Windows Server 2012 R2

Restoring Active Directory Domain Services objects using Authoritative Restore in Windows Server 2012 R2

Authoritative restore is a method to recover objects and containers that have been deleted for AD DS. An authoritative restore marks specific data as current and prevents the replication from overwriting that data. The authoritative data is then replicated throughout the domain. The basic process for performing an authoritative restore of AD DS is the same as a Non-authoritative restore […]

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Windows Server 2012 R2

Converting from a Server Core to Server with a GUI in Windows Server 2012 R2

In Windows Server 2012/ 2012 R2, you can convert Server Core to Server with a GUI or Server with a GUI to Server Core without reinstalling the entire operating system as in the previous version in Windows Server 2008 R2. With this features, administrators can easily switch between Server Core to Server with a GUI or vice-versa within few steps. […]

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Windows Server 2012 R2

How to Backup Active Directory Domain Services Database in Windows Server 2012 R2

Maintaining an AD DS Database is an important administrative task that you must schedule regular to ensure that, in the case of disaster. You can recover lost or corrupted data and repair the AD DS Database. The AD DS has its own database engine, the Extensible Storage Engine (ESE), which manages the storage of all AD DS objects in an […]

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Windows Server 2012 R2

Resetting the Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM) Password in Windows Server 2012 R2

Directory Services Mode (DSRM) password is created during the domain controller promotion process. During Active Directory Domain Services Installation Wizard, you were asked to provide a password for the DSRM administrator. This administrator account (Administrator) is separate from the domain administrator account. This account is used once you boot in DSRM.

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Windows Server 2012 R2

Configuring DNS Backup and Recovery in Windows Server 2012 R2

DNS is a core piece of AD DS infrastructure. AD DS relies heavily on DNS name resolution. When DNS Server disaster occurs, we need to restore DNS zone to a previous state as soon as possible. For this scenario, we have two options to perform this operation. First one is AD DS authoritative restore, an authoritative restore of Active Directory […]

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Windows Server 2012 R2

Install an Additional Domain Controller from IFM (Install From Media) in Windows Server 2012

We can use the Install from media (IFM) option to install an Additional Domain Controller in an existing domain is the best option such as a branch office scenario where network is slow, unreliable and costly. IFM will minimize replication traffic during the installation because it uses restored backup files to populate the AD DS database. This will significantly reduce […]

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windowsServer2008R2

Configuring Fine-Grained Password Policies in Windows Server 2008 R2

Fine-Grained Password policies is a Long-Awaited Password and Account Policy Solution from Microsoft, which allow multiple password and account lockout policy settings to different sets of users in the same domain. Prior to Windows Server 2008/2008 R2, we have only a one password and account lockout policy, defined at the domain level. This limitation led complicated for many organizations. So […]

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windowsServer2008R2

Seizing An Operations Master with NTDSUTIL in Windows Server 2008 R2

In real network, when operations master server fails due to hardware issues or some other problems, we need to move the operation master role to another domain controller as soon as possible. This move process is called seizing. Therefore, Seizing an operations master role means forcing an operations master role onto another domain controller. Before we seize operations master roles, […]

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windowsServer2008R2

Migrating Active Directory Domain Controller from Windows Server 2003 SP2 to Windows Server 2008 R2

Organizations are migrating their Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008 R2 Domain Controllers because of the new cool features of Windows Server 2008 R2. There are two options for migrating windows 2003 to Windows Server 2008 R2 Domain Controller.

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