Sunday, May 17, 2015

Can You Promote a DC With the RID Master Offline?

While in a 70-411 class, the question came up "What would happen if you tried to promote a member server to a Domain Controller while the RID Master FSMO (Flexible Single Master Operations) role holder was offline?". We tossed around the thought for a few minutes, but could not come up with a definite answer. At that point, I declared "Experiment time!", and made the decision to explore this once I got home to my lab.

At times like this, I am glad I keep a few virtual machines (VMs) ready to go. It really helps to speed up the process of running tests such as these.

Here is the configuration of the environment and task list that I used for this test.
  • All servers are running Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter
  • Server1 - First installed DC - DNS & GC installed
  • Server2 - Third installed DC - DNS & GC installed
  • Server3 - Second installed DC - DNS & GC installed
  • Server4 - Standalone server
  • Ran all Windows updates on the three DCs
  • Transferred the RID Master role from Server1 to Server3 using Active Directory Users and Computers
  • Verified the transfer of the RID Master role using netdom query fsmo
  • Shut down Server3 (RID Master)
  • Added the Active Directory Domain Services role to Server4
  • Changed the client DNS on Server 4 to point to Server1 (I've been caught enough times with failed attempts at promotion due to mis-configured DNS that I know to change this before promotion)
  • Launched the AD Configuration Wizard
  • After working through the wizard, it failed on the "Prerequisites Check" page due to the RID Master being unavailable.
  • Powered up Server3
  • Reran the prerequisites check
  • At this point, I could successfully promote Server4 to a DC.
So, long story short, a Domain Controller promotion will fail the prerequisites check if you try to perform the operation while the domain RID Master is offline or otherwise unavailable. The specific error displayed is "Verification of prerequisites for Domain Controller promotion failed. You cannot install an additional domain controller at this time because the RID master <server name> is offline.".


Have a great week everyone!






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Monday, March 2, 2015

Additional Online Resources for the 70-412 Exam

As I am doing for my Microsoft 70-410 and 70-411 notes, I am also compiling a list of links to additional online resources and videos that are relevant to the Microsoft 70-412 exam. These links have been gathered from a variety of sources that I have used while studying for the exam.

 I will be adding additional links here over the next few months, so be sure to check back now and again. Once the list is finished, I'll change the post to reflect this fact. In the mean time, I'll make an effort to mark all new links as I add them.

 I also made an effort to break down the list by exam objective where possible. Some links are clearly outside of the scope of the exam, but I figure some extra knowledge here and there can only benefit a person's learning. Where appropriate, I have added these extra links to each section where I felt they would be of greatest use. I know I find little nuggets of extra information that are outside the exam objectives often help to solidify my understanding of core topics.

 So, without further delay, here is the list:
*Most recent update: December 13, 2016

Downloads
General Information
Objective 1 - Configure and manage high availability
Configure and Manage the Quorum in a Windows Server 2012 Failover Cluster
Balancing Act – What you really ought to know about Windows Server NLB
File Share witness vs Disk witness for local clusters
Configuring Windows Failover Cluster Networks

 Objective 2 - Configure file and storage solutions
Objective 3 - Implement business continuity and disaster recovery

 Objective 4 - Configure Network Services
Objective 5 - Configure the Active Directory infrastructure
Adding additional domain controller
New 12/07 - Set-ADDomainMode
New 12/07 - Set-ADForestMode
New 12/07 - Set-ADForest
New 12/07 - Repadmin
New 12/07 - Dfsrmig

Objective 6 - Configure Identity and Access Solutions
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Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Additional Online Resources for the 70-411 Exam

Although I have written and passed the Microsoft 70-411 exam, I have chosen to keep this list in place, in the hopes that others will find it's contents useful. It is quite a lengthy list of links to additional online reading and videos that I have collected from several sources, and I have found them to be quite valuable.

Unless someone shares any new resources with me, this list will remain fairly static from now on. If I do add any new links, I'll make an effort to mark them as new.

I also made an effort to break down the list by exam objective where possible. Some links are clearly outside of the scope of the exam, but I figure some extra knowledge here and there can only benefit a person's learning. Where appropriate, I have added these extra links to each section where I felt they would be of greatest use. I know I find little nuggets of extra information that are outside the exam objectives often help to solidify my understanding of core topics.

So, without further delay, here is the list:

*Most recent update: November 20, 2015

Downloads
PowerShell

General Information

Advanced Topics

Objective 1 - Deploy, manage, and maintain servers
Objective 2 - Configure File and Print Services
Objective 3 - Configure network services and access
Objective 4 - Configure a Network Policy Server (NPS) infrastructure

Objective 5 - Configure and manage Active Directory
Objective 6 - Configure and manage Group Policy
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Sunday, January 18, 2015

Additional Online Resources for the 70-410 Exam

Although I have written and passed the Microsoft 70-410 exam, I have chosen to keep this list in place, in the hopes that others will find it's contents useful. It is quite a lengthy list of links to additional online reading and videos that I have collected from several sources, and I have found them to be quite valuable.

Unless someone shares any new resources with me, this list will remain fairly static from now on. If I do add any new links, I'll make an effort to mark them as new.

I have made an effort to break the list down by exam objective where possible. Some of the links are outside of the scope of the exam, but I figured a little extra knowledge here and there can only benefit a person's learning. Where appropriate, I have added these extra links to each section where I felt they would be of greatest use. I know I find little nuggets of extra information that are outside the exam objectives often help to solidify my understanding of core topics.

So, without further delay, here is the list:

*Most recent update: August 27, 2015

Downloads
PowerShell
General Information
Objective 1 - Install and configure servers
Windows Server Installation Options
Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration Overview
Storage Spaces - Designing for Performance
NIC Teaming (NetLBFO) Cmdlets in Windows PowerShell

Objective 2 - Configure server roles and features
Objective 3 - Configure Hyper-V
Objective 4 - Deploy and configure core network services
Objective 5 - Install and administer Active Directory
Objective 6 - Create and manage Group Policy
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