Transferring FSMO (Flexible Single Master Operations) Roles
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In this lecture you are going to learn how to transfer FSMO roles between Domain Controllers. Please keep in mind that if you are using your work environment or network - you should NOT transfer FSMO roles unless you have a specific reason to do so. Only practice transferring FSMO roles when you are using your own lab environment or the ServerAcademy.com online IT labs.
Let’s start by transferring the Schema Master FSMO role to SADC02. To get started, log in to DC02, click the start button and search for and launch “regsvr32 schmmgmt.dll”
Once you run that command you should see the following popup:
This allows us to add the Active Directory Schema snapin to the MMC console. Next click Start and launch MMC:
Select File > Add/Remove Snap-in...
Next add the Active Directory Schema and click OK:
Right-click Active Directory Schema and select Change Active Directory Domain Controller:
To change the Schema Master to DC02, you can click Change.
Go ahead and close the window. Now click Tools > Active Directory Users and Computers:
Right-click your domain and select Operation Masters:
Here we can transfer the RID, PDC and Infrastructure roles:
If you need to move the role to another domain controller, go ahead and do that now. Next click Close to close the window then close Active Directory.
The last role is the Domain Naming Master. To change this, from Server Manager, select Tools > Active Directory Domains and Trusts.
Right click Active Directory Domains and Trusts > Operations Master:
If you want to change the Domain Naming Master click the Change button. Otherwise click Close.
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Role transfer via Powershell is way faster and easier. Replace SDAC02 with the name of the destination server.
Unfortunately after I paid the lessons started to be bad. Too fast there is not enough explanation. You give a lot of important information as a side note. That’s course it’s not for beginners. What is FSMO exactly? the previous lesson doesn’t give a good explanation about FSMO as well. I thought you gonna explain more about it here. If we shouldn’t transfer it, why to learn it in the first place?!
When do we need FSMO?
“This allows us to add the Active Directory Schema snapin to the MMC console” what should I understand from that what is MMC console? too bad dear.
Is there anyway to cancel the membership and get my money back?
Thanks
Hi
Zein Saker
Thank you for reaching out to us and taking the time to share your concerns. I apologize if the lessons have not met your expectations and if you feel they are too fast with an insufficient explanation. Our goal is to provide high-quality education and I’m sorry that we have fallen short in your case.
Regarding your request for a refund, please email support@serveracademy.com so we can process your request.
Again, I apologize for the inconvenience and frustration caused by the issues you have encountered.
Ricardo
Ricardo
I agree Zeins. I initially enjoyed this course and it seemed a well structured system to build knowledge. However, what are FSMOs !! The jump in levels is really poor. Was going well to this point and now I’m thinking WHAT IS GOING ON
We understand that it can be overwhelming when the course introduces new and complex topics like FSMOs, especially if the students feel the transition isn’t smooth. Let me take a moment to make things clearer:
The introduction of a secondary domain controller to the domain allows certain redundancy of these critical roles and services. We’ve touched on what these roles do in the previous lesson. The goal now is to move one of these roles to the new server. This isn’t just a one-time thing – you can move all the FSMO roles if needed, which is especially useful if one of your domain controllers goes offline, but we are explaining and doing one here. Having other servers ready with these roles means we don’t lose critical functionality. The use case for each FSMO role can vary depending of the environment and can be complicated explaining these reasons, so we explain only one.
Now, recovering these roles if something goes wrong is a complicated process. We haven’t gone into all the details because it’s quite advanced and could be a whole course by itself so we stop here with the basics and jump to a different topic like backups.
It’s just that FSMOs were thrown straight at us. No explanation about what they are or what they do. It’s advanced like you say but to not even try to explain their purpose in a basic way is pretty poor at this stage of learning
Thank you for your feedback, we’ll make sure to send your comments to Paul for the review of the material.
if we only need to transfer RID,PDC, or infrastructure, im assuming the only part that is needed prior is to register via the command?
Hi
Beno Tsintsadze
Exactly, register via the command, and you move only the roles you need to move.
Ricardo
I was a little confused about Transferring FSMO but after rewatching the video, I now understand it and can complete the final assessment.