Step by Step procedure to Transfer FSMO Roles

                             How to Transfer FSMO Roles

 Prerequisites:

• make sure the user your logged in as a domin administrator that is a schema dministrator
  

 Transferring the RID Master, PDC Emulator, and Infrastructure Masters via GUI

To Transfer the Domain-Specific RID Master, PDC Emulator, and Infrastructure Master FSMO Roles:

1. Open the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in from the Administrative Tools folder.
2. If you are NOT logged onto the target domain controller, in the snap-in, right-click the icon next to
   Active Directory Users and Computers and press Connect to Domain Controller.
3. Select the domain controller that will be the new role holder, the target, and press OK.
4. Right-click the Active Directory Users and Computers icon again and press Operation Masters.
5. Select the appropriate tab for the role you wish to transfer and press the Change button.
6. Press OK to confirm the change.
7. Press OK all the way out.

Transferring the Domain Naming Master via GUI

To Transfer the Domain Naming Master Role:

1. Open the Active Directory Domains and Trusts snap-in from the Administrative Tools folder.
2. If you are NOT logged onto the target domain controller, in the snap-in, right-click the icon next to
   Active Directory Domains and Trusts and press Connect to Domain Controller.
3. Select the domain controller that will be the new role holder and press OK.
4. Right-click the Active Directory Domains and Trusts icon again and press Operation Masters.
5. Press the Change button.
6. Press OK to confirm the change.
7. Press OK all the way out.

Transferring the Schema Master via GUI

To Transfer the Schema Master Role:

1. Register the Schmmgmt.dll library by pressing Start > RUN and typing:

regsvr32 schmmgmt.dll

1. Press OK. You should receive a success confirmation.
2. From the Run command open an MMC Console by typing MMC.
3. On the Console menu, press Add/Remove Snap-in.
4. Press Add. Select Active Directory Schema.
5. Press Add and press Close. Press OK.
6. If you are NOT logged onto the target domain controller, in the snap-in, right-click the Active Directory Schema icon in the Console Root and press Change Domain Controller.
7. Press Specify …. and type the name of the new role holder. Press OK.
8. Right-click right-click the Active Directory Schema icon again and press Operation Masters.
9. Press the Change button.
10. Press OK all the way out.

Transferring the FSMO Roles via Ntdsutil

To transfer the FSMO roles from the Ntdsutil command: 
Note: Using the Ntdsutil utility incorrectly may result in partial or complete loss of Active Directory functionality.

1. On any domain controller, click Start, click Run, type Ntdsutil in the Open box, and then click OK.

Microsoft Windows [Version 5.2.3790] (C) Copyright 1985-2003 Microsoft Corp.
C:WINDOWS>ntdsutil ntdsutil:

1. Type roles, and then press ENTER.

ntdsutil: roles fsmo maintenance:

Note: To see a list of available commands at any of the prompts in the Ntdsutil tool, type ?, and then press ENTER.

1. Type connections, and then press ENTER.

fsmo maintenance: connections server connections:

1. Type connect to server , where is the name of the server you want to use, and then press ENTER.

server connections: connect to server server100 Binding to server100 ...
Connected to server100 using credentials of locally logged on user. server connections:

1. At the server connections: prompt, type q, and then press ENTER again.

server connections: q fsmo maintenance:

1. Type transfer . where is the role you want to transfer.

Options are:

Transfer domain naming master 

Transfer infrastructure master 

Transfer PDC 

Transfer RID master 

Transfer schema master

1. You then see a warning popup asking if you want to perform the transfer. Select Yes to continue.
2. Then after you transfer the roles, type q and press ENTER until you quit Ntdsutil.exe.
3. Restart the server and make sure you update your backup.

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