Move your Active Directory domain to another server

TL;DR; Learn how to transfer an Active Directory domain to a new server, including moving FSMO roles and the Global Catalogue, to ensure domain services remain functional.

Published on 20 January 2014

Written by Martin Hinshelwood

1 minute read

https://nkdagility.com/resources/koQQ-rllpsw

I was trying to install TFS 2013 yesterday and I found that my local demo domain was not working. After a little investigation It looks like I was running Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview and it had just expired.

Figure: Can’t install TFS if your domain is not working

So for the second time I had to navigate the treacherous jungle that is moving an Active Directory domain from one server to another. Changing your primary domain controller (PDC) is no simple task but if you hunt around ling enough on the internet you can pull together enough information to get it done.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrpAYB2yIZU]
Install & Configure 301 - Move your Active Directory domain to another server

Just so you don’t miss anything you need to move:

Schema Master
Domain Naming Master
The relative identifier (RID) operations master
The primary domain controller (PDC) emulator operations master
The infrastructure operations master

And lets not forget the Global Catalogue.

The video documents my journey of moving my demo domain from one server to another and it currently looks like everything is working. Job done…

How did you get on moving your domain?

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