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Decommissioning 2003 Functional Level DC

This is for a Domain Controller that has died and cannot DC Promo to remove it.

Before you start​

  1. Make sure the DC is not any of the following:
    • Schema master – Forest-wide and one per forest - MMC > AD Schema Master - if it's not there run CMD as admin and register this DLL: regsvr32 schmmgmt.dll
    • Domain naming master – Forest-wide and one per forest - AD Domains and Trusts
    • RID master – Domain-specific and one for each domain - AD Users and Computers
    • PDC – PDC Emulator is domain-specific and one for each domain - AD Users and Computers
    • Infrastructure master – Domain-specific and one for each domain - AD Users and Computers
  2. Make sure the functional level of the domain is 2003.
    • Go to AD Users and Computers
    • Right-click > Properties on the Domain in question

Remove all Metadata​

  1. Logon to a working DC
  2. Run a cmd prompt as admin
  3. Type ntdsutil
    • Type metadata cleanup and then connections
    • Type connect to server workingservernamehere - NOTE: the workingservernamehere is a DC that is working fine
    • Type quit and you should be back at the Metadata Cleanup menu
    • Type select operation target and then list domains
    • Type select domain numberhere - NOTE: numberhere is the DC you want to remove the server from (you can replicate this to all DCs later)
    • Type list sites and then select site numberhere
    • Type list servers in site and then select server numberhere
    • Type quit and you should be back at the Metadata Cleanup menu
    • Type remove selected server
  4. At an elevated command prompt, replicate to all DCs from the good server that you used in step 3)b)
    • Type: repadmin /syncall workingservernamehere <naming context>
    • Naming context example: DC=DOMAIN,DC=NET

Clear up DNS entries for the DC getting decommissioned​

  1. Open up DNS
  2. Find every location that the DNS entry is in and remove it. Don't forget
    • To check both Forward and Reverse lookup zones
    • There may be multiple zones the server is located in.
  3. Wait for DNS replication

Testing​

  1. Wait for DNS and AD replication, there should now be no more error event 1864.
  2. You can also try repadmin /replsummary and the server should no longer be causing issues