Admin Tips
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        Quick tips on troubleshooting FSMO roles

Section(s): Active Directory , Active Directory
Published on Mar 14, 2006.
Last Modified on Mar 14, 2006.
Last Modified by Mitch Tulloch.
Rated 3 out of 5 based on 20 votes.

Here are some tips on troubleshooting FSMO roles.

Here are some tips on troubleshooting FSMO roles, presented in the form of a pop-quiz. See how you score on it, answers are at the bottom.

1. I can't add a new domain to my forest. Which FSMO role might be down?

2. I tried running adprep /domain but it failed. Which FSMO role might be down?

3. Some users changed their password but now they can't log on. Which FSMO role might be down?

4. The clocks on my servers don't seem to be synchronized properly. Which FSMO role might be down?

5. I tried upgrading a Windows 2000 domain controller to Windows Server 2003 but the DNS application partition wasn't created. Which FSMO role might be down?

Scroll down for answers...

ANSWERS:

1. Domain Naming Master 2. Infrastructure Master 3. PDC Emulator 4. PDC Emulator 5. Domain Naming Master

About Mitch Tulloch

Mitch Tulloch was lead author for the Windows Vista Resource Kit from Microsoft Press, which is the book for IT pros who want to deploy, maintain and support Windows Vista in mid- and large-sized network environments. Mitch was also the author of Introducing Windows Server 2008 and technical project lead for the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Resource Kit, both books also from Microsoft Press. For more information on these and other books by Mitch, see www.mtit.com .