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Reinstalling DC in W2k Server Domain

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by powlboyjr 1 view

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Yesterday I had to was having problems with a domain controller in my company (let's call it dc1). The hardware problem didn't actually happen until after I moved the server roles to another domain controller (let's call it dc2). Now I also have a third domain controller as a backup.

After reinstalling Windows Server 2003 on dc1, I am trying to convert it to a domain controller again, but receive the following error:
Operation failed because: Active Directory could not replicate the directory partition CN=schema,CN=Configuration,DC=SLC,DC=local from the remote domain controller dc2.slc.local. While accessing the hard drive, a disk operation failed even after retries.

Upon subsequent tries to install active directory, the only difference is it mentions dc3 in the error, not dc2.

DNS configuration is correct on dc1, the name is the same as before and the ip address information is the same.

Please help me on this problem. I don't know if I have to do any clean-up of active directory or anything using repadmin to get rid of old dc1 associations. My question is probably confusing so if you need some clarification, just ask. Thanks a lot everyone.

11 replies

by churdoo

Does DC1 show up in Active Directory Users and Computers built in Domain Controllers OU? Sounds like this may be the case, and if so, you need to remove it from AD before you can re-add it.

Check this article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/216498

I'm also concerned with the references in your post to "disk operation failed." What exactly was the hardware failure of DC1 and are you sure it's completely fixed?

by powlboyjr

The only hardware failure we had was actually a stick of RAM. Besides that Symantec Antivirus Corporate 10 was causing multiple processes to shut down and a BSOD.

Also, thanks for the website but I have already tried that.

by powlboyjr

I ran chkdsk during a reboot and also checked the status of my raid-1 drive and everything is ok. I also ran a text-based diagnostic on ram and all is clear.

by cg it

Reinstall W2K and then do a restore from backup.

I'm with Churdoo... do a metadata cleanup...

because you didn't actually dcpromo demote DC1 and remove it from AD so AD, DC2 & DC3 still think DC1 is still there, just not available. They will always think DC1 is there and unavailable until you remove it from AD.

by powlboyjr

Sorry about the typo, I meant Windows 2k3 domain in the title.

I have already done a metadata cleanup, but main still appears in AD Sites and Services after the DCs replicate.

by churdoo

Do I understand correctly that when you do the metadata cleanup, the DC1 is gone from ADSS, but then reappears after replication? If so, then I would perform the metadata cleanup from the other DC; I would force a replication first, then do the metadata cleanup of DC1, then force replication again and verify.

If that still didn't change the symptoms, I would scour the event logs as there must be something else happening here, but as a LAST resort, I would demote one DC so there's only a single DC, perform the metadata cleanup, verify, then re-promote DC's.

by powlboyjr

I have been trying to do a metadatacleanup from another DC (DC2). I can't run metadata cleanup from DC1 because I am unable to promote it to a domain controller since I reformatted.
About the ADSS, nothing about the previous DC1(same name) ever shows up using ntdsutil but if I delete dc1 from ADSS, it just shows up again when the domain controller replicates.

by churdoo

I understand you can't / shouldn't be running the metadata cleanup from DC1; never said you should be.

I thought, though I may have misunderstood, that in your original post you indicated you have 3 DC's, the hosed up DC1, DC2 which you're trying unsuccessfully to run the metadata cleanup from, and I thought you said you had a third which you called a "backup." Clearly, since DC1 has been re-installed from scratch, it can't be replicating with the other DC's, so the reappearing server must be coming from replication with DC3. Perhaps DC3 holds roles that you're not aware of and is therefore over-writing your work from the metadata cleanup on DC2.

I was suggesting therefore, again unless I misunderstood the existence of DC3, that you run the metadata cleanup process from DC3 instead of DC2, forcing repadmin just prior to and just after the metadata cleanup procedure.

Lastly, if you demote DC3, then there will be 1 and only 1 copy of AD, so replication should no longer interfere with what you're trying to do, plus of course, there will be no question that DC2 will hold ALL FSMO roles. Once you have a clean AD, you can re-promote DC1, redistribute FSMO roles if you choose, and re-promote DC3 if you so choose (depending on the size of your organization, 3x DC's may simply be overkill and causing unnecessary replication traffic).

Hope this helps.
--C

by cg it

What Churdoo is recommending is to dcpromo demote the 3rd DC so that the last DC in the network will automatically inherit all roles assigned to any and all DCs. However, this doesn't cure a wayward DC [DC1] that was taken off the network but never decommissioned.

here's a tech net article on restoring a DC

http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/2f44ad0e-f84d-47a2-956b-df3f8554ea541033.mspx?mfr=true

If you've tried this, then I would suggest that you change the name of the DC and use that method which will assure that the old DC1 is removed.

by churdoo

First, if you have a good backup of DC1, you can restore it as CG IT has suggested.

What I neglected relative to cleaning AD on the remaining DC's though is that I assumed that your remaining DC's hold all of the FSMO roles, but this is not a good assumption. Before you continue, check who owns the roles cuz I think you'll find that you'll have to SEIZE roles to the remaining DC's.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/255504

I also neglected to mention, but CG IT just suggested -- your rebuilt DC1 is now a domain member with the same name as the former DC1, this I'm sure is causing some confusion as well. I completely agree with CG that you should, at least until you get a clean AD, rename DC1.

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