Implementing an Active Directory Domain Services Maintenance Plan

Managing the Active Directory Database Using NTDSUtil Tool

Ntdsutil.exe is a command-line tool used to manage some
AD DS components
Perform AD DS database maintenance
Manage and control single master operations
Move the AD DS database files
Remove metadata left behind by domain controllers that were removed from the network without being properly uninstalle
Type HELP at any NTDSUtil prompt for context-sensitive help

What Is an AD DS Database Defragmentation?

The new file may be considerably smaller, depending on how fragmented the original database file was
AD DS performs online database defragmentation automatically every 12 hours
Use the NTDSUtil command-line tool to perform offline defragmentation on a dismounted database
Online defragmentation optimizes data storage in the database, and reclaims space in the directory for new objects, but does not reduce the size of the database file
Offline defragmentation creates a new, compacted version of the database file

What Are Restartable Active Directory Domain Services?

Restartable AD DS allows administrators to stop the AD DS
without stopping any other services
Use restartable AD DS services when:
• Applying updates that modify AD DS service files on a domain controller
• Performing tasks such as offline defragmentation of the AD DS database
Directory Services Restore Mode must be used to restore AD
DS database

Demonstration: Performing AD DS Database Maintenance Tasks
In this demonstration, you will see how to:
• Start and stop AD DS Services
• Move the AD DS Database to a different drive using NTDSUtil
• Use NTDSUtil and AD DS Stopped mode for Offline Defrag

Introduction to Backing Up AD DS
To back up AD DS, you must back up all critical volumes
Critical volumes include:
• The system volume: the volume that hosts the boot files
• The boot volume: the volume that hosts the Windows operating system and the Registry
• The volume that hosts the SYSVOL tree
• The volume that hosts the AD DS database (Ntds.dit)
• The volume that hosts the AD DS database log files
All of these files may be stored in a single volume or distributed across multiple volumes