well. Also, if you have other DC's with a known good replicant of AD then don't bother with restoring the dead DC. If the dead DC held any FSMO roles then seize them to another DC. Run ntdstuil and go through the metadata cleanup to remove remnants of the failed DC. Re-install the dead DC using a new name and promote it to a DC.

I hate all Uppercase... I don't want my groups to seem angry at me all the time! =)
- ColdFlame (vbscript forum)

 

[bTkalternate]

Yeah, shouldn't be a problem making the other DC the GC.
AD will still think the old DC is a GC too so either use the UI to untick the option or at command prompt

dsmod server OldServerDN -isgc no
dsmod server NewServerDN -isgc yes

HTH

 

[centraladminman]

sorry after re-reading my post I realize it was a little unclear.

I only have one DC in a single domain now that doesn't contain any FSMO roles nor is it a GC. The dead server held all those roles and was the only GC. So can I simply turn the running DC into a GC and sieze the FSMO roles? It doesn't need to sync with an existing GC to become a vaild GC if you will??? Does a DC that is not a GC contain all the same AD info as a DC that is a GC???

 

[unclerico]

can I simply turn the running DC into a GC and sieze the FSMO roles

Yes. Don't forget about running ntsutil and go through the metadata cleanup process

It doesn't need to sync with an existing GC to become a vaild GC if you will? Does a DC that is not a GC contain all the same AD info as a DC that is a GC?

No to the first and yes to the second. The GC quite simply just holds a subset of attributes for every object in the forest. The GC will be "rebuilt" when you enable the functionality on the other DC. You will see event 1119 in your event viewer stating that the DC is now a GC.


I hate all Uppercase... I don't want my groups to seem angry at me all the time! =)
- ColdFlame (vbscript forum)