Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2
Forced removal of a ___domain controller from Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) is intended to be used as a last resort to avoid having to reinstall the operating system on a ___domain controller that has failed and cannot be recovered. When a ___domain controller can no longer function in a ___domain (that is, it is offline), you cannot remove AD DS in the normal way, which requires connectivity to the ___domain. Forced removal is not intended to replace the normal AD DS removal procedure in any way. It is equivalent to permanently disconnecting the ___domain controller. However, after successful metadata cleanup of a forcibly removed ___domain controller, you can recreate the ___domain controller using the same name.
Note
On ___domain controllers that are running Windows Server 2008, you can perform a forced removal of AD DS on a server that can be started only in Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM).
AD DS stores a considerable amount of metadata about a ___domain controller. During the normal process of uninstalling AD DS on a ___domain controller, this metadata is removed from AD DS through a connection to another ___domain controller in the ___domain. In a forced removal, it is assumed that there is no connectivity to the ___domain. Therefore, there is no attempt at metadata removal (cleanup) after a forced removal.
Consequently, forced removal of AD DS from a ___domain controller must always be followed by the metadata cleanup procedure, which removes all references to the ___domain controller from the ___domain and forest.
Forced removal should not be performed on the last ___domain controller in a ___domain. For this ___domain controller, you can reinstall the operating system to restore the server to network operation.
If the ___domain controller that you are forcibly removing holds an operations master (also known as flexible single master operations or FSMO) role or roles, transfer the roles before you perform the forced removal procedure. From a healthy ___domain controller in the ___domain of the operations master role, or in the forest if the role is a forest-wide role, attempt to transfer the role to another ___domain controller. If you do not transfer operations master roles before you forcibly remove AD DS, the roles are transferred during the metadata cleanup process automatically. However, during metadata cleanup, you do not have the option to select the ___domain controller to which the roles are transferred. The cleanup application makes the selection automatically. If role transfer fails during metadata cleanup, you must seize the role following the metadata cleanup procedure. For more information about transferring and seizing operations master roles, see Introduction to Administering Operations Master Roles.
Task requirements
The following is required to perform the procedures for this task:
Active Directory Sites and Services
Dcpromo.exe
Ntdsutil.exe or Active Directory Users and Computers
To complete this task, perform the following procedures:
Identify Replication Partners. Use this procedure to identify a ___domain controller that is a replication partner of the ___domain controller that you are removing. Identify a replication partner in the same site, if possible. You will connect to this ___domain controller when you clean up server metadata.