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Active Directory Snapshots are a tool you can use to query old Active Directory data. It’s not a complete backup system - but rather allows you to access older versions of your Active Directory. This would allow you to use other tools to perform disaster recoveries as needed.
Snapshots work like this:
- Create a job to create snapshots
- Mount a snapshot to an alternate port
- Connect to that alternate port and view your old data
To create a new snapshot we need to open Command Prompt as an administrator and run the following commands:
ntdsutil
snapshot
Activate Instance NTDS
create
q
q
I am using one of Server Academy’s IT labs that are provided to all of our members for testing purposes. These labs are perfect since I don’t have to worry about losing data. If I mess up all, I need to do is click a button to revert the lab and I have everything back within minutes.
I am going to open Active Directory Users and Computers and make sure I have Advanced Features enabled:

Next remove the deletion protection from an Organizational Unit by right-clicking the OU you want to delete, selecting properties, go to the Object tab and un-check Protect object from accidental deletion:

Im going to use an OU in my lab called Domain Groups. Once I remove the protection, I can right-click and delete the OU:

So now the OU is missing and I can get on to mounting the old snapshot:

We can use NTDS snapshotting to view the old data. Open CMD as an Admin again, and run the following commands:
ntdsutil
snapshot
list all
This will return all snapshots

First we need to run the mount command followed by the snapshot we wish to mount. In this case I will be mounting snapshot 1:
mount 1

This will output the directory where the snapshot is now mounted. Go ahead and exit the utilities by pressing Q until your back at the normal command prompt:

This mounts the old AD to the C drive:

The inside of that directory looks just like our C drive and it contains the Active Directory database file that contains AD information like user accounts, groups, and password hashes.

Now we are going to use a utility called dsamain (AD/DS/LDS offline data browser) to mount this older version (snapshot) of Active Directory to an alternative port that we can connect to and view. Open CMD as an Administrator and run the command below (be sure to change the path to your snapshot location):
dsamain /dbpath c:\$SNAP_202004061016_VOLUMEC$\windows\ntds\ntds.dit /ldapport 5000
We will see that the command completed successfully:

Note: You need to keep this window open in order for the old data to be accessible on the port you specified. If you close this command prompt window, you won’t be able to connect to the mount and view the old data.
Now in the Active Directory console, right-click your domain and select Change Domain Controller:

Select This Domain Controller or AD LDS instance, and type in the name of your server followed by the port number you specified with the dsamain command. In my test lab, the DC is “sadc01” and the port I specified was 5000.
sadc01:5000

Now I can view the old snapshot of Active Directory and view my old data. Keep in mind you can't edit any of the data - this is strictly read only data.

To delete the data, we can run the commands below:
ntdsutil
snapshot
list all
unmount 1
list all
delete 1

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CURRICULUM
Course Introduction • 1min
0 / 1 lessons complete
Getting Started with Active Directory Domain Services • 52min
0 / 6 lessons complete
Section Overview
Free lesson
Text | 1 min
Installing the ADDS (Active Directory Domain Services) Server Role
Video | 7 min
Promote the Server to a Domain Controller
Video | 7 min
Forests, Trees and Domains
Video | 2 min
Windows Domain Quiz
Quiz | 5 Questions
Lab: Installing the Active Directory Domain Services
Lab | 30 min
Introduction to Active Directory Users & Computers • 1hr 23min
0 / 10 lessons complete
Section Overview
Free lesson
Text | 2 min
Organizational Units (OUs) and Containers
Video | 5 min
Creating, managing and deleting OUs
Video | 5 min
Creating User Accounts with Active Directory
Video | 8 min
Searching for Objects in Active Directory
Video | 6 min
Resetting User Passwords and Unclocking Accounts in Active Directory
Video | 6 min
Understanding Groups and Memberships
Video | 11 min
Disabling and Deleting User Accounts
Video | 6 min
Active Directory Quiz
Quiz | 5 Questions
Lab: Active Directory Users and Computers
Lab | 30 min
Adding a Second Domain Controller • 1hr 30min
0 / 7 lessons complete
Notice of change in Lab Names
Text | 2 min
Section Overview
Free lesson
Video | 2 min
Promoting Our Second Domain Controller
Video | 13 min
Flexible Single Master Operation (FSMO) Roles Overview
Free lesson
Video | 4 min
Transferring FSMO (Flexible Single Master Operations) Roles
Video | 5 min
Adding a Second Domain Controller Quiz
Quiz | 5 Questions
Lab: Adding a Second Domain Controller
Lab | 60 min
Active Directory Backups • 1hr 24min
0 / 5 lessons complete
Creating an Active Directory / System State Backup
Video | 4 min
Restoring an Active Directory Backup
Video | 7 min
Creating and Restoring Active Directory Snapshots
Video | 8 min
Active Directory Backups Quiz
Quiz | 5 Questions
Lab: Active Directory Backups
Lab | 60 min
How to Administrate Active Directory with Windows PowerShell • 1hr 58min
0 / 7 lessons complete
Enabling Script Execution for PowerShell
Video | 6 min
Listing AD Users with PowerShell
Video | 14 min
Creating AD Users with PowerShell
Free lesson
Video | 10 min
Creating User Accounts from a CSV (Comma Separated Value) File
Video | 15 min
Move All Disable Users to Disabled Users OU with PowerShell
Video | 8 min
AD PowerShell Quiz
Quiz | 5 Questions
Lab: ADUC PowerShell Automation
Lab | 60 min
Administrating AD SS (Active Directory Sites and Services) • 1hr 3min
0 / 5 lessons complete
Active Directory Sites and Services - Section Overview
Free lesson
Video | 8 min
Configuring Our ITFROUTE01 Server to act as a Router
Video | 11 min
Configuring Active Directory Sites and Services
Video | 9 min
Administrating AD SS Quiz
Quiz | 5 Questions
Lab: Configure ADDS Between Two Subnets
Lab | 30 min
Active Directory Trusts • 54min
0 / 5 lessons complete
Window Trusts Explained
Free lesson
Video | 6 min
Configuring DNS Settings for Active Directory Trusts
Video | 6 min
Establish a Two-way Active Directory Trust
Video | 7 min
Active Directory Trusts Quiz
Quiz | 5 Questions
Lab: Establish a two-way AD Trust
Lab | 30 min
Modifying the Active Directory Schema • 43min
0 / 3 lessons complete
Add Custom Attributes to Active Directory Users
Video | 8 min
Active Directory Schema Quiz
Quiz | 5 Questions
Lab: Extending the Active Directory Schema
Lab | 30 min
Course Conclusion • 1min
0 / 1 lessons complete